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Cleaning the Black Rubber Around Windows


aworkman

Question

Anyone know of a way to clean the "weather stripping" around the car's outside windows? Not sure if it's actually called weather stripping, but I think you know what I am talking about. It seems that anytime I wipe over it (drying towel, glass towel, etc.) the towel gets black from it. Does anyone know of a way to really clean it so that doesn't happen? Does this happen to you?

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I feel your pain, theres a lot of stuff to dress on my truck so when I get to that point so many times I just want to do the big stuff and skip the trim.

 

You can make short work of it if you plan to do polishing and/or wax:

 

Right after washing and drying dress all your trim first, get sloppy too... don't worry about keeping it off of paint and glass, just use a block and go crazy.

 

Then during your polish/wax or just wax the dressing will not be an issue, the process of polishing/waxing will take care of getting it off of paint. Then when you do your glass, which you're almost certainly gonna do you address that area and your done.

 

A lot of people will do dressing as an afterthought, but then you have to take more time to do it as you try to avoid your freshly waxed paint or your freshly cleaned windows. Doing dressing before those steps means you can do it quickly.

 

Another great tip. I did this for the first time today on a Ford Escape I was detailing. And as you said, it went so much faster and post buff/polish cleanup was real easy where as before I'd fight doing the trip then having to rewipe the doors if i got some on that etc. I now go with wash, clay, rewash, dry, do trim, buff/polish, wax, finish with windows.

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I've asked this in another thread, but don't know if I was clear enough with my question. Once I've used MSW, do I have to strip that to do minor corrections with FMP? I know I can add BG over MSW, or MSW over MSW, etc., but what about minor correction, do I have to do the alcohol/water mix and strip it every time I want to polish the paint?

 

to do any polishing, you should be working on bare paint

 

same with applying MSW, must be on bare paint

 

Like Nick said, bare paint. You can do it without removing your wax/sealant, but you will get the best results when the paint is bare. It ensures you are only polishing the paint, not the old wax, and keep the pads cleaner. Using the IPA mixture you can strip a small area for correcting. You will have to reapply the wax in that area anyway, correct?

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Great tips. Thanks a lot.

 

I've asked this in another thread, but don't know if I was clear enough with my question. Once I've used MSW, do I have to strip that to do minor corrections with FMP? I know I can add BG over MSW, or MSW over MSW, etc., but what about minor correction, do I have to do the alcohol/water mix and strip it every time I want to polish the paint?

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer my newbie questions :)

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Thanks for that detailed explanation Dylan. Makes sense to me. I need to start dressing those areas more. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't based on time.

 

I feel your pain, theres a lot of stuff to dress on my truck so when I get to that point so many times I just want to do the big stuff and skip the trim.

 

You can make short work of it if you plan to do polishing and/or wax:

 

Right after washing and drying dress all your trim first, get sloppy too... don't worry about keeping it off of paint and glass, just use a block and go crazy.

 

Then during your polish/wax or just wax the dressing will not be an issue, the process of polishing/waxing will take care of getting it off of paint. Then when you do your glass, which you're almost certainly gonna do you address that area and your done.

 

A lot of people will do dressing as an afterthought, but then you have to take more time to do it as you try to avoid your freshly waxed paint or your freshly cleaned windows. Doing dressing before those steps means you can do it quickly.

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You're always going to get some black transfer from those areas as the rubber is being oxidized. The stuff you get on your towels isn't so much 'dirt' as it is small amounts of the material that have been dried out or oxidized by UV rays.

 

Dressing them will help, but not completely prevent it. My truck spends most of its life in the garage, the trim is dressed religiously with SVRT, but I still get small amounts of transfer if I wipe them.

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You have to think that you are really drying out your trim with the APC....reference your tires LOL.

 

SVRT follow up is a must. Heck, after you get them clean perfect, you may need two passes of SVRT to get everything where you need it.

 

:D

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Happens to my vehicles. When I want to really clean the trim: before a wash I'll dampen a terry cloth towel and spray some APC on it. Amazing how much black wipes off the rubber!

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So this isn't a problem others face? Interesting. It's always happened to me, for as long as I've had a car. I must never have washed those areas well enough.

 

On a side note, I found that the last time I washed my car, I didn't wash it well enough because I was so focused on not putting swirls back on the paint. (Even with using 2 bucket wash, etc.) I worked so hard to get it right. I know it's only a matter of time before those swirls are back though!

 

a foam gun will help..

 

I do like the others say, dedicate a little more in that area.. the apc works great.. I havent tried the lug brush yet, gotta try that..

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So this isn't a problem others face? Interesting. It's always happened to me, for as long as I've had a car. I must never have washed those areas well enough.

 

On a side note, I found that the last time I washed my car, I didn't wash it well enough because I was so focused on not putting swirls back on the paint. (Even with using 2 bucket wash, etc.) I worked so hard to get it right. I know it's only a matter of time before those swirls are back though!

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