How-to: Protect Door Gaskets with SONAX GummiPfleger

[Mike Phillips]

How-to: Protect Door Gaskets with SONAX GummiPfleger


SONAX GummiPfleger






So a buddy of mine buys an old 2-door Mercedes-Benz,





And then asks me,

Do you know how to detail rubber door gaskets?




I say,

Cleaning and detailing rubber gaskets around door is not really what I'm known for but "sure" I can do it.


So he drops his car off and I tackled it. When he asked about the rubber door gaskets, he clarified by asking me to address all the ALL the rubber gaskets.






EDPM Sponge Rubber

Shared from TheRubberCompany.com

EPDM sponge rubber is a high-quality, closed cell material that is commonly used to create an air and watertight seal. EPDM sponge is great for use in outdoor sealing applications due to the superior UV and Ozone resistance the material offers. Aside from offering excellent weathering resistance, EPDM also features good flexibility, tensile strength and recovery properties. The closed cell structure enables the material to handle high-pressure sealing applications at a better rate. This serves to increase the life expectancy of the material in physically demanding applications.


When it comes to detailing cars, instead of trying to play the part of a chemist and thus investing time researching basically everything there is to know about everything, instead I simply use products from respected, established brands. I trust that the owner and their team have done their due diligence in research and hired actual chemist that know what they are doing. Thus by picking a respected, established brand... I can do me, (detailer), and trust the product I've picked is formulated for the task at hand.


Enter GummiPfleger

SONAX makes a lot of great products including a specialized protectant just for door gaskets as well as all the various gaskets used to seal a car including around the doors, the hatchback, trunk lid and the hood.



Setting-up to treat rubber body gaskets

This type of "detailing" is different than most other aspects in that you are working on a flexible material that normally has design features that make doing the actual working on it a tick on the tricky side. Here's how I approach this type of detailing.

First you need some small tools, like foam swabs and tiny patches of cotton terrycloth.


Various shaped foam swabs






Scrap Rags

Everyone should have a collection of Scrap Rags in their detailing arsenal. These can be both cotton and microfiber. Sometimes you want and need the gentleness of microfiber but sometimes you want the extra scrubbing power you get from ordinary cotton terrycloth.

Here's the Scrap Rag drawer I maintain at Autogeek








I normally have a cotton scrap rag that I've cut-up for other various projects and then keep the leftover for future projects. When needed, simply cut out some small patches of cloth for the task at hand, in this example I'll be rubbing down rubber gaskets.














How to use SONAX GummiPfleger

The GummiPfleger comes in a small plastic bottle with a spring-loaded foam sponge applicator that works like and old-school shoe polish. The idea being to press the face of the sponge applicator against a surface and in so doing, the liquid inside is released and spread via the foam sponge.






While this works great for some applications, I have another method I use that works for me.


First I get a small Dixie Cup and cut it down to make an even smaller cup.






Next, grab the foam dabber head and gently twist and pull to remove it from the bottle.












Then pour some of the GummiPfleger into the Dixie Cup.






Here's the product you'll use. Be careful not to tip the small paper cup over.






Place everything you'll use on a cart or workbench and it's time to get started.






Choose the appropriate size foam swab and dunk it into the GummiPfleger...










Then start the meticulous process of using the swab to get into the various design shapes of the gasket you're working on and massage the GummiPfleger thoroughly over the gasket.










Starting to see how and why the foam swabs work well for this?


















For the larger surfaces, I use the swab to dab GummiPfleger onto one of the small cotton patches and then use the cotton patch to massage the GummiPfleger over the larger rubber and even vinyl surfaces.
















Continue this process to all the gaskets on the car.






Don't forget the gaskets that surround the door. There's usually gaskets in the door frame as well as around the door itself.






Also - after finishing a door, trunk lid, etc., take a clean microfiber towel and gently wipe off any excess product. This type of car detailing requires the right product, a few simple tools and an extra dose of patience. But for most cars you can do a great job in 2-3 hours.






Then when you're done, put the sponge dabber back onto the bottle, put the lid on the bottle and store in a cool place for the next time you detail rubber gaskets.








On Autogeek.com


SONAX GummiPfleger Rubber Protectant



These are not the swabs I used, just the swabs available on Autogeek.com

S100 Detailing Swabs - 50 count

Cotton Detailing Sticks

[Desertnate]

Hmmm. I always thought Gummi Pfledge was a product name and not a product type! Here at Autogeek there are a couple different brands selling something under this name (Nextzett, and SONAX). BMW relabels the Nextzett product and sells it in their parts department the last time I looked.

Thanks for this, Mike. As a long time German car owner, I never go without having a bottle of Gummi Pfledge in my garage. In the depths of winter when temperatures get really low and the air really dries out, the weather seals on EVERY German car I've owned (2x BMWs, 1x VW) will start to creak and make lots of annoying noises. The only way to silence them is a good application of this stuff. No idea why American or Japanese cars don't have the same problem.

[57Rambler]

Thanks for this, Mike. As a long time German car owner, I never go without having a bottle of Gummi Pfledge in my garage. In the depths of winter when temperatures get really low and the air really dries out, the weather seals on EVERY German car I've owned (2x BMWs, 1x VW) will start to creak and make lots of annoying noises. The only way to silence them is a good application of this stuff. No idea why American or Japanese cars don't have the same problem.

Use of different/better materials. For example, Santoprene ... basically a polymer of EDPM and polypropylene.

