Friction Mount No Longer Sticking To Dashboard

I'd start with some warm soapy water and a good scrub with a rag, then drying with a clean dry rag. I'm assuming you have the shiny silicone-bottomed friction mount

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/69365

and not the older mount

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/63953

Try using one of those "sticky" lint and pet hair brushes on it. you might try using a vegetable brush with a minimum of water. Also clean the dash with something that doesn't leave a residue.

Yes its the silicone bottom friction mount. Will try to clean it with soapy water. Was a bit reluctant to get it wet.

you should be able to use a little denatured alcohol, not rubbing alcohol, (ask a pharmacist for it). Many rubbing alcohol's have things like aloe in them but not denatured.

Put a bit on something like a microfiber cloth and clean the silicon and it should restore the "stickyness" (I put gloves rubber, latex or plastic gloves on my hands so I the denatured alcohol doesn't remove the oils from my hands)

Things like that lose their capability to stick because in reality, they are porous.

Over time, the pores fill with crud, (oils from hands, falling in milk shakes, water molecules from the atmosphere, smoke particles and the list goes on.) The denatured alcohol should release the bond between the silicon and the contaminant.

I'd try the water and soap first, but if that doesn't work, I'd try the denatured alcohol.

I know I switched over to use denatured alcohol on the suction cups and the windscreen in the car so the suction cup works better.

But that's me...

BTW.. I wouldn't recommend denatured alcohol on the dash of the car...

As a retired pharmacist and part time alchemist who transmuted elements for a living, I'd avoid denatured alcohol. By definition, denatured alcohol is ethanol (yes, the drinkable stuff) which has an added toxic component making it something only the very unwise would drink:

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-denatured-alcohol-p2-60399...

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-denatured-alcohol-3976009

Denatured alcohol is often ethanol with methanol added although many other additives can be used including ketones, benzene, etc. I'm pretty sure that even gasoline can be used! When used on surfaces, the variable additive could really be unwise since some materials (but probably not pure silicone) may soften or dissolve due to the additive. I admit that I've never looked for denatured alcohol in a pharmacy or grocery store but have a feeling it's rarely offered there. To me, a hardware store is where I think I'd most likely find denatured alcohol.

I do agree that rubbing alcohol can be bad but would suggest trying the readily available 99% or even 95% isopropyl alcohol. I expect that Walgreens, Walmart, Safeway (where mine is from), etc. will have it available on the shelf for purchase.

Very unwise would be trying any nail polish remover, acetone based or acetone free.

Whatever is used, it's always safe to first try it on a small spot of the material to be cleaned that is not easily viewed and try not to slosh it around the other plasticy parts although I expect the Garmin friction mount that isn't the bean bag mount can handle the alcohol on all its surfaces.

Think of your friction mount as an oil-soaked otter from an oil spill. Try the gentle stuff first. P&G has done very well in promoting the use of their Dawn for ecological use which is why I suggested warm soapy water and a good scrubbing with a rag. As already mentioned, cleaning the dash helps too, and warm soapy water using a bit of liquid dish detergent is what I use when I occasionally clean my car dashboard. I do use Dawn since I lived in Cincinnati for over 20 years and have friends who worked at P&G. I'd avoid the dish detergents that mention that they contain a bit of hand lotion although they probably would work as well.

Well explained.

Thanks!

John

Thanks for the useful information.

yes, agree

Thanks for asking this question. I have the same mount and although it's done a great job overall, just this week as when turning through an intersection, out of the corner of my eye I saw my Nuvi sailing across the dash! Never occurred to me that the mount might need cleaning. Think I'll start with the soap & water suggestion and advance to the rubbing alcohol if necessary. Also thinking I'll just wipe down the dash with a clean damp rag to remove any dust. Good post.

yes,I just retired my 2 mounts because of the same problem.
I removed the lock mechanism and use double faced tape to stick the to the dash. I works fine on a flat surface even if it is textured. However if there is a little curve to the dash, not so good.

I'm assuming that the material on the base is similar or the same as on the suction cup.

I have had good luck using commercial 50% alcohol to clean the suction cup. Give it a couple of swipes and the suction cup has a slightly sticky feel to it.

My 2797 being quite heavy I use with a bean bag mount and found after a while it really does not stay in place too well anymore. I bought some of the "Non-slip" matting at a Dollar store and cut a piece to fit the base, problem solved.

I'd second the comment that isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol should be fine, especially if you use the higher concentrations. I believe that most of them just have water mixed in, but other things like aloe are certainly possible.

They used to sell pet hair/lint rollers made out of silicone (maybe still do) and while you normally just rinsed them off to be ready for the next use, they would eventually lose their stickiness.

The manufacturer-recommended way to rejuvenate them was to wipe them down with some isopropyl alcohol and that restored them to a like-new level of performance so I'd say it should work for this too.

Let us know how it works out.

