| [ Total Views: 1123 | Total Replies: 21 | Thread Id: 2723 ] |
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 squarebacker
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| posted on December 31st, 2002 at 12:05 AM |
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Rubber Maintenance
What,s the best way to keep window rubber in tip-top condition.
Manual says apply talcum powder occasionally and I have heard of conditioners.
Any tips gratefully received
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68AutoBug
A.k.a.: Lee Noonan
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| posted on December 31st, 2002 at 12:35 AM |
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Yes, ALL the books and manuals I have read say talcum powder.... what can it do?? nothing...
I have always used armorall or similar products.... actually I am spraying all My Old stored rubber parts with armorall every month or so....
I think talcum powder may be OK on Door rubbers so that they don't stick to the car.
but I couldn't see it being used on Windscreen rubbers etc.....:o
- [size=4]Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY--- [/size]
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 vw54
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| posted on December 31st, 2002 at 04:26 AM |
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i wipe them with armourall makes eum shiny again
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geodon
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| posted on December 31st, 2002 at 07:51 AM |
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Don't use armourall on your tyres.
I know of a fellow motorcyclist who cleaned his m/c (inc tyres) with this stuff then went for a blast & got horizantal at the 1st roundabout he
came to!
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Dasdubber
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| posted on December 31st, 2002 at 09:27 AM |
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Geodon, you are right. I had a new tyre installed on my motorbike - you would think the motorbike shop would know not to put that stuff on tyres
(especially the front). I went arse up on the first round about I came to - luckily was going slow!
Back to the topic though - I use glycerine on my rubbers to keep them from drying out. To the best of my knowledge it does not harm them at all and it
is cheap (get if from chemists).
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Grey 57
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| posted on December 31st, 2002 at 09:41 AM |
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Don't put Armorall on motor bike seats either. Voice of experience speaking ouch.
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kombikim
A.k.a.: Kim
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| posted on December 31st, 2002 at 10:38 AM |
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when armourall was released (1976 I think) I put it on my motor bike seat, took off in my "normal" manner & ended up on the tailight,
grabbed the brake & ended up on the petrol cap (worse) & then fell off in pain & fright.
Those sort of products are basically silicone, I think, and the material they are applied too become "addictive", ie you need to keep
putting it on.
I use a product called Inox, on the rubbers, & neoprene, it is also a substitute for WD40 type products & is great for suspension bushes,
unlike WD40, best thing is to read about it
http://www.inox-mx3.com
[Edited on 31-12-2002 by kombikim] |
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Andy
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| posted on December 31st, 2002 at 03:15 PM |
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A very good topic I've been meaning to raise myself. I used to use Armourall on everything on my jap bikes with good success. When I upgraded to
a BMW, everything rubber I put the armourall on perished withing about 6 months!!! (not sure what type of rubber unfortunately).
I have also heard not to use silicone based protectants on rubber from various sources.
When I replaced all the rubbers in my Kombi I e-mailed West Coast Metric, Wolfs Berg West and RMMW (the 3 sources of all the rubber). All 3
recommended to use nothing, or a product called Zymol.
So I purchased the Zymol (very expensive) and can say I'm far from impressed. It dries out withing minutes leaving the rubber appearing dried out
and un-protected, and have used nothing since.
So I'm still searching. I have not tried the glycerine though, and have had a number of people say to try it.
Just as another note a little off topic, window rubbers can be joined with super glue (as recommended by the manufacturers, some even use it
themselves). So to save costs on window rubbers, buy a heap of windscreen rubbers (much cheaper than the other windows) can cut an join them to suit
the other windows, as the profile is the same.
By the way, what's wrong with armourall on a bike seat? I used to use it on my trail bike so I could move around quickly and easily to shift my
weight. Worked a treat.
Andy
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1303Steve
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| posted on January 3rd, 2003 at 10:39 PM |
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Hi
I wash my car in hot water with about 1/2 cap of kero in the water (no suds), my rubbers are 5 years old now and look like new.
1302Steve
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vanderaj
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| posted on January 3rd, 2003 at 11:34 PM |
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Best thing I've found for rubbers so far is a very close call between "Mothers Back to Black" and in particular for the engine bay,
Polyglaze.
