Seahag1978 Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Every headrest and RUBBER part on an old Subie has oxidization to it. Well, I'm an offset printer by trade and have been using a product called "Rubber Rejuvenator" for years. It's a very potent solvent that cleans the ink and paper impurities from the rubber blanket that's used on an offset press. It absorbs into the rubber to make it more pliable and increases its resiliency. I brought some home and tried it on the headrests and jump seats. I wet a terry towel with the "RR", scrubbed out the oxidization with a soft cloth and immediately buffed it out with a dry terry towel.. they looked great. I checked it again tonight... they still look new! I'm going to try it on other rubber components like door seals and window gaskets to see how they fare. I sure hope it's a feasible alternative to recoating with Mothers Back to Black or Armoral every minute. Soooo... hit up your local print shop for a few ounces... offer to buy it from them or trade out this bit of info... that high dollar "Blanket Fix" they use is actually a repackaged and relabeled product called "5F5 Paint Remover". (When you have a "smash up" on the press, the rubber blanket gets way over-compressed and this stuff "fluffs" it back up, saving $$$) The 1980 price, (when I discovered it while stripping an antique desk and the smell was the same) was $16.00/4 oz. for Blanket Fix while the 5F5 Paint Remover was selling for $3.00 quart from our local hardware store. They get you coming and going! IMPORTANT!!! PLEASE READ! ***USE WITH CAUTION*** Rubber Rejuvenator will eat a styrofoam cup before you can blink and melt MOST plastics, it'll take off paint and any silkscreened printing. Test a small patch before using it... when testing, use a dry finger... if the surface feels "sticky" STOP IMMEDIATELY! Leave it and pray the "melted" area will reharden to its original state... (it probably will)... I have seen quite a few indiscretions by trainees on materials that were not rubber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twowagons Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 I can't wait to hear how it turns out. This sounds cool :cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrinx Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 hey Mary any pic's and follow up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahag1978 Posted June 26, 2005 Author Share Posted June 26, 2005 I busted up my hand this morning. It's all swollen, I have no strength in it and it's thumping worse than rap in a low-rider. I'll check more out tomorrow I'm sure it'll be better. On top of that, it was almost 100 degrees here, high humidity. Nasty! Jeez, last week I had the heat on... as they say... if you don't like the weather in New England... wait a minute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 Well then,get Tim to do it! Hope your hand feels better soon....and I really want to see those before and after pics too! It sure was nice down on the shore today.It felt like it was around 80 deg. but it was more like 90-something. Two words: Can ada Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahag1978 Posted June 27, 2005 Author Share Posted June 27, 2005 I just posted a pic of the headrest I did today for demonstration. The terry towel I used was quite black with all the junk it pulled out. In addition to the terry towel, I used an old toothbrush. Funny that RR melts plastic, but toothbrushes stand up to the stuff for some odd reason, I guess if they can stand up to people's mouths... ewwww... I just grossed myself out. Anyway, I scrubbed it into the little leather-like grain and star logo. Once I dried it out, we hit it with a lambswool bonnet on a buffer... the headrest pictured is completely dry, no Armorall or other enhancers. I'm happy with the results... what do you think? Here's the link: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=6430&sort=1&cat=500&page=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Excellent! How about on rubber window and door seals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 so I shoudl pull the seats out of the brat's bed before I slop this all over the place? does it leave a greasy/slimy texture like armor all? thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahag1978 Posted June 27, 2005 Author Share Posted June 27, 2005 Excellent! How about on rubber window and door seals? Paul, I'll get to the other components when this hand is a bit better... I really messed it up. The headrest was off the car and it didn't require too much precision so I could do it with my left hand... I am soooo right-handed that I can't even wave straight with my left hand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahag1978 Posted June 27, 2005 Author Share Posted June 27, 2005 so I shoudl pull the seats out of the brat's bed before I slop this all over the place? does it leave a greasy/slimy texture like armor all? thanks for the tip! No, you'll buff it dry with a fresh terry towel, don't let it air dry. The headrest in the picture is clean and dry. Yikes! No slopping it on!!! Use two fingers wrapped in a terry towel face cloth and just moisten the tip (like mom did to get the schmutz off your face). As it gets used, just moisten some more, dip the toothbush in it to get it wet. Q-Tips come in handy for tight spots. A little goes a looong way! I can't stress this enough... remember to test the material in an inconspicuous area... apply a tiny bit with a Q-Tip, and then using a dry finger, it should feel oily... if it feels sticky, STOP! Keep it away from paint, plastic and non-rubber components. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted June 28, 2005 Share Posted June 28, 2005 So,where's the place to be scoring this substance at the family raisin' budget price? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahag1978 Posted June 28, 2005 Author Share Posted June 28, 2005 So,where's the place to be scoring this substance at the family raisin' budget price? Read the first post... I would think that any print shop would have it by the gallon and would spare some. You'll only need a few ounces or so. When you go to get it... be sure to have a metal container for it... it isn't too kind to plastic. I used a coke can wrapped in electric green paper adorned with skull and crossbones. I'll find something a little more suitable next time I grab it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twowagons Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 Mary, did you try the weather stripping out yet ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! When I was a a typewriter tech (trained with IBM) I used pretty much the same stuff!! I'll go by the shop and see the old snot that used to be my boss. We did use trichloralethane (sp?) which really is bad stuff too,for most parts and especially the platen which over time became built up with typewriter ink. I did a quick Google search and came up with this: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2005-11,RNWE:en&q=Rubber+Rejuvenator ...as soon as I saw the word "platen" I was taken back to my electromechanical daze...... Let's see the results,please.Weather stripping results?? Thanks Mary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 Anybody ever try Maquire's? http://www.superiorcarcare.net/meg40vinrubc.html I know the RR will clean the best but I'm also wondering about protection from the sun,weather,etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahag1978 Posted July 17, 2005 Author Share Posted July 17, 2005 Anybody ever try Maquire's? http://www.superiorcarcare.net/meg40vinrubc.html I know the RR will clean the best but I'm also wondering about protection from the sun,weather,etc. I would definitely follow up the RR cleaning with a protectant, this Maguire's looks like it woud be just the ticket. Before I tried the RR. I tried Mother's "Back to Black" and it lasts only a short time before it starts looking dull and oxidized again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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