- Phil

For double sided tape you cannot beat Gorilla tape (Home Depot)

It sounds like there are a few folks here planning to clean their friction mounts to "restore non-slippiness." For the benefit of us all, please report what you did and what your results are. This thread may then well become the goto discussion for friction mount restorations. Please include failed, partial and complete happiness results.

Lets get a running thread of what worked and what didn't for others.

Will be trying the soapy warm water first then move to 90% Alcohol on the pad if the soapy water doesn't work. Will also be using soapy warm water on the dash to see if that improves things. Will report back how things go.

My excuses: 1) it's 90 degrees today and even though I don't have AC in my home, it's cooler indoors than out right now; 2) Having already streamed a free VUDU movie, I was looking for something else to do; and 3) maybe jgermann needs more reading material.

I did a few Google searches for 99% isopropyl alcohol, differences between denatured, rubbing and other alcohols, and several other "alcohol" search phrases. Yikes, I'm convinced that 2% of all internet web sites discuss "alcohol" and find the various posts in forums discussing alcohols to be totally correct maybe 30% of the time. For sure, over half of the discussions of available alcohols on the internet suffer from the "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" syndrome. If you're bored, do a similar internet search. I'm doing this from memory so forgive me if I slip an error in the following:

methanol, aka "wood alcohol:" the simplest alcohol, CH3OH, and the cause of a lot of blindness from folks who drink the stuff. Commonly used to denature ethanol since it's highly toxic.

ethanol, aka "grain alcohol:" the second simplest alcohol, CH3CH2OH, and the alcohol in fermented beverages and the primary alcohol in denatured alcohol.

Isopropyl alcohol, aka 2-propanol or officially propan-2-ol, one of two 3-carbon alcohols, commonly available commercially, less toxic than other similar compounds and a common ingredient in gasoline additives for "drying" fuels.

Denatured alcohol, which is mostly ethanol with added chemical(s) making it: 1) undrinkable and 2) not taxed. My assumption is that ethanol is cheaper to produce than other alcohols and therefore worth the effort of denaturation which converts it from a excise-taxed substance to a non-taxed substance and sells for less than other available alcohols. Possibly the most common denaturing agent for ethanol is methanol since it's fairly inexpensive and quite difficult to separate from ethanol when they're mixed together. In some countries but not the USA, denatured alcohol must be colored.

Rubbing alcohol, aka "who knows?" Other than containing alcohol, typically either ethanol or isopropyl alcohol, rubbing alcohol is a non-drinkable liquid containing one or more materials other than the alcohol.

The above are the most common alcohols you will come across although for completeness, some may read discussions of fusel alcohols which are all alcohols containing more than two carbon atoms and frequently are butanol (four carbon atoms) or amyl alcohol (one of eight distinct alcohols with five carbon atoms). Fusel alcohols can be produced in small quantities in fermentations intended to produce ethanol for adult beverages.

A handy fact: When used for disinfection, a 70% alcohol solution (ethanol, rubbing, etc.) is better than higher percentages. The 90/95/99% are more likely to dehydrate microbes than to kill them. Dehydrated bacteria can form spores and return to life with added water. That's why a 70% solution is so commonly available commercially.

Ok. I love to read what Craig posts. But this one really cracked me up.

John

Do you take your vehicle to a Car Wash?

If you get more than a wash and vacuum, then more than likely they clean the top of the dash and then coat it with ArmorAll to male it nice and shiny - also to protect it and keep the "Plasticizer" in the covering.

I have to put a "Sticky" note on the GPS Beanbag Mount saying "DO NOT ARMORALL UNDER THE MOUNT" to keep them from lifting it up and applying ArmorAll under it. Also, they just set the mount right back down on the wet surface, which just makes it worse as there are now 2 slick surfaces - with a moderate application of the brakes the whole thing will slide up against the windshield!

Isopropyl Alcohol is the only thing I have found to cut the stuff and it still doesn't get it all.

BTW - A Google search turned up almost nothing on removing ArmorAll.

metricman, you of course are assuming that they can read?

CraigW, where I live some of the down and out apparently must drink "rubbing alcohol" since sometimes they are referred to as "rubbies"

First attempt, tried putting dish soap onto a sponge then web the sponge with warm water and then wiped down the silicone pad on the friction mount then washed pad with cold water. Let mount dry. Didn't work too well.

Second attempt, squirted dish soap directly onto the silicone pad on the friction mount then wiped with a web warm sponge. Then washed pad with cold water. Let mount dry. Worked much better.

Silicone pad is significantly more "sticky" than it was before cleaning was performed.

Went over the mount 2X with dish soap and a wet wash cloth. Just scrubbed very lightly to dislodge the dust. Rinsed well and let it dry. Was surprised to find the tackiness had returned; literally like new.

Thoroughly wiped down the dash with a damp (water only) clean rag to remove dust, and this mount is back in business!

