marlinspike
New member
I have a 2002 Porsche and the sun visors have become sticky. They are covered in vinyl, and I guess it`s just the vinyl breaking down after 17 years. Is there anything I can do to de-stickify them?
How to solve vinyl that has gotten sticky from age?
- Thread starter marlinspike
- Start date
Setec Astronomy
Well-known member
I would give something like this a try, although some of the pros here may have better recommendations:
https://www.autopia-carcare.com/ult-6022.html#.Xa4lX0ZKi70
https://www.autopia-carcare.com/ult-6022.html#.Xa4lX0ZKi70
TheMeanGreen
New member
Isopropyl Alcohol, 50/50 mix works for the temporary. The only way to truly fix the stickiness is to replace the sun visors. Cleaning them with an APC might work and would be the first/most gentle step, followed by 50/50 mix of ISP, and then followed by replacement. Unfortunately one of things that does not wear well in a Porsche is some of the vinyl /plastic/soft touch surfaces, of course the headlights are another story.
rlmccarty2000
Active member
Some VW soft touch plastic does this too. Just my two cents. I know of know way to cure it.
Mike lambert
New member
Just replace them. The alcohol works on the knobs, but your visors are gone.
Accumulator
Well-known member
Yeah, replace them and be thankful you could do that. Some interior panels that *can`t* really be replaced on the A8 are like that and I`ve never found any solution.
Mike lambert
New member
For panels that cannot be replaced, or are no longer available, google a company called sticky no more.
Accumulator
Well-known member
h, thanks for posting that, never heard of them before.
EDIT: although that wouldn`t work in this case as we`re not pulling her interior apart over it. Sounds great for little stuff or major projects though, and the reference will undoubtedly of benefit to others.
rlmccarty2000
Active member
Great info. Now if I can just remember this next time the need arises.
marlinspike
New member
Sorry for the hit and run. For some reason I wasn`t getting notified of replies. I reached out to sticky no more, but then the problem hasn`t returned after a cleaning. The car had been in Arizona the last 5 years and not driven much, so maybe it was just a bunch of off-gassing collected on the surface?
Accumulator
Well-known member
marlinspike- Gee, that`s good news, saved you a lot of [messing] around. And/but yeah...wonder what it was that went away after the cleaning? Maybe it *was* some oils/etc. leeching out in the heat.
William_Wallace
New member
Usually someone comes in guns a blazing All huffing and puffing 303 wisdom...... Maybe try 303 it’s good stuff but I see crazy stuff online about spraying on tire treads or baking serpentine belt in over soaked in 303
Sizzle Chest
Well-known member
Good news! Glad it hasn`t returned.
50/50 ISO is the way to go to help remove it.
Sticky no more does a ton of Maserati`s and Ferrari`s. They are victims of this as well...
50/50 ISO is the way to go to help remove it.
Sticky no more does a ton of Maserati`s and Ferrari`s. They are victims of this as well...
By the way, Sticky No More is NOT a product that you apply, but a service company that has a process to fix the soft touch knobs and interior pieces prevalent in European vehicles. Obviously, you remove your troubled pieces and sent them to them for repair for a fee.
Those of you detailing professionals that see these hi-end cars with such problems KNOW that this service is probably the only true way to resolve this issue, short of an expensive placement part that will only succumb to the same problem again in the future.
Makes you wonder WHY these vehicle manufacturers just do not contact Sticky No More and have them coat OEM parts to begin with or buy the process from them so they can do it in-house if need be! Guess that makes too much sense.
Kind of off base with this vinyl sun visor deterioration issue, BUT do oils and sweat from human hands contribute to the demise of this soft touch knob material. I ask because as a mechanical design student MANY years ago, we visited a tool and die design-manufacturing shop and the tour guide stated that they measure the acidity of a tooling machinist applicant and if it is too high, they do not hire them because of the potential corrosiveness to the tool steels used in precision dies from their hands. Never thought of this, but my glasses frames do get corroded from my facial oils and sweat over time, and I am sure that this varies from person-to-person.
