Door boot and rubber trim rejuvenation

[gizmo]

I am about to give my slope front Keymatic a make over. It is missing a motor but I want to smarten up its appearance.

 

This washer has its (probably original) pale blue door boot, I believe the blue ones are very rare now. It is still in good condition, though it looks grimy and discoloured. The machine also has a rubber filler strip where the front panel meets the top and side panel, this grey rubber moulding is aged, it has lots of fine cracks and isn't very flexible.

 

What do you suggest to clean up the rubber pieces? Is it possible to do anything to soften the rubber and make it flexible again? Will anything fill the fine cracks in the grey trim? Or just clean it up and then use some automotive plastic or rubber trim rejuvenator?

 

Thanks for your suggestions...

 

[dnastrau]

303 All-purpose cleaner and 303 Marine protectant

Here in the States, 303 Aerospace/Marine Protectant is a very good product for vinyl, rubber and plastics (plastics that are NOT clear). I have used it with very good results.

Here is their original "Aerospace protectant" (apparently called "marine" now as well) on their Australian site:

https://www.303products.com.au/product-range/marine/303-marine-protectant

Here is their all-purpose cleaner that is supposed to be good for vinyl, rubber, plastic, etc.

https://www.303products.com.au/product-range/marine/303-multi-surface-cleaner

They offer other cleaning/detailing products that might be helpful as well.
Here is a general link to their web site:

https://www.303products.com.au

Best wishes preserving those rubber parts. It is frustrating when rubber or plastic parts for an appliance, car, boat, etc. go bad and replacements are hard to find or unavailable and in some cases render the item unusable.

Regards,

Andrew S.

 

[bradfordwhite]

I would soak the parts for a day or so in simple dish soap and baking soda, then give them a good clean to see what you're left with.
After that, if they look re-useable, I'd do another soak with bleach added.
Clean, dry for a day, and then try adding petroleum based treatments.

Otherwise if they are too shot I'd consider using generic vinyl trim and appliance parts. And yes, RV or automotive grade materials would probably be the best fit.

Do you have pics of the parts?