How do I restore the scuffed/faded black rubbery trim around sea kayaks?

Have you tried 303?

I haven’t tried 303 but all of the auto products I’ve tried seem to completely wash away after use. I’m not sure id bother with 303 since it’s made for interior surfaces from what I can see in the commercial.

303 not only for interior use. It provides good UV protection and is widely recommended to apply on rubber hatch covers to keep them pliable. Even Kokatat recommends it for use on latex gaskets. I guess you could try a good marine wax and see how it goes.

Thanks! good to know, ill try it out, for the more serious scuffs I guess Ill try a buffer and marine wax or polish

I regularly use 303© on the entire exterior of my 21 year old Kevlar boat for UV protection after washing. It’s widely recommended by boat and RV manufacturers. Leaves a good shine. Not petroleum based. It’s helped to greatly reduce but not entirely eliminate UV fading over the years. 303© is very easy to apply and it is recommended that it be reapplied every month or so.

It will somewhat improve the appearance of the rubber trim strip by covering up light scuffs, fading and such but not restore it to looking new. I don’t know anything that will or deal with deeper scratches. The trim strip is too soft to easily refinish. There are products that claim to restore scuffed vinyl trim but I’ve never tried any of them. A paste wax might work a bit better in filling scratches. With some cosmetic issues I tend to take the view that it is a boat, not a fine piece of furniture.

Be careful especially when loading a boat onto a car after applying 303© to the hull. The boat can be very slippery. Also be careful using a buffer on vinyl trim. It’s soft and becomes even softer if the buffing process heats it up. A buffer works fine on the gel coat of a composite kayak.

303 provides UV protection. It is made for outdoor use. For aesthetics you may improve the appearance more with products made for cars. They are products now that go way past armor-all and the like. Find something like Nu-vinyl or something better. They are made to bring back vinyl. If all else fails you can try varnish or painting it black.

Consider getting a roll of boat striping tape and taping over the whole strip. It is a bit touchy getting it on straight, and you definitely don’t want to apply it over a waxed surface, but I did it years ago on one of my boats and it has held up well.

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Use this twice a season, it takes 5 minutes and it’ll look great. It’s $2 and 3/4” wide:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Sharpie-Magnum-Permanent-Marker-in-Black-44101PP/202260682

The scrapes are just scrapes, but the faded color is not really faded. When putting the seam strip on micro balloons are added to the resin to stiffen it so it doesn’t run. The micro balloons give it the dull appearance rather than shinny. If you want it shinny you can always buy black wax and just wax it.

Any auto parts place will have products like Stoner’s Trim Shine, Meguiar’s Ultimate Black, or Mother’s Back to Black. They do a great job with this kind of thing although are not particularly long lasting. But all off them are spray on, wipe off so even if you do it every couple of weeks it’s tiny investment of time.

Is that a Current Designs kayak?

That’s a hard plastic H channel if it is a CD.

Paint entire rail with two part interux epoxy.

I have another idea I may try next week on mine. Sand with 220, 400, 600, and 2000 grit. Then wipe with 202 solvent which will melt plastic very slightly. Need to tape off around where you are working. My favorite boat a CD Solstice :heart_eyes: and I were slammed into a concrete bridge piling with barnacles. It bugs me badly.