Best thing for small mildew spots on weather stripping?

[06Tacoma]

I just traded my '03 PT Cruiser GT (bright red!) for a '06 Tacoma Prerunner (bright white!) and have a quick question. I already have a bunch of Meguiar's stuff but I am wondering what the best way would be to remove some small mildew-looking spots from weather stripping?

The truck is low miles and in great shape but the stripping around the rear window on the cab has some small spots and I want to get them off and then clean/seal/protect the stripping. Can I just scrub these a little until i looks clean??

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Best thing for small mildew spots on weather stripping?

You can try using a vinyl and rubber cleaner/conditioner with something like a piece of terry cloth toweling.

Here's some choices, (cleaner/conditioners/protectants), most auto parts stores should carry one of these,

http://www.meguiars.com/?vinyl-rubber-plastic-protectants/Natural-Shine-Vinyl-Rubber-Protectant

http://www.meguiars.com/?car-trim-molding-care/Gold-Class-Vinyl-Rubber-Protectant

http://www.meguiars.com/?pro-vinyl-rubber-care/Vinyl-Rubber-Cleaner-Conditioner

This is a dedicated cleaner only product and will have to be followed up with a protectant.

http://www.meguiars.com/?pro-vinyl-rubber-care/Heavy-Duty-Vinyl-Cleaner

After you get it clean, (if you can get it clean, sometimes spots can penetrate INTO the surface and become impossible to remove.

You can maintain with a product like this,

http://www.meguiars.com/?car-trim-molding-care/Gold-Class-Trim-Detailer

The above product doesn't really offer much cleaning ability, thus the reason for recommending different products first to get the surface clean.

[cnfowler]

Re: Best thing for small mildew spots on weather stripping?

Here's a '99 Grand Prix I did with pretty bad weatherstripping. I used Castrol Super Degreaser (in the purple bottle) followed up with a protectant. Of course, M39 should do the same thing if you wanted to stick with Meguiar's products.

[Jeepster04]

Re: Best thing for small mildew spots on weather stripping?

Ive seen the same problem on a toyota corolla. The mold was so bad that the rubber was actually ruined but since your truck is new it shouldnt be a problem to get off. The mold I was seeing had eatten into the rubber. It did look much better after cleaning it with APC and putting a protectant on it but it didnt look as good as cnfowler's.