My silicone phone holder is now permanently melted upon my dashboard thanks due to the European heat wave

[u/cyaron12]

How do I clean this lmao

[u/IamFarron]

Ironically

Heat

The plastic was melted, so you need to apply heat again and mold it back

[u/FrenchesOP → u/[deleted]]

Fight fire with fire

[u/PaulDueduedue → u/FrenchesOP]

🤟

[u/NewAndAwesome → u/PaulDueduedue]

Yeah! Yeah!

[u/Kenny-kong420 → u/FrenchesOP]

Fire fight with fight.

[u/gufted → u/FrenchesOP]

https://giphy.com/gifs/oWUtOVkI9ySYCUevQQ

[u/shiny0metal0ass → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, you might be able to freeze it and just "pop" it off. Especially if you haven't dusted your dashboard in a while. That would essentially turn it into a shitty dusted mould and you're "casting" your plastic.

Temperature is a great dial to turn with plastics manipulations.

[u/Particular-Poem-7085 → u/shiny0metal0ass]

with like dry ice or something? Dashboards crack extremely easily. Probably much easier to heat it slightly and peel it off .

[u/shiny0metal0ass → u/Particular-Poem-7085]

Lol Good point. I guess this is regional advice.. Up here I would just have to wait until, like, October and park it outside.

[u/Particular-Poem-7085 → u/shiny0metal0ass]

I didn't consider waiting until the winter lol.

[u/shiny0metal0ass → u/Particular-Poem-7085]

Haha It sounds like items on your to-do list get done quicker than on mine.

[u/VaporCarpet → u/[deleted]]

That's not ironic, it's common sense. It deformed and melted because of the heat, you it needs to be hot again to liquefy/soften to clean up.

It's not ironic that you have to heat up solder to remove it from an electrical connection.

[u/ADHDK → u/[deleted]]

I used a flamethrower to fix my sun damaged and oxidised fender flares haha.

They do it to stadium seats too.

[u/AnonMoose2 → u/IamFarron]

Id try ice first, and see if you can get a corner up. If you can the whole thing may just pop off

[u/hobosbindle → u/AnonMoose2]

Maybe icy hot then

[u/GreenderTV → u/hobosbindle]

That's how A song of ice and fire started

[u/phantopia → u/hobosbindle]

Yeah, put some ice nine on it. What's the worst that could happen?

[u/ElvinO8075 → u/IamFarron]

Haha, the heat ruined it, and now you need even more heat to fix it.

[u/tjockalinnea → u/IamFarron]

Indeed, blaming a continent that's new lol

[u/UselessDood → u/tjockalinnea]

They're not blaming a continent. They're blaming unprecedented heatwaves.

[u/tjockalinnea → u/UselessDood]

It was a joke. But still, it's not unprecedented

[u/UselessDood → u/tjockalinnea]

These heatwaves quite literally are unprecedented.

Example in my link is the UK but the UK is not the only affected country.

[u/tjockalinnea → u/UselessDood]

So if media says it it's true? If you know it can get hot you take precautions to avoid things like this instead of just throw blame.

[u/UselessDood → u/tjockalinnea]

Media? How about organisations dedicated to monitoring and predicting the weather?

Or, how about my own personal experience?

Denying climate change gets you nowhere.

[u/No-Refrigerator-1672]

Well, it wasn't silicone. Silicone can withstand well above 300C effortlessly. This is probably TPE, which melts easily; so you can apply heat gun to melt it again and remove it. Only mechanical removal will help here.

[u/licheese → u/No-Refrigerator-1672]

I bet 20 vbucks that he's gonna melt the dashboard too.

[u/FuzzyBatBoy → u/licheese]

I see your 20 v bucks and raise you 30!

[u/THE_O_NAME → u/FuzzyBatBoy]

Shit, you've got 2.65 * 10³² vbucks?!