Back to black got rid of my excess wax marks on my mud flaps, something the Meguairs equivalent didn't do.
Polyglaze on the other hand seems a very good cleaner, and by its nature seemed to make the door rubbers return to its supple self.
I wash using a car shampoo. I use both Meguairs and Turtle car shampoo depending on which is closest to the bucket on the day. Car shampoos are pretty
good at leaving the current coat of wax or Polyglaze Diamond Finish on, which is exactly what you want except for about three to four times a year.
I use a 3M microfibre cloth and work on the glass first, then the roof, bonnet and boot, inside the doors, doors, guards, sills, then change to an
older microfibre cloth for the tyres and the underbody. Each panel I mentioned is immediately rinsed once washed with one or two shots of water from a
trigger hose. Once the car is essentially "clean" I give the car one last all over rinse using sheeting water rather than the
"shower" setting as it requires less water, and leaves less water on the car (due to surface tension) to chamois off.
I use a synthetic chamois as the real things suck at the task as well as involving dead lambs.
Once the paint is "clean", when I need to get rid of tar or bugs, I use Meguairs Paint Polish, and for the really nasty bugs,
Polyglaze's Bug and Tar Remover (it's a step up in the polish stakes). If I don't need to, I don't use polish at all - preserves
the clear coat for another day.
If the water still beads during the rinse, I don't re-wax or re-Polyglaze as it's still got a coating.
Since this is about rubber, I wont go into the finer details of my detail routine (which takes about four hours).
The results:
Andrew
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amazer
Bishop of Volkswagenism
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| posted on January 6th, 2003 at 07:55 PM |
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Last time I washed my kombi (at least 6 months ago) I used just plain water. I then used some polish that comes in the car care packs I usually get
for xmas from people who think they know me (hey I'm into cars yeah, but LOOK at my car... um maybe that is why I get them) and I polished the
back before deciding that this would be a job better attempted on some other day by some other person. It only cost $150 to full detail our chalky
falcon. A bargain I reckon. One day I'll get the kombi done. One day.
Chris.... kombi pilot, oval dreamer... finisher #26971 2005 city to surf
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 65busser
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 posted on January 6th, 2003 at 10:54 PM |
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Rubber maintenance
The old bi-carb soda restores rubber. Just add water and wipe on - wipe off with wet cloth. Best to remove any dirt first. It leaves the rubber a bit
grey, but restores the flexibility and softness. Then to moisturise and bring back the black of the rubber, wipe over - wipe off with a lanolin
product (natural - no "stuff" in it). (Ever seen a dry sheep?) The stuff you buy at the "show" (you know, Melbourne Show, The Eka,
depending on where you live) where they offer to polish your boots and then flog you a jar of the gear they used.
Armourall actually heats up more than anything you're likely to be putting it on, so whatever you put it on has to tolerate more heat as a
result. Not so good if the Armouralled surface is in the sun. Kero is great in the wash bucket, nothing moves tar and hard to move road grime better
than Kero. Use it neat to remove tar etc. Won't worry the paint at all. It adds a lustre to paintwork and glass and certainly does clean rubber
without any harm. It leaves the surface a very tiny bit "oily" though and will attract dust, so best to put 1/2 a cap in with the wash every
now and then. Meguairs car wash is without a doubt, the best car wash ever known to man. Don't know if you'd need to add kero to it though.
And none of the above is worth it without a perforated fake chamois. So there!
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squarebacker
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| posted on January 7th, 2003 at 12:13 AM |
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Lanolin
An OZZIE product , lanolin based for protection of various materials including rubber.
http://www.aje.com.au/newproducts/ozspray/ozspray.htm
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Phil74Camper
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| posted on January 7th, 2003 at 10:42 AM |
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Good old glycerine is great for softening and shining old rubber. You can buy small bottles of it at your local chemist.
KY Jelly and similar also contain glycerine and work just as well.
