help! rubber seal petroleum distillate problem

[attwater]

Well, I suppose I dropped the ball here. The rubber (epdm) seals for this vert are obviously not replaceable... I was using a can of spray silicone to lubricate all of the rubber seals (generally silicone + rubber = good). Upon finishing I realized that my can contained petroleum distillates. This is bad. PDs ruin rubber and epdm. What in the cr*p should I do now? Generally I don't do stupid things like this. Help!

[Eikon]

I would try soap and water to wash it off. Something like a dishsoap might break up the petroleum. Worth a try..

[attwater]

Thanks Eikon. I found an article about epdm and rubber written by an auto detailing shop and I called to speak with them. They do not put anything onto rubber door and window seals. Those seals are to be left alone. They told me to clean the rubber with rubbing alcohol and a microfiber towel to remove the spray silicone and call it a day. I asked if I could then dress it with Mothers Back to Black (doesn't have any PDs in it...). The guy couldn't guarantee anything regarding that product, but told me that if I use it I should at very least buff off as much as possible and not leave the rubber looking wet and shiny. Food for thought...

[cmkelly]

So I guess Armour-all is a bad thing for door and window seals? $hit!

[94_240sx]

attwater, I'm sorry to hear this. Were you able to clean up the mess and restore those parts to original shape? I use McGuire Rubber and Vinyl cleaner and it works like a charm. It kinda restores plastic and rubber look like new. I don't like shiny look, so I use windex after that to remove shiny glossy look. Let me know how it turned out.

[attwater]

Bit of advice: Never use armor all on anything! Armor all has some sort of polymer trash in it that reacts with the sun and destroys plastic, rubber, and vinyl. Don't kill the messenger here. Talk to a detailer about it. They'll tell you... It makes dashboards look shiny but ultimately causes them to crack and fade. Why do they still sell the stuff? They make money off of their established name and people like it.