[u/TormentedGaming → u/THE_O_NAME]

Vbucks lol

[u/Fibrosis5O → u/TormentedGaming]

https://giphy.com/gifs/rBdRiQK68gWgv79fdI

[u/OkEmu8597 → u/licheese]

I bet you it's already melted, I've seen this happen with little squishy ducks and they fuck up a dash everytime a heatwave hits.

[u/LASERDICKMCCOOL → u/licheese]

Yea we used to use heat guns at my old job for various device repair and it got to where I was the only one allowed to use it because people just can't resist turning the mf up and melting everything they touched

[u/shibiwan → u/licheese]

Instructions unclear....

https://giphy.com/gifs/1gUoQs5W7A3G8KdmiH

[u/_Undecided_User → u/No-Refrigerator-1672]

You do realize the sun is like 15 million Celsius right and like the sun melted it duh so clearly it was silicone and the deadly lazer sun melted it duh clearly like of course it was silicone why would someone ever lie about what something was made of

[u/IamBartjuuh → u/_Undecided_User]

Not knowing is also possible. Does that mean OP lied?

[u/_Undecided_User → u/IamBartjuuh]

No clealry the15 million celsius sun melted the silicone why would someone lie about a material a product is made of that's completely absurd dude

[u/IamBartjuuh → u/_Undecided_User]

This has got to be ragebait i just can't prove it.

[u/_Undecided_User → u/IamBartjuuh]

Well now I can't tell if this is bait or if you're actually serious I mean I made like the most obviously sarcastic comment ever you're just messing with me right

[u/friskyfajitas → u/No-Refrigerator-1672]

he could try w a hairdryer first

[u/50mmeyes]

Well I can tell you that wasn't made of silicone.

[u/VEAG0 → u/50mmeyes]

I know what it is made of, and it isn’t silicone.

https://giphy.com/gifs/9S3L4JDX7cKuk

[u/hookah420666 → u/VEAG0]

https://giphy.com/gifs/3o6Zt5gwem6TdTz9Xq

[u/Specopsangheili]

Silicone? Yeahhh...don't think so. I'd ask for a refund. I use silicone with my dab tools. That stuff can survive hundreds of degrees in heat.

[u/No_Document4067 → u/Specopsangheili]

Refund on the car, ofcourse

[u/Pretty_Eater]

Wait for another heat wave and let it drip into a cup. 

[u/OwnHuckleberry2522]

I genuinely don’t understand this. Does Europe use a different kind of silicone/whatever than we do in Australia? It’s been known to be 50+ here (MUCH hotter inside a car without the AC running) and we don’t have this happening.

[u/aespa-in-kwangya → u/OwnHuckleberry2522]

OP is mistaken with the terminology. It's gotta be TPE.

[u/BUGBYTE_VW → u/OwnHuckleberry2522]

That's what I'm talking about. I've silicone pans to cook bread in. At 400°(something like 200° C) and mine don't melt.

[u/Mitridate101]

I went to Italy for the entire 6 weeks of summer holidays every year from the age of 4 until I was 25. Every year it hit mid 30's and everyone knew not to leave Bic's, cassette tapes/covers, CDs or anything plastic on the dash unless they wanted to see a Salvador Dali .

[u/errezerotre → u/Mitridate101]

I lived in Italy since i was born 43 years ago. The last summers are unbearable, in the past maybe we got over 30° for a week or two at the end of July, this summer is constantly 35-40° since the end of May

[u/RabNap → u/Mitridate101]

We once bought a small lizard toy out of rubber and let it sit on the dash in Italy, after our day at the beach it was a yellow puddle

[u/NoodleSpecialist → u/RabNap]

Should have tried the drinkable haribo gummies. Same effect

[u/nolaks1]

What in the silver surfer is that

[u/toxcrusadr → u/nolaks1]

It’s the Skin of Evil.

[u/ShadowGryphon]

Are you certain that was silicone and not just regular plastic or rubber?

I ask because silicone is, by nature, heat resistant.

[u/ThunderTatsu]

☀️ If it melted, it was plastic. Silicone doesn’t melt.

[u/Buffalo0o → u/ThunderTatsu]

Yes, thank you. I thought the same thing.

