On Mon, 16 May 2005 10:20:53 -0400, "Magnulus"
> wrote:

>
>"James C. Reeves" > wrote in message
...
>> And that award won't even buy a bottle of Armor-All, will it? (Which I
>bet
>> is what caused the cracks in the 1st place!)
>>
>
> Why would Armor All do that?
>
> Anybody wants to see what a car looks like without ever having used Armor
>All? It's for damn sure not "just like new".
>
> I'm friggin' tired of the Armor All mythsinformation floating around.
>From the talk of some idiots, you would think Saddam Hussein had a plant in
>Iraq churning out the stuff for Osama bin Laden.
>

I've had two vehicles where the dashboard promptly cracked right after
using armourall.

Here's some more info...

From Sun May 14 12:28:21 2000

Xref: news.primenet.com rec.autos.makers.ford.mustang:327594

patrick wrote:

>I've been searching usenet since I initially posted and their is a
>significant group of people who believe the product causes the
>dash to become 'addicted' to it, and that it will dry and crack if
>not used anymore.

OK, if you want a detailed chemical explanation, here goes.
Soft vinyl plastics (as opposed to things like PVC pipe)
contain a large amount of plasticizers. The one that is
almost universally used is dioctyl phthalate. It is a
relatively high molecular weight, water insoluble, nontoxic
compound. Over the course of time, the plasticizer will
vaporize and leach out of the vinyl causing it to become
stiff and brittle, which is when it cracks.

ArmorAll is an emulsion of dibutyl phthalate in water.
Dibutyl phthalate has a lower molecular weight than the
dioctyl phthalate in the factory soft vinyl. While it will
plump up and soften the plastic (good) the lower molecular
weight means that it is more volatile and more water soluble.
Therefore it will be lost more quickly to the environment
via vaporization and leaching. A nasty side effect is that
it will take the original plasticizer with it as it is lost.

What this means to the end user is that if you start using
ArmorAll you had better continue to do so, or your vinyl
will degrade much faster than if you had done nothing.

>This has caused me to decide not to use it and instead maybe get
>the maximum tint legally allowed on my windows to block UV rays
>and get some of those folding cardboard thingys to put in the
>windshield and rear window to block sunlight.

Ordinary glass blocks UV anyway. Ever try to get a suntan
through your windshield? Doesn't work. That is not to say
that maximum tint is a bad idea. UV damage is not the only
light-related way to destroy plastics. Your plan is a good one.
--
Andy Williams - real address andywlms at ct2 dot nai dot net