Weather stripping
 

Over time weather stripping/sealing gets old and dry out, not doing the job it should, such as around the doors or trunk opening. Anyone have any recommendations of a good product to keep these looking sharp and still pliable?

303 Protectant. It's like sunscreen for rubber, plastic and fiberglass. Popular with recreational boat owners. As an aside, it's also ideal for upholstery, including leather.

Yup I use professional German/BMW Gummipflege. I have a bottle in my garage which i've owned 10 years. still have a ton left.

I use shin etsu grease but any silicon based grease will work on keeping the weather strips hydrated and plump.

I have used silicone grease in the past but I wanted to see if there were any new products out there. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

What has your experience been with the Gummi Pflege? I saw one forum user on another forum say it left a chalky appearance after it dried, but it seemed to be an isolated case. I also saw people preach about Krytox GP105 as the #1 product for seals. But the Krytox is $44 through my local VW dealer whereas the Gummi Pflege is only $10...

I've never had any chalky experience with Gummi. I used it on my last CT200h twice a year. Done a few friend's cars. Nothing but a soft silky non-greasy appearance. smells nice too. I even use it on the grips of old camera lenses to restore the dried/chalky rubber to a factory silky appearance.

i always prep the seals by wiping them down with water first. it takes longer than you'd think since there's seals on the body, on the doors that travel in hard to reach places. don't forget the trunk, hood, sunroof too.

Thank you. I definitely plan on going that route! My main area of concern is the sunroof because I don't open it at all and I live in South Florida so I'm worried the sun will dry it up real quick. At the same time, our family Highlander has a weird noise when opening the door and I'm curious if it could be on the seals on the door.

No prob. I love Nextzett products (formerly 1z). highly recommend their "Cockpit Premium" interior protectant too. It truly is a great product. Only thing I let touch my interiors. I like it particularly for my leather steering wheel/shift knob. It helps it retain the new factory sheen (no gloss, no shine) and removes finger oils and prevents them from saturating the leather making it shiny. All my steering wheels on past cars never got shiny using CP twice a month on it. the smell takes getting used to, smells like pine. it fades quickly though after use. about a day.

I use Shin-Etsu grease as well on the weather stripping of all my vehicles.