SONAX PROFILINE PlasticCare Plastic Care 25l

Bring plastic back to life and protect it for the long run with SONAX PROFILINE PlasticCare

What does SONAX PROFILINE PlasticCare actually do? This solvent-free plastic care revives faded colours, masks dull patches and surface scratches, and seals every plastic part inside and outside the car — engine-bay preservation right after the wash included.

Faded plastic trim, dull dashboards and engine covers gone grey are some of the most common jobs detailing businesses tackle day in, day out. What plenty of people don't realise: most silicone-based plastic dressings throw out a quick shine but pull in dust, leave a tacky surface and give you no real protection. SONAX PROFILINE PlasticCare takes a different route — a solvent-free, regenerating plastic care that revives colours, masks dull patches and scratches, and lays down a protective preservation layer on the plastic without any in-your-face high-gloss look. What you get is a subtle, natural sheen close to factory-fresh, and it sells far better to your customers than a greasy, shiny dashboard. Available in three pack sizes — 1 litre, 5 litres and 25 litres — PlasticCare covers everything from the small one-man outfit to the big detailing chain.

• Colour revival with a subtle, natural sheen. Black and dark-grey plastic parts look rich and deep again after treatment, without that artificial shine. The subtle sheen SONAX is known for comes from a thin preservation layer that reflects light evenly instead of mirroring it like a silicone film. That matters most on high-end cars, where too much gloss on the dashboard reads as cheap and puts off discerning customers.
• Solvent-free — safe for every type of plastic. The formula won't attack painted or unpainted plastics and works across the whole interior. Unlike solvent-based alternatives, PlasticCare doesn't dry the plastic out or make it brittle. Long term that's the difference that counts: solvents lift surface grime but pull the plasticisers out of the material at the same time — the opposite of real, lasting care.
• Engine-bay preservation in one step. Sprayed on straight after the engine wash, PlasticCare seals every plastic cover and cable sheath in the bay. The surfaces are protected and get a tidy, looked-after finish that makes the difference at inspections and used-car sales. No separate engine-bay product needed — PlasticCare handles that job too.

Detailing1's tip from the shop: For the best result, fill PlasticCare into a SONAX Sprayboy and, depending on how much sheen you want, dilute it up to 1:2 with water. Less concentrate gives you a flatter, more natural look — ideal for dashboards and centre consoles, where high gloss can cause glare. For the engine bay, use PlasticCare neat, right after the engine wash and once you've blown excess water out of the recesses and off the ignition system with compressed air.

Plastic care without solvents — why that makes a difference

The plastic-care market is a mess, and a lot of products promise more than they deliver. Most cheap interior sprays and plastic dressings are built on silicone oils and solvents. The silicone oil delivers instant shine, the solvent helps it soak in fast. The problem: silicone oils sit on the surface as a film and pull in dust like a magnet. After a few days the dressed dashboard looks dustier than before. Solvents, meanwhile, go after the plasticisers in the plastic over time — the very substances that keep it supple and colour-rich.

SONAX PROFILINE PlasticCare works without solvents and instead relies on a regenerating blend of active ingredients that sinks into the top layer of the plastic, brings faded pigments back to life and forms a thin protective coat. That coat isn't tacky, barely attracts dust and creates no unnatural shine. The effect lasts far longer than with silicone products, because the actives don't just sit on the surface and disappear at the next wipe — they genuinely regenerate the top layers of the material.

In the daily run of a detailing business this difference shows up in two places above all. First, the treated surface stays clean much longer, because there's no silicone film binding particles. Second, PlasticCare is easy to redo — when the customer comes back weeks later, a fresh coat keys in perfectly, with no layers building up and nothing to strip off first. With silicone-based products you often have to clean the old layer off before you can dress fresh — a step that costs time and calls for solvent cleaners that, in turn, stress the plastic all over again.

Another plus of the solvent-free formula shows in how it handles delicate plastics: high-end cars increasingly use soft-coated interior surfaces — so-called soft-touch plastics that feel great but react extremely badly to solvents. A single contact with aggressive products can leave these surfaces permanently tacky or rub the soft-touch coating away. PlasticCare is safe on these delicate surfaces and cares for them without attacking the coating — something that matters a lot when you're detailing premium cars.

Restoring plastic — application inside and on exterior parts

PlasticCare is deliberately simple to apply, so it stays fast and efficient in the day-to-day too. For the interior, fill the product into a Sprayboy, spray it onto a soft microfibre care pad and spread it evenly across the plastic. Don't spray straight onto the surface — first, you avoid overspray on glass and displays, and second, you've got better control over how much you lay down. A thin, even coat is enough; thicker layers don't give a better result, they just dry slower.

Diluting with water up to 1:2 is a handy feature plenty of products don't offer. For the dashboard and centre console we'd go with the diluted version — the result is a subtle, silky sheen that throws no glare in direct sun. On cars with big, light dashboards in particular, too much gloss can mirror in the windscreen and spoil your view. For door cards and plastic parts in the boot you can work neat, since glare doesn't matter there and the stronger colour-revival effect is exactly what you want.

Outside, PlasticCare plays to its strength on unpainted plastic parts: bumper trim, mirror caps, wheel-arch liners and side mouldings that have gone grey under UV get their dark colour back. The effect isn't permanent — after a few weeks outdoors and a handful of washes it fades — but for prepping a car before a sale or as a regular care step it's convincing. If you want more durable protection on exterior plastics, you can use PlasticCare as a base coat and then lay down SONAX PROFILINE CeramicCoating CC Plastic+Rubber as a long-term seal on top.

