Club 80-90 Forums

Searched to no avail. Does anyone know the best way to blacken the rubber flooring in a t3. I've pulled them out and scrubbed them, but once dry, they look crappy grey. Dash looks crap also.

Never done flexible rubber mats but bumpers and hard plastic are a diddle to restore. You need a hot air gun, gently apply heat until you see the plastic darken, then progress to other parts. Nonce it begins to darken it's a bit like spraying with a rattle can only slower if you catch my drift.

Hope this helps, let us know if you have a go.

Cheers, will try my heat gun on the plastic dash. Might test bumper ends first.

Good idea, do test a hidden area first.

Tyre treatment works well on rubber mats.

Simple (and cheap). Use black shoe polish, the sort you brush on and off. Brush liberally into mat and leave to dry for about an hour. Brush off vigorously and a nice showroom shine will be the result

Trust me

WHS ^^^^^ I have used black shoe polish for car rubber mats for donkey's years, far better than anything else.

Thanks for the replies. My wife suggested boot polish........."ok dear" I said to humour her. I will tell her now how clever she is lol.
And for anyone who wants to know, heat gun didnt work for me. I sprayed all the plastic on my last dash, might have to do the same again.

Possibly, the heat gun method only works on thermo plastics, at least we know for future reference.

Boot polish works great

This is ace for the mats, just make sure you wear rubber gloves though as it takes ages to get off your fingers!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-TRIM-WA ... 233ac58ad5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Black wax based products do have their place IMO, they're great for exterior plastics that have gone grey (eg. GTI trim) but on a floor covering, I'm not so sure.. Personally I would use Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care, which is pretty much designed for this purpose. It does what is says on the bottle, and dries to a non-tacky finish. Its clear so no risk of black wax getting onto your shoes and then onto the hall carpet !

syncroandy wrote:Black wax based products do have their place IMO, they're great for exterior plastics that have gone grey (eg. GTI trim) but on a floor covering, I'm not so sure.. Personally I would use Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care, which is pretty much designed for this purpose. It does what is says on the bottle, and dries to a non-tacky finish. Its clear so no risk of black wax getting onto your shoes and then onto the hall carpet !

I would second this. Just done my floor mats (which were filthy) with Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care and they look great now. A few applications to get all the grime out of mine.

I am hoping the MOT tester will now take note of how well looked after my van is and it will pass first time later this week!!

Mike

mike9009 wrote:

syncroandy wrote:Black wax based products do have their place IMO, they're great for exterior plastics that have gone grey (eg. GTI trim) but on a floor covering, I'm not so sure.. Personally I would use Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care, which is pretty much designed for this purpose. It does what is says on the bottle, and dries to a non-tacky finish. Its clear so no risk of black wax getting onto your shoes and then onto the hall carpet !

I would second this. Just done my floor mats (which were filthy) with Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care and they look great now. A few applications to get all the grime out of mine.

I am hoping the MOT tester will now take note of how well looked after my van is and it will pass first time later this week!!

Mike

Ha Ha......that's why I'm doing mine,and trying to clean up the engine bay and underneath. First impressions lol.

Another vote for Autoglym vinyl and rubber. Car detailers rave about that stuff. Back to black also works but leaves the matts very slippy.