Discolored my dash; need suggestions
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 81
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From: New Bloomfield Pennsylvania
Discolored my dash; need suggestions
While preparing to install lettering on the passenger side airbag, I cleaned the area with alcohol on a cotton swab, I cleaned outside the letter depressions, and a little alcohol even started to run down. Much to my dismay, I found that the alcohol discolored the black vinyl surface -- not much, but it's easily noticeable. Take a look....you can see it right around the letters.
Does anyone have a suggestion as to re-coloring the area? I typically wipe down my dash with Aerospace 303. It helps somewhat, but does not correct the discoloration.
Does this question belong in the car care forum?
Does anyone have a suggestion as to re-coloring the area? I typically wipe down my dash with Aerospace 303. It helps somewhat, but does not correct the discoloration.
Does this question belong in the car care forum?
Pro
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 656
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From: Nixa Mo.
While preparing to install lettering on the passenger side airbag, I cleaned the area with alcohol on a cotton swab, I cleaned outside the letter depressions, and a little alcohol even started to run down. Much to my dismay, I found that the alcohol discolored the black vinyl surface -- not much, but it's easily noticeable. Take a look....you can see it right around the letters.
Does anyone have a suggestion as to re-coloring the area? I typically wipe down my dash with Aerospace 303. It helps somewhat, but does not correct the discoloration.
Does this question belong in the car care forum?
Does anyone have a suggestion as to re-coloring the area? I typically wipe down my dash with Aerospace 303. It helps somewhat, but does not correct the discoloration.
Does this question belong in the car care forum?
Le Mans Master
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From: Morristown New Jersey
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wow! that's terrible! I've never seen that happen before. Perhaps a shoemaker can help?
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I've never seen that happen either - sure didn't happen to mine when I used rubbing alcohol to clean the air bag script before applying the letters. Perhaps the car care section would have a good solution.
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2011
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From: Simi Valley Ca
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I had a similar thing happen to mine. The instructions with the letters said to scrub the letter indentations with some diluted dish soap to remove any oils and then apply 3M Primer. Unfortunately, I did not stay within the lines, so to speak, with the 3M Primer and ended up with a darker, shinier area around the decal and letters. I thought the Primer would just dry invisible. I tried re-scrubbing it with dish soap, to no avail. I'm hoping that it will eventually blend in with the surrounding area after applying gradual coats of my Meguiars Natural Shine Protectant.
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From: Should this thoughtful, valuable contribution meet with no acknowledgement or 'thanks' this post----
alcohol should not do that, unless it was super strong. 99% of consumer alcohol products are water based, such as rubbing alcohol, iso-propyl alcohol, etc and very dilute. Could you have used some other solvent, or grabbed a mis-labeled bottle? Strong solvents that would cause that kind of damage are MEK, acetone, any chlorinated solvent, ethers, benzene, etc How about posting a pic of the bottle you used, so I can help you?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2006
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From: Lino Lakes MN
It looks to me you only have two options (1) strip all the gunk (armorall, etc..) off the entire interior or (2) rebuild the gunk around your letters. Remember the stock interior is a matte black finish.
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Joined: Jan 2009
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From: New Bloomfield Pennsylvania
alcohol should not do that, unless it was super strong. 99% of consumer alcohol products are water based, such as rubbing alcohol, iso-propyl alcohol, etc and very dilute. Could you have used some other solvent, or grabbed a mis-labeled bottle? Strong solvents that would cause that kind of damage are MEK, acetone, any chlorinated solvent, ethers, benzene, etc How about posting a pic of the bottle you used, so I can help you?
I'm sure I'll be able to remedy the situation somehow. The picture I enclosed looks worse than the problem actually is. I see that Corvette America sells an interior dye that can be used on vinyl, so I guess I can always fall back on that if I don't get any suggestions for an easier fix. I just hope noone else does the same bone-headed thing I did. Thanks for your interest, and if you have any suggestions, I'm "all ears!"
