After track days - cleaning off tyre rubber marks.

We love racing

If you're like our family, you'll get great joy in taking a car to a track and driving it as many manufacturers intended them to be driven - fast!

And with that need to go faster, you'll have good sticky rubber, so you become very familiar with the constant rubber marks after every track day. These come from the hot rubber as it leaves the tyre and shoots out onto the side of the cars' body work, leaving black marks on the different surfaces it hits, including the cars following you on the track!  

At the end of the weekend we always found it was a bit of a hassle to clean the rubber marks away, and they certainly cannot be removed by just washing, so we asked one of our chemists to look at creating something "awesome" just for this task.  

 

The development process

We wanted this product to of course target the removal of racing rubber, but also be safe on paint, glass, chrome, polished metal, perspex & polycarbonate, fibreglass, powdercoated surfaces, and to also not damage race cut vinyl or quality race wraps. 

It also had to be free from any petroleum distillates, non flamable, silicone free and be an enviromentally friendly water based formula. 

Our mechanics also asked if it could have a suitable fragrence they would approve of in the pits, nothing too nice or "flowery" - go figure.

Thanks to Chris Bowden pretty much racing every single month in 2014, our chemist was able to supply his mechanic Jason with a new, updated formula each and every race meeting they went to. Over the course of 12 months we got it to a very fine point, where we then gave it to other driver training schools and race teams, all who came back amazed at how well it worked. In fact, they became that obssessed with getting more of it, which lead us to note that it's like crack cocaine for any race mechanics! 

We also found that it's great for people who race karts, bikes, do drifting, drag racing and motorkhanas as well. 

It was given the name Rubber Off, as that is exactly what it does.

Using Rubber Off

It's very easy to use. The biggest tip to remember is the sooner you can clean the rubber marks from the surface, the easier they will be to remove.

First off either wash, or wipe the area the rubber marks are on clean, with our Boss Gloss or Fully Slick detailing sprays. This is so you're not rubbing any paint scratching dirt or grime into the surface. 

Spray the Rubber Off directly onto the rubber marks and leave it to to sit and work on softening the rubber for 30 seconds. Spray a couple of sprays into a dirty deeds microfibre cloth and gently wipe the marks away. Always work in small areas at a time and don't be aggressive when wiping it off, let the product do the work for you. 

Another quick video and other tips.

If you have left the rubber on for too long, you can sometimes have slight residue left over from the rubber. This is super easy to clean off with our Paint Cleanse and Restore (also known by its older name of Auto Body Cleanser). Use it as per the directions - gently buff a small amount into the area the minor residue is, then buff off with a clean microfibre cloth to a perfectly clean finish. 

Rubber Off is also very good to clean off any decal marks and other sticker residue from paint and glass too. 

If your car is an older single stage paint, or has been sprayed with a spray can, use Rubber Off very cautiously, as it can penetrate and soften some of these types of unsealed paints, removing the paint when you wipe it off. Likewise, do not use it on plastic dipped (spray on rubber) items either. Always test on a small area if you have any concerns, first. 

The Rubber Off is a pretty good cleaner, so it will remove any waxes and sealants from the surface. After cleaning it's a good idea to quickly apply some of the Fully Slick spray sealant back to the area for that bit of protection and also so the rubber comes off even easier next time around. 

Here's an unedited, 10 second rubber cleaning video we did at the Phillip Island Historics to show again just how easy it is to use. 

If you have any questions

We know the Rubber Off is not going to be something in the garage of every enthusiast, but it's a great addition for those who enjoy the true pleasure of running their cars on a track.

If you have any questions about it, or any of our car care, please feel free to email us - info@bowdensown.com.au or call our office on 1800 351 308.

Enjoy the track days,

Dan Bowden