Original > Hot Tub Forum
303 Vinyl protectant
geekd:
I already had some 303 for my car's convertible top. I've been using it on the hot tub cover once a month. Seems to work pretty well.
-geekd
wmccall:
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Elsewhere, last October, Dr. Spa had said, "As for armor all, DO NOT USE IT on ANY vinyl product..... Basically it removes all the natural plasticizers from the vinyl and replaces them with it's own version..... If you don't reapply the armorall quite regularly, your vinyl will crack and fall apart quite prematurely."
Curious about this, I googled "Armor All" with "sucks", "problems", "research" and "crack". I found little of substance. Mostly it is people repeating a rumour, a sort of urban legend that everyone has heard from a friend of a friend or heard on the internet but never bothered to verify. It seems to be one of those things that "everyone knows", just as everybody "knew" that the earth was flat. It's the "where there's smoke there's fire" excuse for thinking: "If it weren't true, why would everybody say it?" For the psychology of this, I refer you to www.snopes.com, an urban legends site.:D
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I take your research with merit. Actually I think that is the first time I've help perpetuate that train of thought (I'm rough on people who forward the million goofy things you have seen in email messages.) I have also used Armor All on car dashboards for years. However, as opinion in the hot tub field has been very slanted against it, I started using Marquires (sp) with my hot tub cover and have not felt it's protection lasted long enough. 303 has proven superior to it in my totally casual use.
I'm thinking of buying a new car in the next few weeks, but perhaps this spring I'll use Armor all and 303 on the Dash of my current car, the Sante Fe and do a side by side.
Clearly a company as big as Armorall/STP should be able to reasearch this, if they chose. If they did research it and find it to be unsuitable, would they tell us? Checking the website I learned they were partnered with STP. I've hear discussions, and I'm totally ignorant in this area, as to whether or not STP was of any value and living off hype. Remember Slick 50?
My cover is 3 years old now and I won't be heart broken to get a new one, so perhaps I'll use armor all on one small section of the cover once we get into the warmer weather. I haven't treated my Sante Fe dash in a while, so I could do a comparison right now. If anyone has any thoughts on doing this fairly let me know.
Thanks for putting in your input on this one.
drewstar:
Great post tom. Thanks.
Detroiter:
I've used 303 on my cars interior now for about a year and a half, after buying it for my hot tub cover and I have found it to be a great vinyl "protectant".....It makes the dash and other vinyl surfaces look and feel as they did when new. I wouldn't use armor-all because of the oily residue it seems to leave behind, especially on my hot tub cover, just in case you would get cross contamination in the water.
drewstar:
--- Quote ---I've used 303 on my cars interior now for about a year and a half, after buying it for my hot tub cover and I have found it to be a great vinyl "protectant".....It makes the dash and other vinyl surfaces look and feel as they did when new. I wouldn't use armor-all because of the oily residue it seems to leave behind, especially on my hot tub cover, just in case you would get cross contamination in the water.
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I've also found that Armor all had a "sour milk" smell to it. Does the 303 have an odor?
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