eclipse641

Can the dash for my 04 tl be armor all'd if so what brands are good to use. I dont want to use some cheap stuff. To me it seems like it cannot be armor all'd.

caball88

don't use armorall unless you want that i spilled cooking oil all over my dash look. try 303 Aerospace protectant. you might or might not find it in your local auto shop. if not you will have to order it online.

avs007

Yeah, stay away from armor-all... Unless you want your dash to dry out and crack. Armor-all contains petroleum distillates. That is a drying agent. It makes plastic/rubber look moist, by pulling the moisture up to the surface, where it evaporates. When it does, it makes the plastic/rubber even more dry then before you put it on....

It's like using rubbing-alcohol to moisturize your hands....

Use something like Vinylex, Meguiars NXT, Meguiars Vinyl & Rubber Protectant, etc. I like Vinylex myself, because of the matte finish. The NXT is a little shiny for my tastes.

bulacura

just use a wet rag. thats what i use now after noticing how crappy my dashed looked using armorall on my other car. after long use, its bad

HEK

1st avoid ArmorAll at all costs....not good for anything but looks (if you like that shiny look.. )...but I normally use wipe off the dirt with a duster that attracts dust via static electricity, and apply a few coats of Vinylex with a "wax bonnet" used to apply wax on cars, wiping all excess down with a microfiber cloth...results are a dark clean dash and no shine............. (don't forget to use a toothbrush for the vents to get the dust off)....

srhewes

I use Aerospace 303 protectant. Found it a marine (boat) store. Works very well and easy to use. Makes the dash (that tricky area above the glove box) look great!

kosh2258

Great product, works well. Doesn't leave a shiny, oily look.

CFIMIKE

True. Aerospace 303 also has a sunlight protectant ingredient like sunscreen. And by not giving an oily appearance, it maintains the matte finish on the dash that was designed to keep the windshield reflection at a minimum.

Their web site gives a list of stores that carry it. In my case the nearest store was about 5 miles away. In more remote areas you would probably have to order it on-line.

BTW, it's a bit pricey. I paid $12 for a 12(?) oz. bottle. But, it's great stuff.

WdnUlik2no

I just use water and a cloth. Everyone on here is right armorall will evenutally cause your dash to crack. Even the Ford guy told me that when I had my mustang.

on another note also avoid most wheel cleaner. I ended up stripping some of the clearcoat of my 18" Maxima rim. I was pissed, and those factory rims are not cheap either. Luckily the stripping was in the inside of the wheel well so you couldn't really see it. Now on my TL, I just use a damp cloth dedicated for the wheels. I don't think will be comfortable with using any more wheel cleaner products from now on.

JoganJani

Wash and wipe with 1:6 with woolite and water. Dry it with towel and apply 303. Even after 19 months my dash is like new. 303

blktl1

I have used Black Magic on all of my cars. It does not have to much of a shiny coat afterwards and it will repel dust and dirt pretty well. I have found it to work for me.

TLBobT

On another board a few years ago there was a story about someone who put Armor All on the tread of his tires. Then promptly wrecked his car.

Probably an urban legend...

6mtV6

I heard about that.

There was also a VW owner that wanted to paint his calipers and painted his rotors too.

jobes

Only 303 Aerospace protectant here. $12.95 at my local hardware store. You will never use anything else again, period.

SoldonTL

Someone stated (incorrectly) that Armor All was a petroleum distillate. It is nothing but about 5-10% silicone and the rest is water. If it dried out your dash as it was stated they would use it to cure leather. By the way it is not to be used on leather but vinyl type surfaces only. I have used it on my dash and have had excellent results but to each his own. I have used Armor all on all my cars since it first came out and have never had a problem. The only thing is that on the dash I had to put it on kind of heavy the first couple of times but after that I touch it up once a month. One little hint, when you put it on it is a good idea to leave the doors open while the water evaporates.......Good Luck

clintrob

303 Aerospace is the key.. I bought 2 bottles when I found it just because you can't get it everywhere.. Try your local boat dealer or hardware store.. it works wonders and is worth every penny.

Novice

I just bought a bottle of 303 at a local REI store (near the boat/kayak section). Even though I take care of the dash area regularly, I started noticing the mark around the airbag area. 303 did not completely get rid of that ugly mark, but it seems to be less noticeable.

california-usa

I use Armor All every now and then on my cars dash/tires and have never had any problems whatsoever. It's not the best stuff to use but I wouldn't stay away from it because it might "dry out" and or "crack" my dash...if that was the case dont you think Armor All would immediately modify and or take this product off the shelves? Common sense would tell me...yes. In my opinion UV rays dry out and crack dash boards...not Armor All.

avs007

Someone stated (incorrectly) that Armor All was a petroleum distillate. It is nothing but about 5-10% silicone and the rest is water.

