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Sticky Interior Before & After

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ef11

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hello all,

Have some free time for the remainder of the year so decided I would see if I could make any improvements to my very sticky interior. Had read about baby wipes, 409, and also oven cleaner...purchased it all and got to work. The key was certainly the oven cleaner, using it with both paper towels and wrung out baby wipes seemed to give me really good results. Took about 8 hours or so to do everything that I did in the front of the vehicle. Things not pictures are center console armrest handle and driver side window switch panel, both came out very nice and were horrible before.

I will say, this is tedious and time consuming work...I'm the type that likes working on things like this and adding value to the car and improving my enjoyment of it especially for ~free. As a young guy with no kids I have time to work on this and enjoy it, but if I had kids I think I would just opt for the refinishing options available for a charge. I also just had all of the door dings removed and the wheels refinished which made the car look great.

I will have to buy one small replacement piece due to my work...let's see who can spot it.






Climate Controls Complete (below two pictures)







 
#3 ·
How did it even become so sticky. My 2009 with 80.000 km has absolutely no issues with this.
Are there some circumstances under which all things become sticky - like car parked on a hot sun a lot, or something like that?


Anyway really great work from you ef11, the improvement is really huge.
 
#4 ·
White tiger said:
How did it even become so sticky. My 2009 with 80.000 km has absolutely no issues with this.
Are there some circumstances under which all things become sticky - like car parked on a hot sun a lot, or something like that?
Click to expand...

I wonder the same thing. Does climate make a difference? I am in the Northeast of New England USA....colder for sure. will this delay or suppress the issue totally?
 
#5 ·
Sticky Interior Before & After

The drive position indicator [emoji2958]

Interesting in that I just purchased the stuff from Singapore to do mine and he warned me about not using the stuff specifically on that piece. Verified.

Oh, and to the question on climate. Yes, I believe it is a factor. My previous GTS had no hint of issues with sticky buttons and it was a Northern California car all of its life. The new one was a Southern Florida and Texas car - sticky buttons.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Yes my car spent one year in Dubai and several years in Houston, where I currently own it. I have had it since May and it has been sticky like that since I purchased it.

The big key was the oven cleaner. I started with the passenger side window switch I just used 409 and baby wipes and it took me almost two hours scrubbing and using hard plastic under the wipes to apply additional force to the area. Next I pulled the radio and started using oven cleaner applied to a paper towel and it worked much better. I didn't use the baby wipes initially because I didn't want a bunch of liquid getting into the radio itself. Then I decided to wring them out first, that way I had the stronger baby wipes but without all of the liquid pouring out. Seemed to work very well.

Thanks for the compliments!
 
#8 ·

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#9 ·
tasnam said:
I wonder the same thing. Does climate make a difference? I am in the Northeast of New England USA....colder for sure. will this delay or suppress the issue totally?
Click to expand...

The coating failure is mostly time related although more hot, humid climates do accelerate the failure.
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
#11 ·
ef11 said:
Yes I have had that link open in my browser since yesterday, just need to pull the trigger ha. You guys obviously know your stuff having that part in stock for all of us that will eventually mess it up.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

In the beginning, we would actually refinish those but on further review, we learned that they are overlays from the factory and that said, we reproduced them as we have done with many Ferrari overlays.


When customers ship parts to us, we actually take that unit apart and coat the perimeter prior to installing the overlay. Then it all matches perfectly.
 
#12 ·
ef11 said:
Hello all,

Have some free time for the remainder of the year so decided I would see if I could make any improvements to my very sticky interior. Had read about baby wipes, 409, and also oven cleaner...purchased it all and got to work. The key was certainly the oven cleaner, using it with both paper towels and wrung out baby wipes seemed to give me really good results. Took about 8 hours or so to do everything that I did in the front of the vehicle. Things not pictures are center console armrest handle and driver side window switch panel, both came out very nice and were horrible before.

