Cleaning yellowed/rust colored rubber goods

[Bryan]

I have no doubt that many of you have some hoses, mouthpieces or other rubber goods in your collection that have that horrible yellow/rust colored film on them. Lots of the time a good wash in the machine with some detergent and hot water does the trick and gets rid of it. Sometimes not so much…..I have used MEK for a long time to get rid of the crusty burnt on duckbills that seem to have molded themselves to the inside of the exhaust horn on 9 out of 10 regulators I come across.
I have a few mouthpieces that I want to use but could not get them clean. So I did a little experiment and since it worked out so well I thought some of you might like to take a shot at it as well.
MEK is NASTY STUFF. The safety precautions on the can are no joke. Use this stuff outside and wear the protective gear that is recommended. I WARNED YOU!!!
I put some MEK on a paper towel and wiped it all over the mouthpiece. I gave it a good soaking. Let it set for a minute or two and then rinsed thoroughly with soap, water and a good scrub with a fingernail cleaning brush. When it dried I noticed that some yellow spots were still on the mouthpiece. So I took a Q-tip soaked in MEK and rubbed it on the remaining spots and in the crevices where there was still some discoloration. Gave it another good rinse and scrub and you can see the results in the picture. Not 100% but I’d say it’s a very useable mouthpiece now……CYA for me. I am not telling or advising you to do this to your rubber goods. I’m simply showing what worked for me. Your results may vary…