Protecting Soft Touch surfaces from degradation, is it possible?

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bcwang

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Something that seems to be a prevalent problem, seems to have lots of discussion on how to handle it after it's failed, but not how to prevent it. This problem is the degradation of soft touch surfaces that are on lots of European cars, including Ferrari, Maserati, VW, MB, etc... who use this to give a high end luxurious feel. This nice soft tactile feel is only good for a few years, but it seems more often than not, it then becomes a gooey, sticky, gross looking mess with buttons that look melted, fingerprints being permanently imprinted on them, and sticking to anything that touches it, including dirt and dust making it hard to clean.

So I'm wondering if anyone has had any success finding products that can protect these soft touch surfaces long term and prevent them from changing into this sticky ruined state, even 10 years later or more. Any user experience with products that have definitely protected or definitely accelerated degradation would be good to know about.

Ultima Interior Guard Plus?
Wolfgang Cockpit Trim Sealant?
303 Aerospace?
Anything?
 
bcwang said:
Something that seems to be a prevalent problem, seems to have lots of discussion on how to handle it after it's failed, but not how to prevent it. This problem is the degradation of soft touch surfaces that are on lots of European cars, including Ferrari, Maserati, VW, MB, etc... who use this to give a high end luxurious feel. This nice soft tactile feel is only good for a few years, but it seems more often than not, it then becomes a gooey, sticky, gross looking mess with buttons that look melted, fingerprints being permanently imprinted on them, and sticking to anything that touches it, including dirt and dust making it hard to clean.

So I'm wondering if anyone has had any success finding products that can protect these soft touch surfaces long term and prevent them from changing into this sticky ruined state, even 10 years later or more. Any user experience with products that have definitely protected or definitely accelerated degradation would be good to know about.

Ultima Interior Guard Plus?
Wolfgang Cockpit Trim Sealant?
303 Aerospace?
Anything?
Click to expand...
Maybe this...

SONAX Upholstery and Alcantara Cleaner, best alcantara cleaner


Or this....

Pinnacle Black Label Suede-Soft Alcantara? Protectant



Sent from my SM-G965U using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
I've owned 2x BMW's and a VW over the years. All of them were in my garage for at least 6~7 years. My current BMW while only being in my possession for three years is pushing six years old. None of have have/do suffer from the "gooeyness" I've heard about. Also, I haven't found the German soft touch materials to be really any different from those I've seen in our Mazda or Toyota.

I think the key is keeping them clean, using a quality interior protectant frequently, and using a sun screen when the vehicle has parked outside. I do this for all my vehicles. The German ones don't get anything special.

As for products I've used a few over the years. Armour All was a disaster and I'm pretty sure it did more harm than good. I then moved on to Meguiars Natural Shine Protectant, 303 Aerospace, and now McKee's 37 Interior Protectant and DP's VLP interior coating. All have worked well in keeping the interior of my cars looking new.
 
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