One thing that matters when you apply it: don't work on hot surfaces. PlasticCare needs a moment to dry evenly — on heated plastic the watery part flashes off too fast and you can get patchy spots. Ideally you work at room temperature or in the shade. Same goes for storage: keep it away from frost, as the water-based formula can take damage below zero. A product that's frozen through can lose its even consistency and shouldn't be used any more.

For a typical car interior you need about 20 to 30 millilitres of concentrate diluted — which means a litre of PlasticCare covers around thirty to forty full interior treatments. On cars with a lot of interior plastic, like SUVs or vans, reckon on double. That mileage is one of the reasons PlasticCare works out cheaper long term than budget products, despite the higher upfront price.

Engine-bay preservation — the underrated job

Engine-bay preservation is an area plenty of detailers skip or cover with specialist products. PlasticCare gives you a practical edge here: it takes that job on as well, with no extra product needed. The best moment is straight after the engine wash — the bay is clean, the surfaces still slightly damp, and PlasticCare spreads especially evenly and quickly on the wet surfaces, because the water acts as a glide.

The routine: first blow excess water out of the recesses, off the connectors and the ignition system with compressed air. Then spray PlasticCare neat onto the plastic covers with the Sprayboy, evenly. The preservation guards against fresh dirt, stops the heat, oil vapours and the elements from roughening and greying the plastic, and gives the bay a clean, evenly cared-for finish. When the car gets valued — used-car sale, lease return or inspection — a cared-for engine bay makes a measurable difference to the overall impression.

One from day-to-day: PlasticCare is also brilliant for campers and commercial vehicles, where the engine bay often takes far more dirt than on a car. The solvent-free formula is harmless to rubber seals and cable sheaths in the bay — both materials that solvent-based preservers can attack. On electric and hybrid vehicles the gentle formula is a plus too, since sensitive high-voltage cable sheathing and electronic connectors don't get hit with aggressive chemistry. A clean, preserved engine bay signals at the MOT and at every garage visit that the car is looked after carefully — a detail that experienced inspectors and buyers spot straight away.

Plastic care compared — PlasticCare vs. XTREME plastic sealant vs. interior spray

Alongside the PROFILINE PlasticCare, the SONAX range also has the XTREME Ceramic Kunststoff-Versiegelung. The difference: the XTREME version is pitched as an end-user product and brings a ceramic sealing component aimed mainly at protection. PROFILINE PlasticCare, by contrast, is the choice for professional use, because it dilutes, comes in large packs (1 l, 5 l, 25 l) and covers engine-bay preservation on top of the care side. For daily use with dozens of cars a week, PlasticCare is the more economical and more versatile pick.

Classic interior sprays off the DIY-store shelf aren't a serious comparison. They're built almost entirely on silicone oil, throw out an artificial high gloss that's unwanted in professional detailing, and offer no real care or regeneration. In a detailing business they've got no place near a car — they leave residues that get in the way of a later ceramic coating and have to be removed with effort. PlasticCare, on the other hand, plays nicely with all the common coating systems and forms no problematic silicone layers. That's a key point for businesses that offer ceramic coatings alongside detailing: with PlasticCare you care for the plastic without buying yourself trouble for later coating work.

For detailers after a complete care system, the combo of PlasticCare for plastic, the SONAX PROFILINE GummiPfleger for rubber and tyres, and the SONAX PROFILINE LeatherProtection for leather gives you seamless cover across every interior material. Each product is specialised for its material and delivers better results than a one-size-fits-all interior product that does everything "a bit". If you're not ready to build out a material-specific system like that, you can start with PlasticCare alone and already make a big jump in quality over universal products — then add the other specialists step by step as demand grows and customers start to appreciate the difference.

Who is SONAX PROFILINE PlasticCare for?

SONAX PROFILINE PlasticCare is aimed at detailing businesses, car dealers and garages that care for interiors and engine bays every day. The 5-litre pack is the most economical option for high-throughput operations — and the 25-litre drum is cheaper again for big businesses or detailing chains. Being dilutable with water makes PlasticCare one of the most economical plastic-care products on the market: a litre turns into three litres of ready-to-use solution at 1:2 dilution.

For used-car detailers, PlasticCare is especially valuable, because it regenerates faded plastics fast and visibly — exactly what customers clock on their first look into the interior. A freshly detailed dashboard with a natural sheen gives the impression of a well-kept car, and that, in our experience, lifts the price you can ask noticeably. Paired with a thorough interior clean — say with SONAX PROFILINE MultiStar as a pre-cleaner — PlasticCare delivers the visual finish that marks the line between "clean" and "detailed".

An honest note: PlasticCare is a care and preservation product, not a permanent seal. On heavily UV-exposed exterior plastics the effect fades after a few weeks and has to be redone. If you want a long-term solution for exterior plastics, use PlasticCare as the care base and set a ceramic coating over it. Inside, where UV exposure is lower, the effect lasts much longer. But for what it's built for — professional plastic care in the daily detailing run — SONAX PROFILINE PlasticCare is one of the most convincing solutions on the market: high yield, versatile, and a result you can be proud of. Interior, engine bay or exterior plastics — PlasticCare is the product that shouldn't be missing from any pro detailing kit. Once you've used it in the daily run, you'll quickly find that interior sprays and budget plastic dressings are done for — not because it's pricier, but because it simply works better and even comes out cheaper long term. The real difference shows not just in the instant result, but above all in how it lasts and how well it plays with the care steps and seals that come after.