Works on otters too. Thanks for the report.

I have had some old mounts that I cleaned with soap and water and they seemed to regain "some" of their stickiness.

But in the end, I bought a roll of non-slip shelf liner from Walmart which is made of rubber which is in an open woven pattern.

The stuff is as sticky (non-slide) as the bottom of the mounts.

It's pretty cheap AND comes in several different colors to try to match the color of your dashboard.

I cut a little square or circle and set it on the Dash and then place the old mount on top of that and all is good!

One of those rolls is large enough to make many little squares to use.

But it too will lose it's "stickiness" sooner or later and will have to be replaced again.

I know a person that put this on his dash to keep a few things from "wandering" around as they drove about.

I asked how it worked and he said it worked fine.. but in extreme heat, the stuff kind of welded (or is it melted) itself to the dash and he never really got it off the dash... according to them, it left a raised grid on the dash where the stuff had been.

I've had the Garmin portable mount for a few years and recently noticed that it does move around at times when making sharp turns.

I've placed a non-slip drawer shelf liner on my dashboard with the mount on top of it & haven't seen it move one single inch.

When not in use, I keep the shelf liner in the glove compartement & the nüvi at home in order preserve the battery.

There's never been any residue left behind on my dashboard after having used the shelf liner in this manner.

The person I talked with left their product on the dash, in the blazing sun day in and day out... but I dunno for sure

I have had my little square get pretty dry and lose some of it's stickiness ability, but not to the point of it welding itself to the dash.

I do change it out with a new square about every other year.

Fortunately, the car wash here in town uses mostly college students. Although, W&M does offer "Remedial" reading classes (or did at one time)!!! Last trip to the car wash, the young man said that he saw the note and amazingly he understood why.

The wife just rinses her friction mount under the tap using plain warm water and it seems to work for her.

I only use that mount on my first garmin and since I've gone with the Garmin Vehicle Mount, never have a problem

Looks to me the dashboard is shot, time to trade in for a new 2018 model

Just came back from a one week trip where I took my ancient Nuvi 850 along (Build 2008). Still using the original suction cup. All I do once in a while is to clean it with a wipe of rubbing alcohol.

It is so sticky I really have to pull hard to get it off the windshield.

And it seems to be working fine after being cleaned with soap and water. The silicon is nice and grippy.

Bottom of pad seems clean. Will try soap method.

...please

Tried cleaning with Dawn soap and water twice, did not help friction mount. Either silicone lost shape or flexibility.

Is it time to try isopropyl alcohol before giving up?

Tried alcohol and other solvent. Compared to another mount, 1/4" of outer edge is flat and does not cup much anymore.

I have just the opposite problem. I bought a friction mount for my garmin and the first time I used it it left a sort of "Residue" "shinny spot" on my dash. I have a 2016 Equinox and the factory dash is matte finish. I have tried alcohol, armor all cleaning wipes, etc to remove it. Anyone with any suggestions?

I've not done this so I suggest trying an inconspicuous spot first. I'd try a large rag, something along the lines of a worn out tee shirt, and a bucket of warm soap solution, a bit stronger than you'd use for dishwashing. Scrub the whole dash with an emphasis on the slick spot. Rinse with another large rag, then dry with a third big rag. That could hasten the elimination of the spot. I also expect that with time (months?), the shiny spot possibly could become less obvious or even disappear on its own.

It also could be that with your use of ArmorAll, the dashboard cleaning could be more difficult. On the positive side, you probably will have an easier job in BC than those living in southern Arizona with in-car temperatures well above what you experience.

Welcome to The Factory. Stick around, there's a lot of great info here.

I thought I'd re-open this old thread to add a product I found that solves the failing friction mount issue.

https://www.amazon.com/JIMISHA-Gripping-Multifunctional-Non-...

The pads can be cut to fit the base of any friction mount that's lost it's grip. I've used them for two years now and they remove easily without marring the surface.

They clean easily with soap and water but so far, I haven't had to clean them.

The mats also allow for the construction of custom friction mounts, such as this dual GPS mount I made for the dash of my pickup:

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipPAeP6yTL1HbzknGjr2zvxa...

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNCB6yfQOm2jy3LXV6Nx_7b...

The product is amazingly solid and won't move under side pressure, yet lifts off easily when not in use.

Both photo links bring this up for me:

404. That’s an error.

The requested URL was not found on this server. That’s all we know.

Another thought, based on content at the 3M Command FAQ”s which reads

I’ve used the outdoor Command strips for Christmas decorations. They remain attached, even on the south side of my house (sun & heat) for many years, yet they peel off when needed without any damage to the surface. But caution, you have to peel in a certain manner so read the directions.

My question would be how smooth does the surface need to be, my dash, for lack of a better description, is dimply like a golf ball, not quite as extreme, but not solidly smooth.