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68AutoBug
A.k.a.: Lee Noonan
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| posted on January 7th, 2003 at 01:21 PM |
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I think You would have to have rocks in Your head to use Kero on Your Car..... Its OK to take tar off Your cars paintwork, but to actually add it to
Your Washing Water INHO is madness... Naturally it'll make Your paintwork look good as You have just coated the cars painted surface with an oily
substance.... I always use a good branded Car Wash which has wax and rust inhibiters added... to Protect My Paintwork.. I like the Tyre products that
You spray onto the tyres and wipe off the dirt etc.... NOT Armourall ... I have been using armourall on rubber & plastic for many years but
I've come to the conclusion that it's a waste of time... works well for a day or so.... I believe the UV Rays from Our Sun kills most
products that probably work well in other parts of the world with protection from the Ozone layer.... I may try glycerine for rubber products ... I
haven't heard of it being used on rubber before... Many rubber products are coated with a sort of talcum powder when New.... Not much good Once
the rubber is in a car...:o
- [size=4]Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY--- [/size]
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KruizinKombi
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| posted on January 7th, 2003 at 03:53 PM |
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I honestly have NFI about what works well on rubbers, but I was reading the bit about kero in the bucket - I use a capful of metho in the bucket when
washing my car, especially when doing windows. It leaves no oily film and is perfect for streak-free windows. Not sure about what it does to the rubbers though!
Kruizin Kol
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Pat
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| posted on January 7th, 2003 at 06:37 PM |
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I can second the metho, especially for inside windows, it will help defrosting a lt too.
Ooh, suits you sir!
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65busser
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| posted on January 7th, 2003 at 09:24 PM |
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Rubber maintenance
68
I don't know if you "have" to have rocks in your head to use Kero on your car. I think you might find that before our time, back in the
40's & 50's, if you couldn't get your bottle of rust inhibiting, waxed gear at the local 7eleven, you had to make do with a bit of
kero in ya bucket. It didn't hurt the paint, and it removed the grime from the roads. Actually, you're right though, because some people
back then, with rocks in their heads, were known to have used too much kero in the wash and guess what? Yep! It looked like they had
just coated the car's painted surface with an oily substance....
Whereas the rockless dudes only used 1/2 a cap, which tends to disperse pretty well in 8 litres of water. Then they got out the fake perforated
chamois and dried the bugger down, removing the majority of the oily gear, and leaving a lovely, lasting shine!
You would also have to have rocks in your head if you used kero, when you had a bottle of Maguairs Soft Wash Gel handy. Damn that stuff is good! Has
anyone tried it?
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1303Steve
A.k.a.: Steve Carter
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| posted on January 7th, 2003 at 10:39 PM |
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Hi
I defence of kero, my car was painted in 1997 in acrylic and it still looks great, most people cant beleive that its not 2 pak. I only wash it about
every 2 - 3 weeks so Lee it doesn't attract dust, :cussing I actually wash it off again and I only use 1/2 a cap in 10 litres of water. My
windows and rubbers have never looked better. On the inside of my car I use Promar dry car wash, it brings the inside of the windows and trim up
beautifully.
1302Steve
[Edited on 7-1-2003 by 1302Steve]
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65busser
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| posted on January 7th, 2003 at 11:13 PM |
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Steve,
Promar dry car wash sounds good. When you say trim, I imagine you mean vinyl covers/seats? Does it give it a healthy glow without the sliperiness of
Armoural?
65
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1303Steve
A.k.a.: Steve Carter
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| posted on January 9th, 2003 at 08:19 AM |
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Hi 65busser
Its a great product, its full name is Maxi Kleen waterless car wash. You can use it ony any washable surface, ie not cloth. I know a guy who uses it
all the time all over his car. Other manafacturers make similar products. When i restored my car i decided to get rid of the window tint, i
couldn't find anything to remove the glue residue until I used Maxi Kleen.
1302Steve
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Pat
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| posted on January 9th, 2003 at 10:29 PM |
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So how long do window/door rubbers actually last?
I'm looking at replacing all the external rubber on my car. I know the West Coast Metric stuff has a lifetime warranty, But it's expensive
$280 for each door, $180 for a window rubber set. |
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Hutcho
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| posted on January 10th, 2003 at 08:28 AM |
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Talc/Baby powder for rubber works best. Use a soft cheese cloth and work the talc into the rubber well. It goes below the rubbers surface (unlike ALL
silicone sprays) and keeps it soft. It wont look as shiney as the spray,but the rubbers will last longer. Glycerine is also good.
Im backing up the kero/metho claim. It works REALLY well. Try it, what have you got to loose!
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