Squid Ink Detailing Plasti-Guard – Product Review

A detailing product that isn’t Autoglym?! We’re well aware that we feature a lot of Autoglym stuff in this series but that’s simply because the company makes great products. We like them and we’ve used them for as long as we’ve had cars so we know just how difficult it can be to branch out once you’ve found a brand that works for you. If it ain’t broke and all that. Well, having chanced upon Squid Ink Detailing at the last Car & Classic Auto Social at The Motorist we thought we’d do just that and give one of the myriad young upstarts a go. The detailing industry is pretty flooded currently and it seems as though every week there’s a new company vying for our attention when it comes to keeping our classics clean and so it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff, or even bother to try, especially when, like us, you already have a brand or two that you love and trust. So let’s give Squid Ink Detailing and its Plasti-Guard plastic dressing a shot at the title, shall we?

Get your Squid Ink Detailing Plasti-Guard here.

The Product

Launched in 2018 Squid Ink Detailing has grown organically and offers a range of premium car care products and accessories that are affordable, easy to use and economical. Squid Ink Detailing is a mobile operation that covers the North Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire areas, offering a call out service to both trade and retail customers. Before committing to a larger range of detailing goodies we opted for its Plasti-Guard plastic dressing which restores and protects plastic trims, bumpers, dashboards and vinyl. The cherry scented (it’s heavenly by the way) liquid contains a unique blend of oils, waxes and solvents that gently moisturises and revitalises whilst creating a tough, durable surface resistant to water, dust and traffic film.

The Test

Whilst we’ve treated most areas of our Volvo 940 Turbo to various balms, potions and treatments one part we may have neglected is the bumpers and plastic trim that adorn the exterior. It’s always been on the ever-growing to do list but we just haven’t gotten round to giving it the love, until now that is. It’s not in a terrible state and we’ve definitely seen (and owned) worse but a little spruce up wouldn’t go amiss and so we cracked open our bottle of Plasti-Guard and set to work with a clean microfibre, applying the product sparingly, waiting for five or so minutes and then buffing off any excess as per the instructions on the label.

The Result

The pictures speak for themselves and you know it’s a good product when it makes you question why you’ve never used it before. From the very first application we could see that the plastic door trim on our Volvo was instantly rejuvenated, spurring us on to do the rest of the bumpers and black plastic trim dotted around the car. The dressing slightly darkened the mouldings and left them looking so much fresher and better than before. The product claims to offer protection for “several months” and while we can’t verify that just yet the initial results are excellent. Did we mention it smells amazing? The sweet scent of bubblegum evoked childhood memories of summer holidays which made the job of applying it just that little more enjoyable.

The Verdict – 5 out of 5

The Plasti-Guard plastic dressing from Squid Ink Detailing is a great product that worked wonders on our tired trim and bumpers. We’ll never stop using Autoglym but we may have just found a suite of products to compliment our collection, providing us with a veritable arsenal of detailing delights with which to dress our classics. Squid Ink Detailing provides a whole host of cleaning products and accessories so if you’re looking for decent gear and a name you can trust then look no further. It’s a yes from us.