How to clean "scuff" marks on rubber dash?
 

Got in my car this morning and noticed a couple of lines of scuff marks on the passenger side dash above the glove box. Had to squeeze an extra person in the car coming home from an oyster roast last night. I'm assuming it's from shoes. Not happy about it.

I've tried just wiping it with a wet towel, but that didn't work.

Any ideas?

Sorry. I guess it's more likely "hard leather" than "rubber". Any ideas?

try the meguires leather cleaner / conditioner
 

That is what I use most of the time for cleaning / conditioning the seats & dash.

It even gets shoe marks off the lower portion of the driver door panel from when I am getting out of the car.

If it's the dash, I've used both Meguiars Vinyl/Plastic Cleaner/Conditioner, as well as Meguiars NXT Vinyl cleaner/conditioner.

I've used them to remove black scuff marks on the inside door panel, with much luck. You might need a little elbow grease tho.

Iv'e had plenty of luck with WD-40 !..... use sparingly, this stuff will remove just about anything !..... takes off road tar just as easy!

I'd shy away from using any type of petroleum distillates on plastic/vinyl/rubber parts. It will dry it out.

OK, I finally got some pics to explain the location. I don't know if I'd call this rubber or hard leather, but it's on the dash on the same material as SRS Airbag. See below. Ignore the dust up closer to the windshield.

Do you still think leather cleaner, vinyl cleaner, something else, or it's not going to go away?

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...b/IMG_0957.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...b/IMG_0960.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...b/IMG_0961.jpg

thanks in advance.

I use Mr. Clean Magic Erasers to get rid of any scuffs and then 303 Aerospace Protectant to protect the surfaces. No shine and it lasts.

Do you think that would work on this portion of the car? It appears to be rubber. I just don't want the Mr. Clean to fade the dash. What is 303 Aerospace?

:werd: The Magic Erasers are great for scuff marks. They're like white sponge-type things. You can pick them up at a grocery store or Wal Mart, usually located with household cleaning products. I don't know if there is any type of chemical in there or the foam they make the sponges out of is a very mild abrasive but these things are the shit. You should definitely have a couple in your detailing kit. But be careful; my wife likes to steal them to remove finger prints off of our stainless steel appliances.

As for the 303 it's a protectant like Armor All but is much more recommended by people with detailing interests here on the forum. I picked some up at my local boat shop and it works great - search the forum and you'll get some better answers on the 303 stuff.

So what exactly is the material on that portion of the dash? Leather?

I'm hoping the mark is leftover from the shoe bottom, but I'm worried that somehow it has scraped the dark grey off and light grey mark is what's underneath. I hope that is not the case because then I won't be able to remove.

I've got some 303 Aerospace on the way and I've already got the Mr. Clean.

You don't think it will make it worse trying to scrub it off do you?

It's hard leather.

Any issues scrubbing it? Like would it make the dark grey color wear off? then only show severely contrasting light grey like scuff marks?

Its not leather .. use Meguiars #40 Vinyl & rubber conditioner. Alternate would be 303. Your not trying to remove something your trying to replenish the what was rubbed out of the dash.

Which 303? I've got Aerospace protectant on the way.

I agree on the replenishing part. So I'd assume the Mr Clean Magic Eraser wouldn't help either?

...

I have the same mark on my glove compartment. 303 will NOT take it out. Haven't tried the magic eraser yet, might do that. But I've thrown everything I've got at it with no success. :ugh:

The glove compartment door and the dash top are 2 different materials. The dash top for some reason will mark like that even by running a dry cloth over it. It seems to dry it. The mark on your glove box door is prolly from a shoe scuff and my need to be cleaned off.

Try Woolite & water .. more info on it on my web page.

Tried that already, yes a shoe scuff light as can be but bothers me

Like I said I've thrown everything at it. I detail cars, so I've asked my product shop what they had. They told me that I can recolor it with a type of leather paint they have. That was going to be my next step........................

Will Meguiars #40 and 303 Aerospace Protectant do the equivalent thing on this scrape on the rubber dash? Or will #40 condition and 303 protect after the "replenish"?

Or will 303 Aerospace do the entire trick?

They will both do the job .. just give you a different look depending on how you apply .. wipe off etc .. #40 also smell like leather where 303 doesn't. Cost effectiveness #40 ...

I just had the same thing happen...

Any success stories??

