Make a rubber mat look like new.

[imported_fordmerc]

I want to make my rubber trunk mat look "like new". It is dry and had cracks, now stabilized by patches on the back. Repros not available. Wear will be nil, it does not flex after installation.

Will any black paint do or should I just go with tire blackening product?

[Rick Hoover]

This would be my one suggestion before trying anything else. Buy yourself a bottle of Lestoil household cleaner. Have you ever heard of it before? You can find it in the cleaning section of most any grocery store near you. Take a new soft sponge and apply the Lestoil straight out of the bottle, using straight back and forth strokes. The more you put on, the better the rubber will look in time. A couple coats today and a couple more the next day and so on. It will make the rubber look like new and soften it as it goes. Try it. I'll been using it for years and have saved and reused many original rubber parts and mats with it. Like I said, try it first and if you don't like the results, go with whatever else others might suggest.

[Mark Shaw]

Interesting option Rick. I found this with a quick search:

http://www.thecloroxcompany.com/products/msds/lestoil/lestoilconcentratedheavydutycleaner.pdf

[Jim Bollman]

Glycerin is what I would try, in a spot that doesn't show. I have used it on tires (not for road use) that had started to harden and had age checks. My using multiple coats it softened the rubber and actually fused the cracks back together.

[Guest Bob Call]

I have read in some car magazine, I don't recall which, that when car parts were taken to a commercial paint stripper and rubber parts were not removed, the chemicals softened and re-colored the rubber. Might contact a stripper, not that kind you dirty old man, and see what they say.

[ex98thdrill]

Rick Hoover is a professional restorer who does this stuff for a living, and does it very well. I have had the pleasure of visiting his restoration shop, I've also judged vehicles that have rolled out of his restoration shop, and Rick has a wealth of knowledge.

This is nothing that I've never heard of, but I'll definately try this myself when the need comes. I was going to suggest using lemon pledge furniture cleaner, but Rick's method most likely would be the better way to go.

One of the things that I will recommend is that you <span style="font-weight: bold">DO NOT </span>use Armor-All. An interior man that I dealt with many years ago told me to stay away from Armor-All, and he recommended using Pledge furniture polish. When the man makes his living repairing damage cause a product, and he tells you to stay away from it, I chose to take his advice. So far I've used what he recommends, and he's proven himself right.

[Ron Green]

Rick told me about the Lestoil trick years ago so I gave it a go, though I don't think shaving my head and putting an ear ring in to simulate the Lestoil man were necessary.

It has worked for me with the exception of Amphicar prop shaft seals which are hard as concrete to begin with. Typically with small rubber parts (pedals, trim, seals, etc) I mix up a batch of Lestoil & hot water, throw the parts in and let them soak for a week or so while I work on something else. They always are pliable like new when done.

Pat, totally agree Armorall is poison to rubber and vinyl. I have been using Vinylex (part of the Lexol leather conditioning family) for years with great results.

http://www.vinylexprotectant.com/

[Rick Hoover]

Hey Ron, I hate to tell you this, but the bald guy with the ear ring is Mr. Clean. I don't even think there is a Lestoil Man! It's terrible getting old, huh?

Pat, your mentioning Pledge brought back some memories as well. When we were kids, we use to polish our cars with it. It was the lazy man's wax. 10 minutes and done!

[Guest martylum]

Here's another approach I used recently while restoring a late 30's Chrysler runningboard set.After we patched in a number of bad rubber areas with filler, we carefully soap and water cleaned the old rubber, dried overnight, then sprayed with #3M flexible parts primer which is a black paintlike substance intended to fill flexible plastic surfaces on modern cars. It dries to a nice black lower gloss sheen which is flexible as you would need to reinstall a floormat.You can spray multiple coats for best sheen.This product is bought at any autobody paint vendor who sells DuPont, PPG, etc.

A spray paint gun application is necessary to apply this material and it does fill some very small surface imperfections and is sandable.

I would shy away from overly aggressive cleaning substances as they may cause the rubber to harden and be unmanageable and more prone to cracking.

Martin Lum