1963 riviera seat vinyl

[Guest Steeleco]

Need advise, A few months ago I purchased Blue seat vinyl from Clark's, installed it and it came out pretty good (for a shade tree guy cutting corners). My question is can or should I use Aromor-All as a protectant on them? Everybodys opinion is appreciated.

Thanks

[RivNut]

I worked for a vinyl repair franchise as the Operations Director for a few years. We were also making some vinyl dye and vinyl care products (no longer available) and were doing some testing on our product vs. Armor-All and some others. We stored dash boards in meat lockers, and sat them under UV heat lamps to compare what we had with the popular stuff. We found that the dash boards we treated with Armor-All had a tendency to crack more often. The chemist with whom we were working at the University of Missouri Kansas City, said that the silicones in the Armor-All caused 'plasticizer migration' which would cause the vinyl to dry and crack. I've stayed away from it ever since.

In my opinion, the stuff you get from the Aerospace 303 folks is a superior product. I haven't done the same comparison tests with it, and never will, but from everything I've seen, I think it's a superior product to Armor-All.

Ed

[60FlatTop]

I have heard that Armour All might have some negative properties. Being curious about it I found out lanolin is good for vinyl and leather. I don't remember how I found the information. Always willing to try new things, I have tried massaging DL hand cleaner into some pretty nasty seats. They came out looking real nice. I don't know about the long term effects. I have been using lanolin based products for a long time now. I'll check the brand when I go out to the garage later today.

Bernie

[lrlforfun]

OK Riviera People: Funny this is mentioned. Last night at our Buick Club's Xmas dinner one of the door prizes was a fuel additive made by a company called "Granatize". I remember Grove's Granatize detailing products from my car lot years. The gentleman who sold the products came by and demo-ed this vinyl/leather, cleaner/protectant product. It was fantastic. Spray it on, let it soak, wipe it off with a terrycloth towel and repeat if necessary. It left the vinyl or leather exceptionally clean and with a nice gloss which was different than either the Armor-All or the silicone based tire dressing products that were in common use at that time.

I have often wondered about this product and what happened with that company. The sales person quit coming around and that was the last I have ever seen of it. There was an early 80's Murray Reinhart Nation person selling a vinyl cleaner that had some kind of base to it (toluene? mek? something like that) and it worked like no other product I had ever seen. It left the vinyl or leather unbelievably clean and had no conditioners like the Granitize product.

Would anybody know anything about this Groves product because I would buy a gallon . In the meantime I'm using Purple Power (a Wal-Mart product much cheaper than Castrol Super Clean) to clean vinyl or leather, rinsing where ever possible and I'm following up with the SP-80. That SP-80 has UV protection and the cars with clear glass certainly get the benefit of that. The only problem is it gasses off and fogs the windows which could be a safety item due to impaired vision (unless you clean your windows often). Mitch

[Guest Rob J]

I personally do NOT like or use Armor All on anything. First, I do not like a glossy dash pad, or glossy, slippery seats. I think it makes a cars interior look cheap. I also believe that Armor All combined with the sun help to harden up plastics and vinyl's, causing them to crack, fade, and wear prematurely. The only place I like any glossy solution or product is on tires, but I don't use the traditional Armor All. Nowhere else.

Edited December 11, 2012 by Rob J (see edit history)

[Guest Steeleco]

Hello Rob J,

Is there a product you would suggest for the Vinyl I installed from Clarks Corvair? It was installed a few months ago and is starting to look a little dry. Not bad or anything.

[Guest Rob J]

Mother's Rubber, Vinyl, and Plastic Protectant. Non-Greasy, and non glossy.