mswilsonuk

just wanted to pass on a warning. while cleaning fingerprints from the interior of my door (the soft plasticy/leathery material just under the windows), left by lexus techicians during maintainance, I made the mistake of using an isopropyl alcolhol wipe. where i wiped messed up the surface, melting it and making it very shiny. i now have a 1" wide shiny stripe accross my door - sucks

do not do this

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to fix this?

ggebhardt

I suspect the alcohol made the vinyl soft and it lost its texture. Going to be hard to fix without replacing. Thanks for the warning.

jfelbab

I would bet it was the abrasion more than the IPA. I'd also wonder if you used a microfiber to polish the area. MF can act like sandpaper to soft vinyl.

IPA is really not the best cleaner for vinyl though. I use a vinyl specific cleaner for removing soiling on vinyl with a soft cotton towel to avoid burnishing the surface.

mswilsonuk

I dont thnk it was abraision since i wiped very gently with a soft pad, and in other areas wiped much harder with water with no change in appearance. this looks like solvent damage to the surface.

i am surpised, sine IPA is usually gentle ( unlike say acetone, which gobbles up plastic). lesson here is the well know message- always test on a smaller out of the way area first.

PondScum

Was it diluted, or full-strength?

I don't consider IPA that gentle. Undiluted IPA can soften paint. I have some diluted to around 10% and I rarely use it - I have Gtechniq Panel Wipe and Car Pro Eraser for wipe-downs, and Kurth Clean Solve for when I need something stronger. I had one of those Microsoft Intellimouse Explorers with the disintegrating sticky rubber coating, and I used undiluted IPA to dissolve and remove the rubber coating on the mouse. I wouldn't use that at the same strength on anything on the inside of a car, except glass and metal.

mswilsonuk

it was 70% swab in a foil packet. i generally find ipa fine, for example i have used it to remove black marks from the grey plastic housing where the interior light switches are without problems, and use it around the house on painted walls to remove marks that water will not remove, again without noticale problems.

i should have known better, after all i am a chemist for a living (so i know from experience that ipa, at least in short bursts is ok for many plastics, unlike acetone)


hopefully it will fade