Cleaning spots from rubber trim?

[michael13]

What techniques work for cleaning spots from rubber trim?

My wife came in complaining about spots on the rubber moulding that is on the roof of her 2011 Sonata.

I told her to first try diluted APC 2:1 which she said had no effect.

Here is a photo that she took to show the spots.

http://www.shinedoctors.com/forum_photos/spots.jpg

[IOMCAMARO]

Apc 3:1 on a short nap microfiber with a lot of scrubbing. Then top it off with UTTG or ETS.

[michael13]

That is what she did but with 2:1 which was 2 parts APA 1 part water.

[truckbutt]

I've seen the following recommended for removing dried wax, might be worth a try:
Goo Gone
Mineral Spirits
WD40

[CEE DOG]

It depends on the exact type of material but heres some work I did sunday. This is cut and paste paragraph from a review I did.

Window seals:

I tried to clean them with a toothbrush and rubber cleaner and it didn’t touch them....

I decided to try prepping them with CG water spot remover based on Ron’s method of using it on faded plastic trim. I applied it repeatedly and tried buffing it off and leaving it on before buffing it off. It helped a good deal but all in all the rot was just too deep so I decided to polish them with the Flex. I was going to use Poliseal but after working with the beta product I was testing I thought I would try it on the seals as well......

After finishing the polishing step on the seals I moved on to other areas. Later I would coat the seals with CQ followed later by PERL. These pictures are before anything was done and then after water spot remover, polishing, coating, and sealing.


09 Before

http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j376/CEEDOG7/Reviews/Duragloss%20Nano%20Beta/09-Seals.jpg



10 Before

http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j376/CEEDOG7/Reviews/Duragloss%20Nano%20Beta/10-Seals.jpg



11 After


http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j376/CEEDOG7/Reviews/Duragloss%20Nano%20Beta/11After.jpg

12 After

http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j376/CEEDOG7/Reviews/Duragloss%20Nano%20Beta/12After.jpg

[john b]

how did you polish those with a flex?i did not know you could use poly seal on rubber.

[Hoytman]

Cee Dog,

I don't know if this suggestion would work for what you showed in the above photo, but I found this out by accident on my own a few days ago. Try claying the rubber, and clay until no more black appears.

I removed some serious blooming/oxidation off of my window seals with it. What I removed was very similar to your photo. I haven't had a chance to look at the seals in good light to see how well it worked, but the rubber seemed much more slick to the touch. I really need to look at them in good light to see how they look. If they look better I may be on to something...but my luck at figuring something new out isn't too good ha ha.

[chevchenko]

As a group we really need to come up with great methods to get spots of off plastic and rubber trim because I see one post after another on the problem. Is their a sealant we can put on trim to stop this from happening in the first place?

[IOMCAMARO]

As a group we really need to come up with great methods to get spots of off plastic and rubber trim because I see one post after another on the problem. Is their a sealant we can put on trim to stop this from happening in the first place?

Ultima Trim Guard Plus or Wolfgang Exterior Trim Sealant.

And I have battled with this trim before on a 2008 Caliber. I used OPC diluted 3:1 and a cheap short nap microfiber from Sam's. I srubbed hard with my nails behind the microfiber and the stuff came up, but it took forever. The OPC almost had to soak into the rubber first. Then I wiped all trim with IPA before I applied the WG ETS. They came out like brand new.

[opie_7afe]

yes wish there was a easy way to do this..the number one thing i cannot stand on a car but there so hard to remove/correct...ceedog has the type of seals im used to seeing, my roadmaster had them, now my celica has the same type of issues....my fix to mine was paint them...but that takes forever to tape off and of course i needed to sand them and the paint i used (krylon fusion) took 2 weeks before it was not sticky anymore....supprized i have no embedded dirt in them....cee dog how exactly do you polish rubber? i know to fix this without paint you need to use abrasive action. basicly what we all need to know is what type of pad and exact product used to abrade the surface...

[CEE DOG]

how did you polish those with a flex?i did not know you could use poly seal on rubber.

I dotted the seal with "polish" (it was actually a nano beta cleaner/sealant product) made for paint that I was using. I used a tangerine pad and turned it so the corner would engage the seals only and let the machine do the work.

I didn't use poliseal on these but have used it before in seals which was what gave me the idea to try this product the same way. Most polishes probably stain seals but this one behaved a bit like poliseal on the paint so I took a chance it would do the same on the seals.


