When I was a ute, the go to for plastic and vinyl was Armor All. Over the years Armor All has fallen out of favor. I guess I need a history lesson here about these products.
When I was a ute, the go to for plastic and vinyl was Armor All. Over the years Armor All has fallen out of favor. I guess I need a history lesson here about these products.
It's still made and sold in relatively large numbers. Still does a reasonably good job as a UV protectant and cleaner. It's still cheap and that's probably its biggest advantage.
There's slicker stuff out there, stuff that smells more detail shop/industrial bubble gum , stuff that doesn't shine/leave residue but chiefly there's stuff out there sold by cooler people with a nearly identical chemical composition. The automotive detailing industry is basically a big vape contest at this point and nobody who isn't a total douche is winning
The overly shiny finish and residue left behind is my guess.
Personally, I feel it is associated with a greasy finish applied overly heavily by used car dealers. Any time I have test driven a car a t a dealership, every plastic surface has been slicker than a slip-n-slide. It took me a week of driving my Tacoma before it stoped leaving a residue on my hands and soles. Who knows what actual product they use, but I think the *perception* is often that it is Armor-All, and perceptions are strong.
Other companies just came out with better products that are less greasy and have a more natural shine.
"Armor All detail" also eventually turned into a pejorative term which probably didn't help either.
Because 303 Aerospace is a much better product that doesn't leave a greasy residue.
Armor All etches plastic. It takes "too long" to soak in for consumer happiness, so it contains etching agents to rough up the surface so it soaks in faster. The more you use Armor All, the more you need to use Armor All.
For whatever that is worth.
I wasn't aware it was ever in flavor. It was always a sloppy greasy mess for interior renewal.
If I go buy a used car, and its got Armor All all over the engine bay and steering wheel, I am not buying it, I dont care how good the car looks. I hate it.
The rumor was always that it 'caused cracked dashes' locally, no idea how / why / when that started, but everyone repeated the same thing.
I personally never liked the greasy shine it left on my dash, so I moved to a 'no shine' type product from a different company and stayed with it until it was no longer available, I now use a Mothers product that has minimal shine.
Idk, I still use it on everything from old El Camino to new Miata. I don't put it on any touch surfaces though, like steering wheel or arm rests. My typical interior cleaning is vacuum, wipe-down/scrub if necessary with a degreaser like simple green, armor-all everything I don't touch, then clean the windshield.
What are people using instead?
matthewmcl said:Armor All etches plastic. It takes "too long" to soak in for consumer happiness, so it contains etching agents to rough up the surface so it soaks in faster. The more you use Armor All, the more you need to use Armor All.
For whatever that is worth.
Yep, I have seen a few vehicles over the years that have been Armor Alled to the point of every surface being a permanently sticky mess. I wouldn't put it on anything other than tires.
pointofdeparture said:matthewmcl said:Armor All etches plastic. It takes "too long" to soak in for consumer happiness, so it contains etching agents to rough up the surface so it soaks in faster. The more you use Armor All, the more you need to use Armor All.
For whatever that is worth.
Yep, I have seen a few vehicles over the years that have been Armor Alled to the point of every surface being a permanently sticky mess. I wouldn't put it on anything other than tires.
Is there any way to unsticky it? I've got a driver side airbag in a Dakota that this has happened to that I need to figure out a way to fix
Slippery said:If I go buy a used car, and its got Armor All all over the engine bay and steering wheel, I am not buying it, I dont care how good the car looks. I hate it.
I agree, instant turn off for me.
DjGreggieP said:The rumor was always that it 'caused cracked dashes' locally, no idea how / why / when that started, but everyone repeated the same thing.
This is what I have read too. I use 303.
pointofdeparture said:matthewmcl said:Armor All etches plastic. It takes "too long" to soak in for consumer happiness, so it contains etching agents to rough up the surface so it soaks in faster. The more you use Armor All, the more you need to use Armor All.
For whatever that is worth.
Yep, I have seen a few vehicles over the years that have been Armor Alled to the point of every surface being a permanently sticky mess. I wouldn't put it on anything other than tires.
