Clean Run - January 2018 - 45

Cleaning
Rubberized
Contacts
© CLEAN RUN

By Brenna Fender

Are your rubberized contacts dirty or
discolored? Clean 'em up!
Important: Before you start scrubbing,
consider the type of rubberized contacts
you have. Not all materials and application processes respond well to the
same types of cleaning. Check with the
manufacturer for the best care of your
speciﬁc equipment.
Most rubberized surfaces respond well
to being pressure washed or even just
hosed off. Darlene Woz, owner of Rubber on the Run, suggests that pressure
washing be tempered by "a fan nozzle
to prevent damage to the rubber skin,"
and Irene Lamphere of Max 200 Performance Dog Equipment suggests using a
gentle setting for the same purpose. If
pressure washing seems too rough but
hosing ineffective, Lamphere says that
using a hose and a soft-bristle scrub
brush to gently remove the dirt works
well. Extra grime can be removed with
Simple Green cleaner, says Lamphere,
but the contact requires ample rinsing.
Both Lamphere and Woz recommend us-

ing a car wash to clean grimy equipment
as well. "We actually drive [the contact
equipment] to the car wash in one of our
pickup trucks, off load them in the bay,
and wash them," says Lamphere.

at Walmart too. We strongly recommend
that you read the instructions and try a
small section ﬁrst before doing the entire
contact surface. Again, a soft bristle scrub
brush should be used."

Sometimes people think their contacts
are stained or fading, but in fact the
material is "oxidizing" due to sun exposure. Continuous exposure to the UV
rays of the sun over a two or three years
(depending on the strength of the sun in
your area) causes a cloudy white ﬁnish
to appear on the surface of the rubber.
Oxidation can be limited if the contacts
are covered or stored when not in use.

Woz has experimented with removing oxidation from Rubber on the Run
products and demonstrates on her website www.rubberontherun.com that Soft
Scrub is an effective cleaning method.
She says, "First, wet the surface with
a hose. Then apply a liberal amount of
Soft Scrub. Use a 4-inch square nylon
brush to work the cleaner around. Let it
stand for about 10 minutes. Then rinse
thoroughly with a strong nozzle on the
hose."

But for contacts affected by oxidation,
there are cleaning methods that will remove the ﬁlm and restore color. Lamphere says that the manufacturer of the
rubber granules used in Max 200 equipment recommends that an RV roof
cleaner/conditioner with UV protection
be used to remove oxidation. Lamphere
says, "This product can be purchased at
any RV repair store or online at CampingWorld.com, but often times it is available

One warning from Lamphere: "Under no
circumstances should you paint the rubber. Painting the rubber removes all of
the cushioning feature of rubber that has
been applied using the wet-pour method
because it hardens/stiffens the rubber
granules." D

Brenna Fender is a freelance writer and editor who works for Clean Run. She lives in Florida with her husband, two children, a Papillon (Spark), a Beagle (Wrigley), a
Border Collie (Tessa), her daughter's Chihuahua (Chase), and a variety of other creatures. Tessa has agility titles, UpDog Challenge disc achievements, and a Trick Dog
Champion Title. Over the years, Brenna's dogs have been titled in conformation, agility, Junior Hunter, Junior Courser, rally, obedience, and Canine Good Citizen. Brenna
can be reached at brennafender@gmail.com and you can visit her website at brennafender.com.
January 18 | Clean Run

http://www.rubberontherun.com http://www.campingworld.com/ http://www.campingworld.com/ http://www.brennafender.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - January 2018