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: Farmington CT
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I have seen this often
1. vinyl discolored around letters
2. SUPERGLUE used to adhere letters
I am not a fan of the 'letters' anywhere added to a car .02
You can remove the dash, remove the airbag cover and replace with another, big job
1. vinyl discolored around letters
2. SUPERGLUE used to adhere letters
I am not a fan of the 'letters' anywhere added to a car .02
You can remove the dash, remove the airbag cover and replace with another, big job
Le Mans Master
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Probably best solution is black dye with the flex additive in it. Either take it to a pro that specializes in it or do it yourself if you have the airbrush and are familiar with the process. Alternate is go to your local BMW or Mercedes dealership and find out who does their interior dye repairs...they will be able to take care of it. By the way, this thread has me totally convinced i will not use any stick on appliques in my interior. 
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2009
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From: Andreas Pennsylvania
I'm with Zesstey1. That looks like you could condition it a couple of times and it would fix it, or make it very hard to see. Seems like the alcohol just removed the oils wherever it hit. Good luck! Let us know what works, if anything.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2011
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From: Morristown New Jersey
Oldtimer
Ento, from my experience you should not blame yourself. I've never done letters but I have done a number of woodgrain dashboards. I used the supplied 'activator' which sure smelled like an alcohol compound. There was never discoloration, but there was a dulling of the original surface.(not so far as to melt it however
) The applicators were always very small, and controllable, unlike let's say a q-tip might be. Despite all that, I've used denatured alcohol as a degreaser before a final finish(all types of finishes and substrates) and never had any issues. (except shellac of course which is alcohol based). I wonder
if you wiped the entire airbag cover with the alcohol so the so-called 'discoloration' is even across the whole surface?
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2007
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From: . New York
, but I then remembered the times Ive made something worse instead of figuring out how to correct it first.Id probably find out how to correct whats effected before I wound up with a whole larger area that I couldnt correct.
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From: Should this thoughtful, valuable contribution meet with no acknowledgement or 'thanks' this post----
I used denatured alcohol, which is ethanol that is rendered undrinkable with the addition of methanol and other solvents. In the past I have often used regular rubbing alcohol (isopropyl?) to clean things, and it doesn't do the job, so that's why I used the denatured stuff. You live and learn! I really goofed in that I didn't use a Q-tip and carefully confine the cleaning exactly to the letter depressions. The instructions from Vetteworks said to be sure to get all Armorall, or any other protectants, off of the contact area to be used for the adhesive, so I did a little overkill.
I'm sure I'll be able to remedy the situation somehow. The picture I enclosed looks worse than the problem actually is. I see that Corvette America sells an interior dye that can be used on vinyl, so I guess I can always fall back on that if I don't get any suggestions for an easier fix. I just hope noone else does the same bone-headed thing I did. Thanks for your interest, and if you have any suggestions, I'm "all ears!"
I'm sure I'll be able to remedy the situation somehow. The picture I enclosed looks worse than the problem actually is. I see that Corvette America sells an interior dye that can be used on vinyl, so I guess I can always fall back on that if I don't get any suggestions for an easier fix. I just hope noone else does the same bone-headed thing I did. Thanks for your interest, and if you have any suggestions, I'm "all ears!"
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Joined: Jan 2009
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From: New Bloomfield Pennsylvania
ok, we are getting close to an explanation. Most bottles of alcohol list the concentration...usually around 10-20%...the rest is water, and that is the key to avoiding any damage to the substrate. Just like HCl, the key is to use a very weak solution. It will take much longer to clean, but the surface will not be chemically attacked due to the low concentration of acid. Same is true for any solvent that is soluble in water. Can you report the % alcohol?
The stuff is a 1 pint can of Sunnyside (brand) "denatured alcohol solvent" also subtitled 'shellac thinner,' 'alcohol appliance fuel,' and 'marine stove fuel.' I bought it at my local TrueValue hardware store. The manufacturer has a website: www.sunnysidecorp.com -- I have to check it out to see if I can get a complete listing of the chemicals in this stuff. I do a fair amount of woodwork varnishing and finishing, and I find that this 'denatured alcohol' will clean fine brushes of lacquers and some varnishes when rubbing alcohol or mineral spirits will not. It obviously is too strong for use in the 'Vette, even though it's just "alcohol." I always hated organic chemistry!!!!