:rofl:


Like Rawhide, right. Explains why my dog loves to chew on the dash. :thumbsup:

Eagle One Leather Conditioner
 

The night I picked up my '07 TLS the porters scratched my dash. Long story short, after 5 visits to the dealership in which they conditioned, cleaned, conditioned, and finally dyed the dash, the swirls kept reappearing the following day after I picked up the car. They're subtle, and like mentioned earlier, only visible when the sun is at the right angle, but they always show as light grey on the black dash. I finally got sick of going back to the dealer and was resigned to the fact that I had to live with these eyesores.

Then I remembered that on my Cadillac STS there was a lot of leather trim next to plastic trim, and that I had gotten a huge blob of leather conditioner on the plastic once by mistake. When I buffed it off, it turned out looking great, so I wound up using that stuff for all the interior plastics. It gives the surface a very rich feel (like leather) and a very soft sheen that is easy to dust off and seems not to attract dirt. That was a few cars ago, and I had completely forgotten that I used this stuff for plastics.

So a few days ago I applied it to the dash of my TLS. Scratches, swirls....GONE! The product I'm using is called Eagle One Leather Conditioner. It comes in a bottle like shampoo and out of the bottle it feels like cream. You apply it with your bare hands (no rag) and after you wipe it on you just buff it off with a soft towel (I used microfiber). Since applying this product, the dash looks WAY better than it ever did. It also has UV inhibitors so it's safe to use in the sun-exposed areas of the interior. Finally got rid of my swirlies and the dash has a really rich look and feel to it. When I applied it to the remaining plastics inside the car, it removed all the 'blotchy-ness' that was everywhere inside the car. I love the way it looks and feels.

This stuff works great on your seats too, but you have to be careful not to have too much on your hands or you wind up filling all the perforations in the leather and it's hard to get it out.

I have a similar problem- and have had zero success.... I was in the habit of keeping a clean microfiber in the center console to make short work of the airbag lines which appear every 3 days or so. A week or so ago I gave the dash a swirl with the microfiber and now I have ugly swirls. I have tried 303 and the Lexol Vinyl stuff both with zero success...

Does the Eagle 1 stuff leave a shine? (don't really want shiny- I love the matte finish from 303 - but might try anything at this point...) Has anyone else tried the E1 leather conditioner on the dash?

I wouldn't call it a shine, as much as a soft sheen. Very subtle, not like ArmorAll. But it was dull (almost ashy) from day one when I got the car. It did make the color much deeper.
If you are concerned about how it will look later on....try some in an area of the interior that you don't have to look at all the time...like the side of the dash that's exposed only when the door is open. That's what I did just to make sure I wouldn't regret doing it.

Hey this aint for everyone, but it did help to hide the swirlies on my dash, which was all I cared about.

I found 303 Protectant at a local RV store. I applied 4 coats directly to the dash and it removed the marks on my dash!! I just used a terry cloth towel to wipe it off real lightly. No greasy look or shine, fixed it for me.

I beleive the September 2006 Service Bulletins listed on this web site show the cleaner and protectant to use. They work great. I get some scuffs after a while from using my window shade when I park the car, I just use that cleaner periodically and it cleans up the dash back to new. I like the Honda protectant better than anything else I have used becasue is lasts long, and has a very low lustre.

I had similar scuff marks on the dash of my '07 TL. I brought it to the dealer and they applied a dash protectant free of charge under warranty. It got rid of the marks. The dealer said this blotchy faded dash is common. They recommended using Meguiar's Gold Class Rich Leather Cleaner/Conditioner if the dash becomes dry and starts to show marks again.

The factory Honda Vinyl Protectant/Cleaner works the best.
Armour All makes the chalkiness on the dash look worse.

Well- I stopped by the local dealer and they either didn't have the Honda cleaner- or the person at the desk didn't know about it so I picked up the Megs GC leather conditioner. I appled 3 coats and saw some improvement in the scuff marks.

Following the '3 coats in a sinle go'- I have applied a single coat each evening for the past 2 or 3 days and the scuff marks seem to be fading. If I buff off the Megs I can still see them- but if I just rub it in an leave it on they are pretty much masked. Hopefully over the next few days by repeating this process I can restore enough moisture to the material to remove the marks completely. As an aside- my airbag lines seem to have vanished for the time being.

Based on this thread I used Meguires vinyl/rubber #40 and Meguires Gold Class Leather all over my interior. Got rid of all the swirlies and "ashen" look on the dash (Meg #40)... looks great! Used Meg GC on the leather and it made my seats look and feel awesome.

Unfortunately the #40 did not completely remove the scratches I have in the glove box and console sdie panels. But they are less noticeable.