Review - 303 Rubber Seal Protectant

Angus

Angus

New member
Jun 14, 2012
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For this review, I’m going to share my experience using 303’s brand new Rubber Seal Protectant on my 1998 Honda Civic.



From PBMG’s copy for 303 Rubber Seal Protectant:
Protects rubber seals against drying and cracking

303 Rubber Seal Protectant conditions rubber seals on doors, windows, hoods and trunks to help prevent long-term drying and cracking. If you have an older vehicle with discolored door seals, 303 Rubber Seal Protectant will rejuvenate the color while restoring elasticity. 303 Rubber Seal Protectant is 100% water-based, and the shoe-polish style applicator makes application quick and easy.
​
The rubber seals on my Honda are original and showing their age. Up until now I’ve been using 1Z’s Gummi Pflege to maintain them however it’s been quite a while so now is the perfect time to test 303’s above claims.

Directions:


1.Shake well before use. - Check & ready for use:



2.Apply 303® Rubber Seal Protectant evenly onto a dry, clean surface using attached foam applicator. - Check. *Application Tip* There’s a valve hidden underneath the applicator sponge that needs to depress in order to break the factory seal and thus allowing product to flow freely.

Door seal:

50/50 on rear side window seal:


Trunk seal:


Sunroof seal:

 
3. Allow product to fully dry. - Check. The waterbase formula doesn’t take long to dry at all, 5-10 minutes tops:

Door seals look good:



Side window seal looks better but is probably too forgone at this point to expect miracles:



Trunk seal looks good. You can easily see the lighter section I missed in the center of the trim (oops):


The sunroof seal is better but a little streaky:


4. Repeat procedure if necessary. - Unnecessary since 1 coat was enough given the overall condition and age of my seals vs what I can reasonable expect from 303 Rubber Seal Protectant.

5. Use regularly for optimal protection (every 3-5 weeks). - Can’t say I’ll follow this one to a T… but I’ll try.

6. Keep product from freezing. - Duh, of course!

Even though I had washed & dried the car before applying 303 the foam applicator tip was looking a little gross:



Enter APC 3:1, a clean tooth brush, and a rinse under warm water:



Good as new!

Final thoughts
Even though it’s the middle of summer and for the most part the Honda’s rubber seals felt nice and flexible, come winter they’ll start to stiffen up and potentially freeze leading to stuck doors and interior leaks (both have happened on this car). So it’s important to keep the seals hydrated allowing them to maintain their flexibility year round. Not to mention, reduce the amount of cold weather “creak” noises from stiff rubber seals on a car of this age produces once the temperature starts to drop. My sunroof creaks like crazy in the winter!

303 Rubber Seal Protectant vs. 1Z Gummi Pflege
Without directly comparing 303 Rubber Seal Protectant to 1Z Gummi Pflege side by side it’s very hard to say which is better since they’re both excellent products, 100% water based, dry to the touch, don’t attract dust or other debris, and leave rubber surfaces with a nice natural sheen - in short you can’t go wrong using either one. I will say, 303 Rubber Seal Protectant’s applicator seems thicker/more robust, I do appreciate the heavier plastic screw on lid, and it’s made in the USA.

For less then $10 using a rubber protectant on your vehicle regardless of age/ location makes perfect sense. It will only help prolong the rubbers ability to do it’s job and seal out whatever mother nature throws at it and by default YOU!

Hope you enjoyed this review. As always, please feel free to ask any questions :)
 
Riff said:
Thanks for the review. I might have to pick some up soon.
Click to expand...

Sure thing! Protecting your rubber seals is a great step to add into your winter prep detailing routine.
 
Good stuff Ian! Nice review.

Although I have not used this specific product, I do use 1Z Gummi Pflege. These product offerings are must haves for winter time.
 
Mike@DedicatedPerfection said:
Good stuff Ian! Nice review.

Although I have not used this specific product, I do use 1Z Gummi Pflege. These product offerings are must haves for winter time.
Click to expand...

Even more so on German cars. An E46 BMW I once owned, and now my VW, seem prone to having the seals dry out which causes annoying creaking sounds. Cold, dry weather is the worst!

I look forward to trying this product out. Thanks for the review, OP!
 
Glad to see this product well received. So far all the reviews we have gotten on it have been positive. The one I did not even think about but agree is the screw on cap is nice and seals really well.
 
Desertnate said:
Even more so on German cars. An E46 BMW I once owned, and now my VW, seem prone to having the seals dry out which causes annoying creaking sounds. Cold, dry weather is the worst!

I look forward to trying this product out. Thanks for the review, OP!
Click to expand...

Sure thing! Glad you liked it.

MPBGT said:
Glad to see this product well received. So far all the reviews we have gotten on it have been positive. The one I did not even think about but agree is the screw on cap is nice and seals really well.
Click to expand...

It's an awesome product alright! Thanks for making it! :)
 
*Bump*

Used 303 Rubber Seal Protectant last night on the family cars last night - such an easy product to use. Both cars door & trunk seals took less than 10 minutes combined. Frozen doors and creaky noises shouldn`t be an issue now!

For anyone living in a northern climate like me, do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle of this -or- 1Z Gummi Pflege to help protect your rubber seals during the winter months.
 
Angus said:
*Bump*

Used 303 Rubber Seal Protectant last night on the family cars last night - such an easy product to use. Both cars door & trunk seals took less than 10 minutes combined. Frozen doors and creaky noises shouldn`t be an issue now!

For anyone living in a northern climate like me, do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle of this -or- 1Z Gummi Pflege to help protect your rubber seals during the winter months.
Click to expand...

