Anyone have any tips on how to restore a dash that's starting to dry out?

I'm thinking actual leather cleaner (for couches) but I've researched a little and some say it doesn't absorb into the dash and just stays on top? I've used it on my leather steering wheel and no problems.

 

I'm not an expert but I would say try Poorboy's Trim restorer. You probably need to apply it several times, work it into the dash well and repeat.

http://autogeek.net/pbtr16.html

 

try 303 aerospace protectant, it has a SPF of 40

 

give those a try...also, did you use any armor all products by any chance?

 

please don't use amour-all. They will dry your dash and make it crack.

 

precisely...which is why i was asking

 

Nope, I've never used Armor-All. But I have used Meguiars vinyl protectant. I've used the product twice in the past 7 months. My car was bought from the original owner.

I think he may have used those sort of products religiously. Because I've owned the car for 7 months and there is no way the product I used twice would make the vinyl look as dated as it does. I've used this product on past vehicles and never had this issues.

 

check this stuff out called auto armor look it up and get the leather and vinyl enhancer. i worked as a deatiler for over 1 year now and still this is the product i keep on my shelf at work and at home and in the garage. it a wipe on wipe the axcess off kinda thing and do it. it stays on for long periods of time, gives the dash some refreshed look and keeps it moist enought not to crack try it and lmk how it works. u buy a small bottle it last a year u dont need alot.

 

Vinyl, Leather and Rubber ...........

The surfaces we have listed are subject to UV rays, and this is what's the biggest enemy of these surfaces is. Technically what you are doing is applying a coating to the surface that does two things, (1) as mentioned it gives a protective coating to protect against the suns UV rays which causes deterioration of the surface. (2) It keeps the surface soft and supple, unlike most products on the market which after a while causes the surface to dry out become brittle and start to dry crack.

I hope that helps

 

I have the 1z cockpit cleaner stuff. I have yet to use it but will definitely write it up when i do

 

the hearsay on armorall is it contains some silicone agents that seal off the dashboard thus drying out/cracking. i dont know if this is true, but when EVERYONE says to NeVeR use armorall, i listen to 10/10 judgements...

i use meguiars mirrorglaze vinyl/rubber protectant. once my bottle is all gone i'm switching over to aerospace 303

 

any vrt dressing will do the job. look for water-based only. aerospace 303 it's simply a protector, it won't restore anything.

I have an entire collection of Chemical Guys products, but for something like that, I'd still personally use Meguiar's quick interior detail wipes/spray and a microfiber towel to buff it out after.

 

leather and vinyl enhancer is still the top rated out off all those for dash board protectant and can be used on everything, while it shines nicely it also protects the sun from drying out or cracking the dash board. not alot of people have heard of this its kinda hard to get ahold of, most stores dont sell it.

 

A common characteristic of the lesser cost products in the market is the unusually high content of solvents in the product. High content solvent products will give a quick shine, that is true, but this will not last.
The main reason you don't see those products at the stores is because company's have figured out that they can produce 3 individual products with 3 different names and all 3 using the same formula from the same batch, so at the end they make 3x times more money.

The reason to have Silicone in some products is because it does many things, one it adds lubricity to the product, another is, is a surface protectant within itself, another, it adheres to whatever surface it is attached to. Also it resists being washed off by regular PH balanced products, not all companies used it, there are many reasons, one is the cost, silicone adds a significant cost to the product. Another is that not everyone knows how to formulate or blend silicone into their products to achieve the desired results. This is company proprietary formula information and is not given out.

and a few more qs that you guys may have, Is silicone harmful to the paint finish?
No. It does not possess a ph factor to be detrimental to the finish. Think about this, there are products in the silicone family in many of the hand lotions we use.

Why do you use silicone in your products?
To promote longevity of the waxed surface, provide protection to the surface it is put on, protection mainly from the elements, rain, sun, etc.

How do we know what silicone base product to use?
Most of this would be proprietary, but we arrived at this knowledge through constant research in our lab and testing many formulas.

I hope you find this information useful

 

I dont use armorall products, but I really doubt their stuff makes dashboards crack. Its simply due to not putting nay sort of UV protection on them.


Im sure if armorall did damage, they would have figured that out by now and addressed the problem.