Does anyone know how to soften rubber?

[st0878]

I have an AFM boot that is in good shape but it's hard as a rock. Is there anything that you can do to restore rubber to make it more pliable?

[cremmenga]

On my 67 firebird my seals around the door leaked just a bit, and my uncle said he used baby oil on his old corvette to soften it up. I tried it and it seemed to work. Maybe it could work for you.

[st0878]

I don't know a guy alone in the garage with some baby oil? I don't think you'd get a whole lot done!

[240ZX]

This is probably not what you would want but, through various racers supply stores they have tire dressings to soften up tire treads! Just a thought. I quess you could have more fun with the baby oil though!!!

[Doehring]

Put it into olivee oil over night

[st0878]

Really? Olive oil? I'll give it a try and let you know if it works. Maybe I'll do a field test to see which of the two works best. Another friend suggested throwing it in some old engine oil.

[cremmenga]

If you guys like olive oil buy the february 2005 edition of playboy and tell me what you think of the center fold!!!??? "TO DIE FOR!!!!!"

[TomoHawk]

The reason the reubber dried out is because the natural oils in the rubber dried out. Since oil dries (really slow) it takees that many years to happen, and it's very difficult to get the oil back in properly. It would probably take you 30 years to do that (same time it took to dry out). But you can probably get the surface to look & feel good, if that's your goal.

But that's just the reason they sell all those miracle silicone spray dressings.