Cee Dog,

I don't know if this suggestion would work for what you showed in the above photo, but I found this out by accident on my own a few days ago. Try claying the rubber, and clay until no more black appears.

I removed some serious blooming/oxidation off of my window seals with it. What I removed was very similar to your photo. I haven't had a chance to look at the seals in good light to see how well it worked, but the rubber seemed much more slick to the touch. I really need to look at them in good light to see how they look. If they look better I may be on to something...but my luck at figuring something new out isn't too good ha ha.

Thanks for the tip Hoytman. I can't recall if I've ever tried clay in this situation but I think polishing will be faster and less work. Of course this sounds like another option for some situations. Maybe a magic eraser would speed up the process on severely damaged seals but I assume you would have to polish afterwards anyway so might be a wasted step. I started to sand a seal once but realized I was going to have to polish it anyway.


..cee dog how exactly do you polish rubber? i know to fix this without paint you need to use abrasive action. basicly what we all need to know is what type of pad and exact product used to abrade the surface...

See my above post but I have used poliseal in the past. Remember, I'm sure results vary based on the exact material that the seal is made of but the ones shown here are indeed rubber.

The pad was just a regular tangerine ht pad.
You could start by using a trim product as your polish. In other words take something that is used to protect trim or seals and apply it in very small dots along the seal. Then allow the pad to do the work. I haven't tried using a trim product. Only poliseal and that beta polish I used but I bet it would work.

[Julesh]

I was going to use IPA but I am afraid it will damage the rubber. Is it ok to use IPA on rubber? Will it crack or dry out? I just got my wg ets yestetday. I dont have any apc. Is there anything around the house I can use? Or maybe clay?

[Kurt_s]

I was going to use IPA but I am afraid it will damage the rubber. Is it ok to use IPA on rubber? Will it crack or dry out? I just got my wg ets yestetday. I dont have any apc. Is there anything around the house I can use? Or maybe clay?

What do you have in your detailing collection?

Soapy water and a MF towel and soft toothbrush will help clean much of the old oxidized rubber from the rubber trim before treating with WETS. ONR, OOC, or UWW+ and a MF or sponge and a soft toothbrush will also work. Just be careful with the rubbing and scrubbing, but it may take a little time to completely clean it. One of the earlier posters in this thread suggested using clay and CEE DOG polishes the rubber.

I found that OPC with a MF and tooth brush works pretty well to clean my rubber trim. I don't have to rub hard and the black comes off quite well. Don't let the OPC dry on the paint and I rinse well with water and then treat the rubber with a dressing. After the OPC precleaning, I recently have been using Zymol rubber seal conditioner to treat and soften the rubber. Then I use a UV protectant or sealant of some sort.

I just received WETS but also have Megs #40, 303, UTTG, OG ERV, OG DIA+ and Zymol rubber seal conditioner which uses glyerin and essential oils (no solvents) to clean and moisturize the rubber. The Zymol is supposed to push old gases out of the rubber's pores to clean and preserve. I have not completely bought into the Zymol product but for soft rubber it seems to keep the rubber soft and dark. I'm also not sure about UV protection with Zymol so a UV protectant on top makes sense.

I can't remember why I don't use IPA on the rubber, but there was something that I didn't like about it. I just remember that I was amazed when I first tried OPC and haven't looked back when I needed to get the first layer off before treating the rubber.

[Julesh]

Thanks for the reply Kurt! Man, my trim is filthy. I started with some QD and a rag to get some of the black off. Then I moved to claying, but that was quickly blackening my clay bar. So I finished up claying the rest of the side of the car which I am doing today. Then I'm going to use the clay bar again on the trim since it's getting near the end of its life.
I don't have any APC. I was going to get some, but for some reason I didn't. Guess I need to take advantage of the current sale. I have some turtle wax bug/tar remover, IPA swabs, clay, and WG polish enhancer (that might work, but I'll go through my pads REAL quick). But I think I will take your advice and use some dawn and a tooth brush (gently) and then clay it after I do that.

I'ver never focused much on trim. It seems like no matter how much I clean it, black keeps coming off. But my wife's car has lots of rubber window seals, and side molding and the like (G-wagen- almost bulletproof with big black rubber window seals lol).

[Kurt_s]

Julesh, Sounds like a plan. The dawn (diluted) and a tooth brush should be fine. Keep everything wet and lubricated as you work. Probably best to work in the shade.