I don't ever put anything on tires. I haven't found anything that doesn't end up slung all over the paint in a sticky mess after the first drive.
I use it on the seat when a customer asks me to make their motorcycle faster.
In reply to z31maniac :
That'll happen if you're in a hurry. I normally do the tires when a vehicle is going to be comfortably parked for a while, then roll it forward and give it a final wipe before hitting the road.
maschinenbau said:What are people using instead?
Nothing. It has never failed me and is one less demand of my time. Then again, if you don't count the rain, my vehicles also tend to only get washed once per year... Maybe twice If I'm splurging.
DjGreggieP said:The rumor was always that it 'caused cracked dashes' locally, no idea how / why / when that started, but everyone repeated the same thing.
This has always struck me as being one of those internet rumors, where no one has actual proof but they heard it happened to someone's cousin's friend.
When Armor All first came out it was really the only commercial vinyl shine product on the market. Before that people used various home remedies like shoe polish, baby oil, or who knows what. As the years went by and other companies introduced their own product they chipped away at the market share.
In the early 1970s I did use it on my motorcycle's seat...I only did that once, after the first hard acceleration I realized it was not a good idea. Good thing I didn't put any on the handlebar grips or I may not be here today to tell the story. 
maschinenbau said:What are people using instead?
A mild soapy water solution with terry cloth towel for vinyl upholstery. Either Turtle Wax Streak-Free Mist Interior detailer spray or Griot's Garage Interior Cleaner for plastics, dash, etc.
If I'm feeling real fancy, sometimes I will apply 303 Aerospace protectant afterward.
ShawnG said:I use it on the seat when a customer asks me to make their motorcycle faster.
I like to use it on motorcycle tires and seat too.
writing this from the hospital
I keep a small bottle around. It can soften rubber.
I have two armor all stories. One time I was replacing the door bumpers on my 71 Chevelle. I could not insert the rubber prongs onto the holes for it to stay. I soaked them overnight in AA and tried again. They had turned into mush. Lesson learned.
The other story is I was detailing my dad's 1980 Lincoln Continental, and in the height of Florida's summer heat, (with the sun directly on the top of the rear seat) I proudly blasted the top of the seat. The sound that followed continues to haunt me.
The top of the seat instantly contracted about a 1/4 of an inch. It made the sound of an extremely small animal in its last moment. A squeak of despair and pain.
Though I frantically tried to undo this, it was finished. The former "leather" was severely wrinkled and felt like hard plastic.
I contemplated fleeing to another country, but it turned out OK. Evidently no one looks at the top of a rear seat, even though it was clearly visible through the rear window.
z31maniac said:pointofdeparture said:matthewmcl said:Armor All etches plastic. It takes "too long" to soak in for consumer happiness, so it contains etching agents to rough up the surface so it soaks in faster. The more you use Armor All, the more you need to use Armor All.
For whatever that is worth.
Yep, I have seen a few vehicles over the years that have been Armor Alled to the point of every surface being a permanently sticky mess. I wouldn't put it on anything other than tires.
I don't ever put anything on tires. I haven't found anything that doesn't end up slung all over the paint in a sticky mess after the first drive.
I remember back when I gave a hoot, we had to use SC Johnsons black liquid shoe polish. Plus white if you had white sidewall stripes.
matthewmcl said:Armor All etches plastic. It takes "too long" to soak in for consumer happiness, so it contains etching agents to rough up the surface so it soaks in faster. The more you use Armor All, the more you need to use Armor All.
For whatever that is worth.
That's scary, I knew it wasn't a product that was particularly great at anything and that it was especially terrible as tire shine, but I would use it to clean hard interior plastics that don't need to be touched, like the top of the dash...but this makes me want to actively avoid it entirely.
That said I haven't seen any signs of damage caused by it either.
One thing to be aware of that a lot of people don't know, is that sprays that contain silicone which includes Armor-All and similar can be very dangerous around electronics. If the spray floats around and finds its way onto electrical contacts, it's a strong electrical insulator. Toyota's repair manual has something about not using it on the steering wheel due to the contacts inside for the airbag and horn switch for that reason.
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