I also assume that cleaning the soft touch knobs on a regular basis will prolong the life of such material, BUT it will not prevent its inevitable demise.
To get back to sticky vinyl problems, I have seen this phenomenon on dash boards of vehicles that the drivers were smokers and not cleaned very often. it seems that the tar and nicotine "ate" the vinyl material and caused them to become sticky. Smoke residue is sticky by nature anyway. Prior to discovering Megs Detailer Line APC and Optimum`s Power Clean from this forum, my go-to cleaning product for smoke-covered vinyl was strong soapy ammonia cleaners or powder Spic-and-Span with its tri-sodium phosphates, which did not help the elasticity of the vinyl and probably only contributed to that sticky feel. As a younger man when Armour-All protectant first came out, I thought this was the "cat`s pajamas" for vinyl care and it was head-and-shoulders over the Pledge furniture polish I was using (Young and ignorant, but word-of-mouth was our social media way back then). However, as I heard by more word-of-mouth, its early formulations discolored light-colored vinyls over time. Its formula was changed and I used AA for many years until Megs came out with their Classic Line vinyl protectant and have since moved up to 303 discovered from this forum.
Those of you detailing professionals that see these hi-end cars with such problems KNOW that this service is probably the only true way to resolve this issue, short of an expensive placement part that will only succumb to the same problem again in the future.
Makes you wonder WHY these vehicle manufacturers just do not contact Sticky No More and have them coat OEM parts to begin with or buy the process from them so they can do it in-house if need be! Guess that makes too much sense.
Kind of off base with this vinyl sun visor deterioration issue, BUT do oils and sweat from human hands contribute to the demise of this soft touch knob material. I ask because as a mechanical design student MANY years ago, we visited a tool and die design-manufacturing shop and the tour guide stated that they measure the acidity of a tooling machinist applicant and if it is too high, they do not hire them because of the potential corrosiveness to the tool steels used in precision dies from their hands. Never thought of this, but my glasses frames do get corroded from my facial oils and sweat over time, and I am sure that this varies from person-to-person.
I also assume that cleaning the soft touch knobs on a regular basis will prolong the life of such material, BUT it will not prevent its inevitable demise.
To get back to sticky vinyl problems, I have seen this phenomenon on dash boards of vehicles that the drivers were smokers and not cleaned very often. it seems that the tar and nicotine "ate" the vinyl material and caused them to become sticky. Smoke residue is sticky by nature anyway. Prior to discovering Megs Detailer Line APC and Optimum`s Power Clean from this forum, my go-to cleaning product for smoke-covered vinyl was strong soapy ammonia cleaners or powder Spic-and-Span with its tri-sodium phosphates, which did not help the elasticity of the vinyl and probably only contributed to that sticky feel. As a younger man when Armour-All protectant first came out, I thought this was the "cat`s pajamas" for vinyl care and it was head-and-shoulders over the Pledge furniture polish I was using (Young and ignorant, but word-of-mouth was our social media way back then). However, as I heard by more word-of-mouth, its early formulations discolored light-colored vinyls over time. Its formula was changed and I used AA for many years until Megs came out with their Classic Line vinyl protectant and have since moved up to 303 discovered from this forum.
My neighbor across the street was having trouble with the soft touch paint on his center console, radio and climate control areas of his Boxster. It had gone soft and gooey. He removed it with Formula409 cleaner and 3M no scratch pads. He found the process on the internet. He tried it with another household APC and it didn`t remove much. The 409 removed the paint much faster he said. SO something in 409 breaks it down.
He tried to get me to do it but I passed. He spent like 3 days removing the soft touch paint from those areas. He had a huge pile of pieces of 3M scrub pad when he was finished. They were all black underneath so it looks fine, just has the hard plastic look to it now.
He tried to get me to do it but I passed. He spent like 3 days removing the soft touch paint from those areas. He had a huge pile of pieces of 3M scrub pad when he was finished. They were all black underneath so it looks fine, just has the hard plastic look to it now.