Look at the FAQ on the armor-all web page. Click on the link where it asks about ingredients. It contains isopropanol. (Rubbing alcohol). Why would you put that on your dash? Isopropanol is made by dissolving propylene gas in sulfuric acid. Propylene is a petroleum distillate.

avs007

Except, with every application, it makes the plastic/rubber look nice and moist. So long as you keep using it. The cracking happens when you stop using it. From their point of view, why would they pull it from the shelves? They could always blame the cracking on the fact that you aren't using a protectent. Maybe they reformulated Armor-all, I don't know. I haven't used it in 15 years or so. Just look at the bottle. If it says it contains petroleum distillates, then throw it away. It doesn't matter what they put in there, petroleum distillates are drying agents. Many "conditioners" use petroleum distillates as a "cleaning" agent.

avs007

It is nothing but about 5-10% silicone
That is still not good. IIRC, the silicone that Armor all uses, is a Dimethyl Silicone Oil. Look here about the properties of silicone oils. Scroll down to the part about corrosiveness to other materials. While it says it is mostly inert to most materials, it specifically says it causes plastics/rubbers to shrink.

california-usa

Wether you like Armor All or hate it...the fact is their original formula has been selling for over 30 years ( not 3...30 ) at over 45 major retail stores worldwide. Hence, alot of people belive in this product. If this product really contributed in any way shape or form to the cracking and or fading of dashboards I don't belive it would still be selling after 30 years nor would it have received 2 patents for its formula.

avs007

Silicone fluids are bad for plastic/rubber. It's a scientific fact. Petroleum distillates are also bad for plastic/rubber. It's a scientific fact. You can add any fancy ingredient to it you want, you can't alter physics.

Various products such as Slick-50 and Duralube have been selling for a very long time as well. They also have patents. Most of these have teflon in suspension. Most of these say the teflon sticks to your engine, for smoother operation. All this despite the fact that DuPont (the owner/maker of Teflon), says that teflon is not to be used in internal combustion engines. DuPont also says that any claims that teflon sticks to anything is false, because teflon needs to be heated to something like 1600 degrees in order for it to form a molecular bond to anything, otherwise nothing will stick to it.

Saccharin has also been on the market for almost 100 years, despite the fact that many think that it causes cancer.

How long has MSG been used in foods?

For how many years have people thought that a good treatment for minor wounds, was applying butter onto it? Refer to the last paragraph of this link.

How long have places been requiring MTBE in gasoline? Why is it that these 10% blended oxygenated gas is said to be cleaner burning? Your fuel economy goes down when you use it, such that you end up burning more gas, to travel the same distance. One would think this means you are actually polluting more. This is aside from the issues some people have with MTBE being a carcinogen.

There are also many diet supplements that have been on the market for a very long time, that also received patents, that many people swear by, even though many of them only cause you to lose water-weight, etc.

How many times have you looked at a bottle of over-the-counter or prescription drugs, and noticed that a listed side-effect is one of the symptoms the drug is supposed to be used to prevent?

california-usa

Wow! Talk about getting off the topic here. You can throw in as many scientific facts as you would like but if you really want to prove a point find out if Armor All has ever been involved in a law suit by a customer claiming their dashboard was cracked over the years by using their products causing Armor All to replace his/her dashboard. Good luck.

caball88

you cannot judge a product entirely on how long it has been selling. turtle wax has been on the market for 50 years now. and it is one of the cheapest(in terms of quality) that you can buy. this is not the first time that i have heard armorall dries out dashes because of the silicone that is used. many other car message boards agree on this.

california-usa

Im not denying the fact that Armor All dries out dashes. Im denying the theory that Armor All is the ONLY reason why dashes CRACK.

avs007

I hear you. I'm just going by personal experience. My brother was religeous about using armor all. My dad couldn't give a flying rat's tail, and didn't protect with anything. (I was too young to know either way) Both cars sat out in the sun, both were chevys, both had vinyl dash. Only my brother's car had the rubber/vinyl crack. But like I said, it started deteriorating when he stopped using Armor-All.

I was saying earlier, that if you use armor-all, it will work while you use it, but as soon as you stop, stuff will go down the toilette real fast. Contrary to when I used other products such as meguiars and such. When I moved out, my parents never bother to put that stuff on any more. When I visit them many moons later, the dash is still in perfectly good condition.

But anyways, I agree Armor All is not the only reason why your dash would crack. But it will accelerate the deterioration process

california-usa

Exactly...its a combination of things.