Angelwax Dark Fader Review

Last Updated on September 17, 2024 by Stewart

Dark Fader is the latest ceramic trim restorer on the marker, brought to you by the great team over at Angelwax. They very kindly sent me over a bottle of it to try out, and in this review, I’ll give a full run down of my experience with it.

How To Use

Angelwax Dark Fader is a breeze to use. After carrying out a normal wash on the car, it’s important to give the plastic trim a full decontamination. I used all purpose cleaner for this. After this has been thoroughly rinsed, you’re good to go to apply it.

When I applied it, I used a microfibre applicator pad as it allowed me to contour it around the trim work on my car. A few dabs onto a pad is more than enough to get the ball rolling on this and immediately you can see the change taking place.

I also tried using a foam applicator on the trim, but I didn’t like how Dark Fader absorbed deep into it, so I would recommend using a microfibre pad.

Once you’ve applied it evenly across the trim, it’s the simple process of buffing off any excess. After this, you do need to wait two hours before you drive the car or allow water to come into contact with it.

I used this outside and couldn’t actually smell anything coming from the bottle, but due to the chemicals in it, I would always suggest using this in a well ventilated area.

Results

The before and after of this are night and day. I used it on every piece of trim of my car and was blown away with how easy it was to use. The trim looked as though it had just been installed on the car, and that’s no mean feat considering that my car is nearly 10 years old. It doesn’t make the trim overly shiny, but it adds back the original dark look to it.

In the photos for the grill below, you can see after it has been applied I’ve left a small part of it untreated which really does show how excellent the results are after it has been left to cure on the trim and then buffed off. Don’t worry, I did go over the “missing” patches afterwards so that the finish was uniform.

I also used this to coat the plastics in the engine bay. Since it’s a Renault, I’m not overly keen to hit the engine bay with a pressure washer, so dirt and grime can build up really quickly on it. By adding this ceramic trim coating to it, it should repel the dirt.

Since it’s not been long applied, I can’t at this point list the long term UV protection of it. However, I’ve got no doubt that it will provide a long lasting amount of protection. Angelwax have been clever by not giving a definitive time on how long it’ll last. This is due to the various different qualities of trim you get from each manufacturer. As such, it’s hard to make a longevity claim. However, by the nature of how it embeds itself into the trim, I would be surprised if it didn’t last for at least one year.

One area I have been keen to test it on is the wheel arches. Regardless of the car that you have, these will get extremely dirty in a short time frame. Dark Fader really made these darker, but also a lot easier to clean. I noticed a substantial reduction in how much dirt and grime was stuck to the wheel arches after applying it. When you consider the poor condition of the roads in the UK, this is no mean feat.

I also didn’t notice any high spots when buffing off Dark Fader, which meant that I had a lovely, uniform finish on it after the final buff. Another thing to note is how the trim felt after it had fully cured. The Clio, and many other cars now have their rear door handles embedded into the door as part of the trim. Once it was fully cured, the trim felt brand new and incredibly smooth, so there’s no worries of having a sticky residue left over afterwards.

Due to the ceramic properties of Dark Fader, it will also mean that road grime and dirt won’t as readily stick to the trim. In the winter months especially, this will be a huge bonus and make these areas a lot easier to clean.

Before applying Dark Fader

After applying Dark Fader

Value For Money

At the time of writing, the price of Dark Fader is just over £40. For that, you get a rather large bottle. For the Clio, after applying it to all of the trim around the windows, under the headlights and brake lights, the rear wiper arm, radiator grill, the trim under the front bumper and also the engine bay, I still had a lot left over to do the wheel arches.

There are other trim restorers out there which are a tad cheaper, but you don’t get as much in their bottles. Added to this is how quickly you can use the car after applying Dark Fader. Time is just as important as money and if your car is out of use all day to let it cure, it’s not giving great value for money.  This is also the easiest trim restorer I’ve used, which also needs to be factored into it’s value.

I would also recommend that this is applied to the trim on brand new cars as well. Prevention is always better than cure. Much like you could add a wax, sealant or coating to the paintwork from the offset to protect it, you should also do this to your trim as well. It severely reduce the impact of the UV rays on the trim, which means that you don’t have to splurge out on buying new trim pieces.

You can get water based trim dressings, and these work well. However, they only last for weeks at a time, again costing you time as well as more money in the long haul. Over the lifetime of your car, it is more economical to have  Dark Fader on a car and apply it say once per year than every few weeks for a water based dressing.

Dark Fader is available directly from Angelwax on their site, and also through Amazon.

Angelwax Dark Fader Interior Ceramic Dressing

• Interior Ceramic Coating

Buy on Amazon

Last update on 2026-10-15 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.