TIL my 50 year old bunker door seals actually work way better after I did this one weird thing

I got the idea from an old civil defense manual my dad had stashed away. So last weekend I wiped down all the rubber gaskets on my shelter door with plain glycerin and a rag, waited 6 hours for it to soak in, and the seal is way tighter now. Has anyone else tried this trick or got a different method for old dried out gaskets?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew_jones3122d ago

Wait, you're telling me I could've been using glycerin this whole time instead of slathering my seals in coconut oil (which, FYI, attracts every mouse within a mile radius)? How long did you leave the rag on there for, or did you just wipe and pray like I normally do? I tried silicone spray once and it worked okay but left this weird greasy film that collected dirt like crazy. Might have to hunt down my dad's old civil defense manuals too, bet they've got all sorts of weird hacks like this.

willowg8821d ago

Read somewhere that glycerin actually pulls moisture out of the air.

aaron74021d ago

Wait, hold on, @drew_jones31 I think you're mixing something up. Glycerin actually pulls moisture from the air, not from the rubber. So that's probably what makes the seal work better - it's not soaking in to condition the rubber, it's just drawing a little humidity out of the air pocket around the gasket. I mean, coconut oil makes sense for softening but yeah, the mice thing is a deal breaker. And about the old manual - just track one down on eBay, they're cheap and full of stuff like using corn syrup for wood rot and other weird hacks.