How would you clean these? -The Rubber on Running Boards

[Mike Phillips]

How would you clean these? -The Rubber on Running Boards



Note - I know they are not perfect but I'm not talking about making them perfect, that would simply be REPLACING them.

If a person didn't want to replace them, how would you go about cleaning and restoring their appearance?


Here's the before condition








Here's how I cleaned and rejuvenated them....


No pictures - how I cleaned them

To scrub them clean I used a combination of the red scrub brush you'll see below and the FLEX Cordless PE14 with a DA Scrub Brush on it. After scrubbing, I took the brush pressed it against a clean terrycloth towel. I used the brush bristles to push the towel into the grooves in the rubber tread to pull out all the cleaner and loosened oxidized rubber.



How I treated them after cleaning

I used Solution Finish, which is Carbon Black milled to a particle size smaller than a virus and brushed a heavy, wet coat over the rubber treads.





I took a Dixie water cup and cut it down, then poured the Solution Finish into the cup so I could dip my brush into it.






This is a wet application of Solution Finish.





I let the wet application of Solution Finish soak into the old, dried-out rubber for about 10 to 15 minutes and then I used a clean cotton terrycloth towel and scrub brush to remove any excess.





The idea being to PRESS DOWN HARD on the brush and force the brush bristles to force the terrycloth INTO the valley's of the ribs to wipe off any excess Solution Finish.





Here's the towel flipped over to show how well this actually worked. I did have to press firm and scrub kind of slow so the liquid had time to move from the rubber into the cotton.





Next I took one of my favorite tools, the Tornador Black Air Blow Out Gun and blasted the rubber treads to push any excess Solution Finish into the rubber.






Here's the final results. I don't think my iPhone camera truly captures how really nice they look but for your consideration....












And here's everything I used....






Before




After





You can get all this stuff except the Tornador Black Air Blow Out Gun on Autogeek.com - you can get the Tornador WHITE Air Blow Out Gun on Autogeek.com but the black version you see here was a personal gift from Dennis Dehn to me and as far as I know, the black guns have not been mass produced yet.




On Autogeek.com


Pinnacle Leather & Vinyl Cleaner

Solution Finish Black Plastic & Vinyl Restorer 12 oz.

Interior Concours Brush



The Heavy-Duty DA Carpet Brush features deep 1.5-inch nylon bristles and it is the length of these bristles that lets them conform to curved surfaces like tire sidewalls better than the short bristle brush.

Heavy-Duty DA Carpet Brush – Long Bristles




This is a good match for either the long or short bristle brush but any brand where the diameter is smaller than 5" should work just fine.

Rotary 4 ¾ inch Flexible Backing Plate




FLEX PE-150 Cordless Rotary Polisher

The FLEX PE-150 Cordless Rotary Polisher has a 1400 watt motor with a no-load speed range of 150 - 1,450 rpm. When powered by the 5 amp battery pack, the FLEX PE-150 Cordless Rotary Polisher can use a cutting wool pad at full power for 30-35 minutes – the perfect amount of time to polish a couple panels. The average charge time from dead to fully charged is approximately 40 minutes – and you can have a back-up battery on hand to keep going while the other battery is still charging!




If you need more aggressive scrubbing action and the surface you're scrubbing is FLAT then the short bristle brush is a good option.

Heavy-Duty DA Carpet Brush – Short Bristles

[gspam1]

I clean running boards using an APC of choice like Power Clean or Meguiars diluted 10 to 1 and a rotary polisher with a soft brush. I've tried multiple tire and rubber dressings (Meguiar's CarPro PERL), including using Solution Finish, Weathertech Floormat dressing, and McKee's Floor Mat Rejuvenator. What I've found that keeps them black longest is a tire coating, like Optimum or Tuf Shine after cleaning them multiple times first. Prep is critical. All these products are available from AutoGeek.

[PA DETAILER]

Griot's Garage Rubber Cleaner, exterior trim cleaner, clean rubber moldings, tire cleaner, griots garage

Followed by...

Duragloss Rubber & Flat Black Dressing (RBD) #271

[Dr Oldz]

When doing older vehicles such as this, I take a very basic approach.

I don’t use any harsh chemicals or dressings. Considering it is 75+ years old, I don’t want to be responsible for ruining these.

My approach would be to lightly wipe down or agitate with an ONR solution. I would not dress as ANY dressing can possibly accelerate any more drying or cracking. ONR straight can add a touch of the factory look gloss.

Perhaps a PBMG rinseless wash will work but I can not comment since I have never used any in this manner.

That’s my approach on older rubber anyway. May not be the most popular advice but I feel it’s the safest to preserve the rubber.

[Craig Parker]

Brush away all the loose dirt, clean with 303 Aerospace cleaner, and follow with 303 protectant

[ducksfan]

Brush away all the loose dirt, clean with 303 Aerospace cleaner, and follow with 303 protectant

Yeah, I think that would be my first attempt too.

[FUNX650]

I’d start off by first doing a judicious
“Test Spot”, on/at a discrete location,
using Meguiar’s M39/M40.

The results thereof will determine
whether I’ll continue with M39/M40
for this rubber’s refurbishment, or not.


Bob

[Thomkirby]

I am impressed with the Griots Garage foaming tire cleaner from my Weathertech mats. I would do a test spot with a light brush or just a MF towel. Those running boards look very dry and brittle. Would avoid using anything aggressive (no electric brushes Mike LOL) with any product choice.
Then follow up with something in a spray that is NOT creating a slick surface.

GG Product link: Griot's Garage Foaming Tire Cleaner

[Mike Phillips]

All great methods suggested....

For projects like this there's a million ways to skin this cat.

I updated my post above to show what I used, explain how I used it and then included the after shots.

I clean running boards using an APC of choice like Power Clean or Meguiar's diluted 10 to 1 and a rotary polisher with a soft brush.

I used a combination of scrubbing using a hand brush and also a brush on the PE14 at very low RPMs.

I've tried multiple tire and rubber dressings including using Solution Finish

All those you listed would do a great job. I chose to use Solution Finish first because it is CARBON BLACK PIGMENT milled to a size smaller than a VIRUS, which means it will penetrate into the old, aged rubber.

This is a garage-kept car, it's not actually going to see a lot of people "stepping" onto the running board, so the results created by the Solution Finish are more than adequete for the use of this car and should last for some time.


Thanks for chiming in everyone!

[mc2hill]

When doing older vehicles such as this, I take a very basic approach.

I don’t use any harsh chemicals or dressings. Considering it is 75+ years old, I don’t want to be responsible for ruining these.

My approach would be to lightly wipe down or agitate with an ONR solution. I would not dress as ANY dressing can possibly accelerate any more drying or cracking. ONR straight can add a touch of the factory look gloss.

Perhaps a PBMG rinseless wash will work but I can not comment since I have never used any in this manner.

That’s my approach on older rubber anyway. May not be the most popular advice but I feel it’s the safest to preserve the rubber.

I'm with you Dr.
The cars with running boards I work on are pre 1930, so I rarely anything stronger than ONR. Maybe some 10:1 APR on both sides of the tires, but ONR for the wooden or wire wheels.
I had to get some grease off the original seats of 1915 Renault, and that required something stronger. My stomach was in knots until I was finished and was sure there was no damage!
Oh, and that car had been in the Amelia Island Concours.