Were they frozen and creaky prior to last night?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Eldorado2k said:
Were they frozen and creaky prior to last night?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


Nope. This was preventive maintenance. My Civics sunroof seal used to creak like crazy before I started using a rubber seal protectant on it.
 
*Bump* applied 303 seal protectant over the weekend as part of my fall/ winter prep. And since photobucket screwed us, heres the reivew again WITH photos reinserted from Imgur:

For this review, I’m going to share my experience using 303’s brand new Rubber Seal Protectant on my 1998 Honda Civic (see Vega, I do give it a little love from time to time)
04eSjF1l.jpg


From PBMG’s copy for 303 Rubber Seal Protectant:
Protects rubber seals against drying and cracking

303 Rubber Seal Protectant conditions rubber seals on doors, windows, hoods and trunks to help prevent long-term drying and cracking. If you have an older vehicle with discolored door seals, 303 Rubber Seal Protectant will rejuvenate the color while restoring elasticity. 303 Rubber Seal Protectant is 100% water-based, and the shoe-polish style applicator makes application quick and easy.
​

The rubber seals on my Honda are original and showing their age. Up until now I’ve been using 1Z’s Gummi Pflege to maintain them however it’s been quite a while so now is the perfect time to test 303’s above claims.

Directions:

GKI6OOil.jpg


1.Shake well before use. - Check & ready for use:

dxWSBDFl.jpg


2.Apply 303® Rubber Seal Protectant evenly onto a dry, clean surface using attached foam applicator. - Check. *Application Tip* There’s a valve hidden underneath the applicator sponge that needs to depress in order to break the factory seal and thus allowing product to flow freely.

Door seal:

YazudnCl.jpg


50/50 on rear side window seal:

Vw7shOsl.jpg


Trunk seal:

YazudnCl.jpg


50/50 on the sunroof`s seal:

XB7vxENl.jpg


3. Allow product to fully dry. - Check. The waterbase formula doesn’t take long to dry at all, 5-10 minutes tops:

Door seals look good:

RBbPVV6l.jpg



Side window seal looks better but is probably too forgone at this point to expect miracles:

lvneQ8Pl.jpg


Trunk seal looks good. You can easily see the lighter section I missed in the center of the trim (oops):

xh4hyjpl.jpg


The sunroof seal is better but a little streaky:

SyGwRSIl.jpg


4. Repeat procedure if necessary. - Unnecessary since 1 coat was enough given the overall condition and age of my seals vs what I can reasonable expect from 303 Rubber Seal Protectant.

5. Use regularly for optimal protection (every 3-5 weeks). - Can’t say I’ll follow this one to a T… but I’ll try.

6. Keep product from freezing. - Duh, of course!

Even though I had washed & dried the car before applying 303 the foam applicator tip was looking a little gross:

QVrMGz4l.jpg


Enter APC 3:1, a clean tooth brush, and a rinse under warm water:

CMQLsdll.jpg


Good as new!

Final thoughts
Even though it’s the middle of summer and for the most part the Honda’s rubber seals felt nice and flexible, come winter they’ll start to stiffen up and potentially freeze leading to stuck doors and interior leaks (both have happened on this car). So it’s important to keep the seals hydrated allowing them to maintain their flexibility year round. Not to mention, reduce the amount of cold weather “creak” noises from stiff rubber seals on a car of this age produces once the temperature starts to drop. My sunroof creaks like crazy in the winter!

303 Rubber Seal Protectant vs. 1Z Gummi Pflege
Without directly comparing 303 Rubber Seal Protectant to 1Z Gummi Pflege side by side it’s very hard to say which is better since they’re both excellent products, 100% water based, dry to the touch, don’t attract dust or other debris, and leave rubber surfaces with a nice natural sheen - in short you can’t go wrong using either one. I will say, 303 Rubber Seal Protectant’s applicator seems thicker/more robust, I do appreciate the heavier plastic screw on lid, and it’s made in the USA.

For less then $10 using a rubber protectant on your vehicle regardless of age/ location makes perfect sense. It will only help prolong the rubbers ability to do it’s job and seal out whatever mother nature throws at it and by default YOU!

Hope you enjoyed this review. As always, please feel free to ask any questions :)
 
I just purchased 303 Aerospace protectant for preserving my rubber seals among other surfaces. Do you feel that the contents of this is a better product for rubber surfaces in autos?
 
I did purchase this a time ago to use this winter on my dd. When my friend asked me to take care of his Chevrolet caprice -70 and about a week ago I did the interior. It has the original door seals and is in bad shape so I cleanded it very carefull and tought to try out the 303 rubber seal protectant. Boy what a chock when I drove it and the wind noise was gone! Now he has a product to use until he buy some new seals to the doors and trunk.
Great write up!
 
Mathwiz said:
I just purchased 303 Aerospace protectant for preserving my rubber seals among other surfaces. Do you feel that the contents of this is a better product for rubber surfaces in autos?
Click to expand...

Great question- from what I can tell “regular” 303 isn’t as thick as the rubber seal version.

SWETM said:
I did purchase this a time ago to use this winter on my dd. When my friend asked me to take care of his Chevrolet caprice -70 and about a week ago I did the interior. It has the original door seals and is in bad shape so I cleanded it very carefull and tought to try out the 303 rubber seal protectant. Boy what a chock when I drove it and the wind noise was gone! Now he has a product to use until he buy some new seals to the doors and trunk.
Great write up!
Click to expand...

That’s awesome! And thanks for the kind words.
 
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