Plastic bumper paint

[SoonToRetire]

I have a Jeep Cherokee with a plastic bumper, and the silver colored paint has flaked off several areas. The bumper itself is fine, the dark plastic under the paint is just exposed where the paint flaked off. I tried repainting those parts with the original color touch up body paint they provide in the small tube, but it streaks and looks even worse. What is the proper method and paint to use on a plastic bumper?

[UncleHoney]

A number of automotive paint suppliers sell special paint for bumpers and trim.

Here's one. Not sure what is needed to prep the surface before painting.


Bumper Paint

[Sam]

I am pretty sure the same paint and the same method are used for both the plastic bumper and the steel body. One of my car was in the body shop for a minor ding involving both the body (steel) and the bumper (plastic). They both were prepped the same way, and painted the same way simultaneously.

[Goonie]

Originally Posted by UncleHoney

A number of automotive paint suppliers sell special paint for bumpers and trim.

Here's one. Not sure what is needed to prep the surface before painting.


Bumper Paint

Duplicolor is what I always used for touch ups and that sort of thing....on both metal and plastic parts. I removed any loose or flaking paint, sanded lightly, wiped the area down with something like naptha or Dupont Prep-Sol, and sprayed on the duplicolor in light even passes....let it dry for a minute or so, and then spray again....repeat until the everything looks good. It lasted as well, if not better than the original finish. Don't wash, wax, clear overcoat it for a week or two, or whatever the can says (I don't recall the specific length of time to wait).

[SoonToRetire]

Thanks to all who replied. I got some duplicolor and sprayed it on, so far so good. I think the mistake I was making was in trying to brush it on instead of spraying it.

[Telly]

In a body shop, the paint used for a plastic bumper is exactly the same paint as used for the rest of the car. But a flexibility additive is added in. Without it, the paint tends to crack and fall off. Which makes sense. The paint needs to be at least as flexible as the substrate it is painted on to, to survive long-term.

[SoonToRetire]

Originally Posted by Telly

In a body shop, the paint used for a plastic bumper is exactly the same paint as used for the rest of the car. But a flexibility additive is added in. Without it, the paint tends to crack and fall off. Which makes sense. The paint needs to be at least as flexible as the substrate it is painted on to, to survive long-term.

Telly, that makes sense. Is there an additive that can be applied directly to the bumber before spray painting? Since I'm using spray paint, I can't premix it.

[thefed]

no, u actually need to mix it with the paint first, as far as i know. without it, expect your touch up to flake off within a year

[Telly]

Yeah, at a body shop the flexibility additive is mixed in at the paint machine.

With reference to UncleHoney's Duplicolor link, that was specifically for flexible bumper painting, so the additive should be in that paint already.
I would not expect it to be in pre-mixed Duplicolor body paint.