[Eldorado2k]

Great advice and I agree, those foam swabs are so valuable for a detail and you don’t appreciate them until you find out the many things they’re good for.

1 thing you left out is that most times those rubber gaskets/weatherstripping on most vehicles i.e. daily drivers shows up with a good layer of dust & dirt, so prior to the surgical detailing with the swabs & protectant, a quick go over with the vacuum and or 1 of those rags like you’ve got in that drawer with some APC will help get them cleaned and prepped for applying the protectant with the swabs and towels.

Question: Did you apply the GummiPfleger onto the rubber that surrounds the driver/passenger windows? Can the product be applied to those parts without leaving streaks on the windows once they’re rolled up?

[Mike Phillips]

Great advice and I agree, those foam swabs are so valuable for a detail and you don’t appreciate them until you find out the many things they’re good for.

The foam swabs you see in the picture were from a SAMPLE some company sent me. I remember checking with marketing to see if these were a product they would like to bring in to the AG store but there was no interest. My guess is they would be a slow mover and not a huge profit maker. Just a guess.

But you're right - having the right tool for the job is just as important as having the right product. And these different shaped and sized foam swabbed "enabled" me to do the job. After posting this I looked for the original bag the swabs came in but couldn't find it.

1 thing you left out is that most times those rubber gaskets/weatherstripping on most vehicles i.e. daily drivers shows up with a good layer of dust & dirt, so prior to the surgical detailing with the swabs & protectant, a quick go over with the vacuum and or 1 of those rags like you’ve got in that drawer with some APC will help get them cleaned and prepped for applying the protectant with the swabs and towels.

I did a waterless wash using SONAX Glass Cleaner at the time, (you'll see a picture down below). The car is a "garage queen", (at least it was via the previous owner), so nothing was really that dirty to start with.

Question: Did you apply the GummiPfleger onto the rubber that surrounds the driver/passenger windows?

Yes.

Can the product be applied to those parts without leaving streaks on the windows once they’re rolled up?

What I did was "massage" the rubber frame gaskets with the GummiPfleger and then after letting the product soak in, wiped them really well with a microfiber utility towel to remove any excess. If there were any streaks in the glass down the road I don't know about it BUT the owner is smart enough to figure out what's what and remove them himself.

The owner did NOT want a ceramic coating on the paint, all he wanted was to have all the rubber gaskets treated plus detail the interior, which I also did.


Good insight and questions, than you for asking.

[Mike Phillips]

More...

There's not a huge visual impact in the before and after pictures for the Kosmetic Engine Detail but as the person that did the work and saw the difference first hand, there was a HUGE improvement.


BEFORE




AFTER





Here's everything I used. Notice how SIMPLE I keep the process.







On Autogeek.com


Tornador Air Blow Out Gun - To blow out all the leaves, bugs, dust etc.


SONAX Glass Cleaner - To wipe clean the engine compartment including the Cobra 530 fluffy microfiber towel.


Pinnacle Black Label Leather/Vinyl Coating


EZ Mist Sprayer - Black - Love these sprayers because the do a great job of ATOMIZING a liquid to do a great job of spraying out a very, very fine mist over a large area.

[Mike Phillips]

More...

AMG door sills were looking dull, tatty and neglected....






















And the red and black leather interior was cleaned and coated.














Cool car...

Mercedes-Benz AMG GT S with the factory designo Magno Selenite Grey matte paint finish

[57Rambler]

More...

There's not a huge visual impact in the before and after pictures for the Kosmetic Engine Detail but as the person that did the work and saw the difference first hand, there was a HUGE improvement.

Ha ha ... I see what you did there. A "Kosmetic" detail for the "Kompressor".

And I did notice a difference in Before vs. After ... all the plastic parts now have a nice, even/level matte appearance.

EZ Mist Sprayer - Black - Love these sprayers because the do a great job of ATOMIZING a liquid to do a great job of spraying out a very, very fine mist over a large area.

You just added to my Wish List with that sprayer as the wife keeps complaining when I repurpose one of her Bona product sprayers (which, BTW, are also excellent atomizing sprayers).

[Mike Phillips]

Ha ha ... I see what you did there. A "Kosmetic" detail for the "Kompressor".

I learned the term Cosmetic Engine Detailing from Mel Craig. I give him credit for it here,

A Note on Engine Detailing

As I started writing more and more articles about both types of engine detailing I changed the letter "C" to the letter "K" just to make it different. Here's an example,


15 Minutes Kosmetic Engine Detail - With 303 - Wheel Woolies and Metro-Vac

From this...





To this....

And I did notice a difference in Before vs. After ... all the plastic parts now have a nice, even/level matte appearance.

Good eye. It's easy to see dramatic before and after differences when the engine compartment is absolutely junked-out, like above. Much harder to do when what you're starting with actually looks pretty good. So at the end of the day you do your beet and move forward.

You just added to my Wish List with that sprayer as the wife keeps complaining when I repurpose one of her Bona product sprayers (which, BTW, are also excellent atomizing sprayers).

I believe Andre discovered these and had them brought into the AG store.

I can appreciate a great atomizing spray head.

[Mike Phillips]

On the topic of engine cleaning, this is my all-time favorite engine detailing write-up...



Check this write-up out,

How to clean an engine compartment


See the carb, distributor and alternator covered up? There's also a microfiber cloth under the tape over the 750 Holley.














Much better....





Ready to get back on the road...