I will say, this is tedious and time consuming work...I'm the type that likes working on things like this and adding value to the car and improving my enjoyment of it especially for ~free. As a young guy with no kids I have time to work on this and enjoy it, but if I had kids I think I would just opt for the refinishing options available for a charge. I also just had all of the door dings removed and the wheels refinished which made the car look great.

I will have to buy one small replacement piece due to my work...let's see who can spot it.


-----------------------------------------------
Nice job! I think oven cleaner and 409 can be very harsh on the plastic coating. Baby wipes and Simple Green seem to be temporary solution only for few weeks, which some folks use. I achieve similar results like yours using Aerospace Protectant 303, without much effort/time...it's good stuff. Keeps the surface coating nice and smooth for a long time. Refinishing is a more permanent option to make all brand new again. So all depends on personal preference. Thanks for sharing!
Click to expand...
 
#13 ·
The best product to remove the soft touch coating is isopropyl alcohol, 99% is best.


Forgot all the other products - you are only getting lucky as the coating is really bad and at that stage, most anything will remove it. But alcohol is the best and it won't hard the plastic, but it can and may remove the base paint and graphics depending on the coating / part, etc.
 
#14 ·
I am guessing the 99% alcohol is used as a cleaning agent. I am afraid to scrub the panels. I used the Aerospace Protectant 303 as a "conditioner" only (for maintenance) and applied very lightly with no scrubbing or cleaning of the sticky surface. It leaves a smooth, non-sticky surface. I did not remove the soft touch coating. So not sure if the alcohol will do the same but I may try next time.
 
#17 ·
I wiped them all down and was never really satisfied with the look so I paid to have the dealer replace both side vents, center vent around the clock, the trim around the monitor and Rado consol, the drive indicator piece mentioned on this post, and the trim around the AC Unit. Everything new and installed and looks fantastic - again! A Florida GT Convertible Sport - Pearl White with red interior with MC carbon fiber trim package. Oddly the MOST expensive part was that drive indicator piece! $375 I believe. Anyway - would anyone like to buy the replaced parts?? They’re not damaged at all.
 
#18 ·
Pannvree said:
I wiped them all down and was never really satisfied with the look so I paid to have the dealer replace both side vents, center vent around the clock, the trim around the monitor and Rado consol, the drive indicator piece mentioned on this post, and the trim around the AC Unit. Everything new and installed and looks fantastic - again! A Florida GT Convertible Sport - Pearl White with red interior with MC carbon fiber trim package. Oddly the MOST expensive part was that drive indicator piece! $375 I believe. Anyway - would anyone like to buy the replaced parts?? They’re not damaged at all.
Click to expand...

So, a couple things to consider:


- The new parts are going to fail again, it's only a matter of time.


- We can refinish parts and we do so with a hard touch coating and it never becomes sticky or fails.


Regarding you used parts, send me an email with photos and I will see if we are interested in purchasing them. But, they are not worth much - we do on occasion buy used parts just so we can help customers when they have a broken piece.


dave.lelonek@stickyrxrs.com
 
#20 ·
Great post! Thanks for sharing.






QUOTE=ef11;940193]Hello all,

Have some free time for the remainder of the year so decided I would see if I could make any improvements to my very sticky interior. Had read about baby wipes, 409, and also oven cleaner...purchased it all and got to work. The key was certainly the oven cleaner, using it with both paper towels and wrung out baby wipes seemed to give me really good results. Took about 8 hours or so to do everything that I did in the front of the vehicle. Things not pictures are center console armrest handle and driver side window switch panel, both came out very nice and were horrible before.

I will say, this is tedious and time consuming work...I'm the type that likes working on things like this and adding value to the car and improving my enjoyment of it especially for ~free. As a young guy with no kids I have time to work on this and enjoy it, but if I had kids I think I would just opt for the refinishing options available for a charge. I also just had all of the door dings removed and the wheels refinished which made the car look great.

I will have to buy one small replacement piece due to my work...let's see who can spot it.






Climate Controls Complete (below two pictures)







[/QUOTE]
 
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