That stupid rubbery interior coating....

[Dirtman]

What's the best way to strip that thin rubbery coating off the radio bezel without hurting the plastic underneath? I'm nervous regular paint stripper will just eat through the plastic and I'm tired of rubbing bits of it off with my fingernail...

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Xylene will definitely murder.your plastic.

Mineral spirits or goof off to start. Possibly starting fluid as well.

 

[Snoranger]

Try brake fluid. It won't hurt the plastic.

 

[Josh B]

WD-40 takes off quite a bit of sticky stuff too

 

[Grumpaw]

How about some industrial "chowdah" ? Not the Campbells, but maybe Progresso ?
Seriously tho, try a heat gun, or a hair dryer on low setting. I've found over the years that many coatings on surfaces can be loosened with heat.
If it is a thin rubber coating, a bit of heat may cause it to wrinkle where you can start to peel it off.
I've used heat guns to remove old vinyl striping, decals, and many car emblems, so might work on your radio bezel.
Grumpaw

 

[Gozi]

I tried several things to get rid of this stuff. Best thing was scratching hard with my fingernail. Wore out the nails on all my fingers.

 

[Dirtman]

I tried several things to get rid of this stuff. Best thing was scratching hard with my fingernail. Wore out the nails on all my fingers.

This is what I've been doing for weeks. Every time I get in the truck I pick at it for a while.

Anyway sorry I should have updated. I finally got it all off with oven cleaner and a light scotch brite pad. It left the plastic really dull looking but I'm re-painting it anyway.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

You didn't try pooping on it Dirtman?

 

[8thTon]

Fish oil, or clam chowder. Leave it on for a week or two.

 

[Dirtman]

Some things cannot be fixed with chowdah or bodily excretions.

 

[Grumpaw]

Maybe a combination mixture of the two ???

Grumpaw

 

[91stranger]

If your fingernail works the best then why don't you use plastic scrapers?? Brake cleaner would probably get it off but would probably hurt the plastic at the same time.

 

[Gozi]

Plastic scrapers scratched the surface of the plastic and cleaners would of changed the shine of the surface. Only thing that I could scratch it with and wouldn't damage the plastic was my fingernail. Have a couple of different upholstery tools that scrape real good but they would scratch the plastic. Took me a couple of weeks on breaks once I really decided to just use my fingernail. Wanted to get the Explorer full center console rubber junk off the cup holder area, fingernail doesn't work on that. Fingernail only works on the radio plate rubber.

 

[Cowboy Ranger]

This is on my to do list also. Sounds like I should hold off on the nail clippers this week.....

 

[Bird76Mojo]

I wonder if a lighter cleaner or degreaser would remove it. Goo-Gone, WD40, or maybe electrical contact cleaner.. Or possibly a heat gun set on low.