The Importance of Cleanliness
07-07-2014, 04:02 PM
#1
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
The Importance of Cleanliness
I had a bit of a revelation last month on caring for weatherstripping (and plastics of all types): clean it first!
I’ll state upfront I dislike buying specialty chemicals. Specialty chems are generally just inexpensive base chemicals blended with a super-secret magic ingredient, dusted with some scienc-y words, sprinkled with pixie dust, and rolled up in clever marketing. If they can get you to buy a 16-part chemical treatment, great!! It’s an excellent business. So most of my chems for household & vehicle care are basics: bleach, vinegar, WD40, engine oil, etc. Simple as possible, with few exceptions. Anyway…. Rant off.
My 2000 FRC has spent some of its life outside. Myself and all PO’s have been very good about car care, but the weatherstripping has faded & looks a bit grey
. Application of a treatment would look good for a while, then go back to grayish.
It occurred to me the stuff probably has 200+ coating of various products. So I decided to experiment using the window strip around the rear glass as a test area: treat ½ the ‘new’ way, ½ the ‘regular' way.
Regular method
-wash the car with a gentle cleaner (1 capful Meguires car wash concentrate, I’ve had the same gal of wash for a couple years now), tap water, and the sheepskin mitt
-towel dry
-wipe-on application of Aerospace 303 (one of the fancy chems I’ll pay for)
Test method
-Completely clean the test window strip with Simple Green. I did this with straight-up Simple Green ‘Carpet’ cleaner (not green! It’s not dyed) and white cloth. Clean & rub till no more residue comes off. I’ve had excellent luck with Simple Green cleaning lots of things, very inexpensively. The gallon was about $20 as I recall, and no more than an ounce or so is generally needed.
-wash the car with a gentle cleaner, tap water, and the sheepskin mitt
-towel dry
-wipe-on application of Aerospace 303
Result:
I have only one picture, and mostly you can see the reflection of the garage door in the glass! Sorry about that. The Right side of the weather-strip is the test area. The Left side is the Control. This pic was taken about a week after the wash/test was performed.
As you can see, the Test area is not perfect, but it’s a heck of a lot better, probably 80% back to original, and much more consistent. The nice dark color has remained for about 2 weeks now, it looks great. Huge visual difference.
The 'test' weather-strip actually feels better too. The cleaner removed a lot of gunk, seemed to soften the rubber slightly, and restore the texture. The 303 made it dark. The color, softness & texture has remained.
I finished this up about a week ago. Since then I’ve done the rest of the car including the door strips, all interior door panels, dash, etc. Wash with water; Clean with Simple green; Wipe on 303. It’s the bomb! The most interesting result was on the steering wheel of dear wife's 12yr old daily driver. The wheel looks the same but feels completely different. A LOT of goo came off that one.
The large complex seals around the door glass had been starting to look worn and brittle. So much so I'd sourced a spare set from a low-mile garage-kept FRC. When completely restored, the seals on my car look much better - better than the spares!
Had to share. Hope this helps some of ya’ll take care of your vehicle with a bit less hassle & expense, and excellent results.
I’ll state upfront I dislike buying specialty chemicals. Specialty chems are generally just inexpensive base chemicals blended with a super-secret magic ingredient, dusted with some scienc-y words, sprinkled with pixie dust, and rolled up in clever marketing. If they can get you to buy a 16-part chemical treatment, great!! It’s an excellent business. So most of my chems for household & vehicle care are basics: bleach, vinegar, WD40, engine oil, etc. Simple as possible, with few exceptions. Anyway…. Rant off.
My 2000 FRC has spent some of its life outside. Myself and all PO’s have been very good about car care, but the weatherstripping has faded & looks a bit grey
. Application of a treatment would look good for a while, then go back to grayish.It occurred to me the stuff probably has 200+ coating of various products. So I decided to experiment using the window strip around the rear glass as a test area: treat ½ the ‘new’ way, ½ the ‘regular' way.
Regular method
-wash the car with a gentle cleaner (1 capful Meguires car wash concentrate, I’ve had the same gal of wash for a couple years now), tap water, and the sheepskin mitt
-towel dry
-wipe-on application of Aerospace 303 (one of the fancy chems I’ll pay for)
Test method
-Completely clean the test window strip with Simple Green. I did this with straight-up Simple Green ‘Carpet’ cleaner (not green! It’s not dyed) and white cloth. Clean & rub till no more residue comes off. I’ve had excellent luck with Simple Green cleaning lots of things, very inexpensively. The gallon was about $20 as I recall, and no more than an ounce or so is generally needed.
-wash the car with a gentle cleaner, tap water, and the sheepskin mitt
-towel dry
-wipe-on application of Aerospace 303
Result:
I have only one picture, and mostly you can see the reflection of the garage door in the glass! Sorry about that. The Right side of the weather-strip is the test area. The Left side is the Control. This pic was taken about a week after the wash/test was performed.
As you can see, the Test area is not perfect, but it’s a heck of a lot better, probably 80% back to original, and much more consistent. The nice dark color has remained for about 2 weeks now, it looks great. Huge visual difference.
The 'test' weather-strip actually feels better too. The cleaner removed a lot of gunk, seemed to soften the rubber slightly, and restore the texture. The 303 made it dark. The color, softness & texture has remained.
I finished this up about a week ago. Since then I’ve done the rest of the car including the door strips, all interior door panels, dash, etc. Wash with water; Clean with Simple green; Wipe on 303. It’s the bomb! The most interesting result was on the steering wheel of dear wife's 12yr old daily driver. The wheel looks the same but feels completely different. A LOT of goo came off that one.
The large complex seals around the door glass had been starting to look worn and brittle. So much so I'd sourced a spare set from a low-mile garage-kept FRC. When completely restored, the seals on my car look much better - better than the spares!
Had to share. Hope this helps some of ya’ll take care of your vehicle with a bit less hassle & expense, and excellent results.
07-07-2014, 05:47 PM
#2
Former Vendor
303 Aerospace Protectant is a great product indeed and can be used in so many places. Unlike a lot of the competitors products, it actually has included a sunscreen in it also. I highly suggest trying the Detail Spray, and the convertible care kit for those with a fabric roof.