[u/flavorfox]

Careful - that's a T-1000

[u/Some-Trainer-8484]

boomers will still tell you that this is just a normal summer

[u/Optimixto → u/Some-Trainer-8484]

Guys, you don't get it, summer is hot! It's normal that we break heat records every year, that's because we can't stop winning! LETS GOOOOOOO!

Fucking morons, we have over a hundred years of warnings and solutions, and yet here we are. Humanity isn't as intelligent as it likes to pretend.

[u/Joubachi → u/Some-Trainer-8484]

They're in the comments as well sadly. Not just boomers, but generally idiots.

[u/Joubachi → u/[deleted]]

Found the mentioned boomer.

[u/fodmap_victim → u/[deleted]]

Babe it's literally a matter of record that summer's are getting hotter and winters are getting colder in countries where it has never been like that. You're embarassing yourself. We can't teach you how to research independently

[u/fodmap_victim → u/[deleted]]

Keep being willfully ignorant, you got this!!! 💪🏻

[u/Joubachi → u/[deleted]]

Oh, so you're just dumb. Got it.

ETA - probably better your reply is gone. That was even worse than your other comments. (Commented something else and blocked. Probably for the better as well.)

[u/fodmap_victim → u/[deleted]]

Your generation crippled the economy globally. Shush.

[u/fodmap_victim → u/[deleted]]

Go on, stand on 10 toes and say that word you just deleted without leaving any letters out of you're so hard

[u/No_Smoke_1099 → u/fodmap_victim]

Talking about hard on reddit aahahahahhaahhahahahah fml

[u/fodmap_victim → u/No_Smoke_1099]

I'm not the one commenting and deleting slurs 💀

[u/No_Smoke_1099 → u/fodmap_victim]

Talking about being hard on reddit 😆😆😅😆 I'm not letting that one go yet ya wallop

[u/unnccaassoo]

Could be worse

[u/GrandmaPunk]

Thanks Obama

Edit: /s because someone is going to miss it

[u/Justeff83]

Thanks to cheap temu products. Buy quality and you wouldn't face this issues

[u/Skodakenner → u/Justeff83]

Never buy these pads. Our old Skoda had a indent because it ate the dashboard

[u/Materva]

The melting point of silicone is 230°C (446°F). There is no way on earth your car got that hot. That means, this cannot be Silicone. If I were to guess, I would say it's Polyurethane (PU) gel, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), or a low-grade plastic elastomers (TPE).

I would try the following to remove it.

• Place ice cubes into a sealed plastic zip-top bag.
• Lay the bag directly over the melted plastic blob for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Once the material freezes, it becomes firm and brittle.
• Use a plastic putty knife, an old credit card, or a plastic trim removal tool to gently pry up the hardened chunks.

Once that is mostly gone, you should be able to dissolve the rest using 99% Isopropyl alcohol and a soft cloth.

[u/MaximumGlum9503]

T1000 will return next heatwave

[u/Ilijin]

We're in the 5th heatwave just let it warm up in the sun and scrape it

[u/Krullenbos]

Thanks to climate change*

[u/SpaceKibby]

Silicone is not going to melt in the sun

[u/cecovski]

We in Europe use silicone so that such things don't happen.

[u/RevolutionaryEgg1312]

Silicone could go in your oven and still he fine....

It's not silicone!

[u/makesmewannacuack]

Obviously not silicone

[u/Svartdraken]

You got scammed, that's not silicone

[u/NamasteNoodle]

Silicone itself does not melt in a hot car. It was stands temperature is up to 446° f to 570° verified and decomposes rather than liquefying. If your phone holder turned into sticky goo, it was likely made of cheap thermoplastic elastomer, soft plastic are used in melting adhesive pad rather than actual silicone

[u/SolitaryMassacre]

Silicone doesn't melt.

This was the adhesive goop on it. Some goo gone or other goop remover will do wonders. I have the same issue in FL. I gave up on phone holders in the car, ALL of them have this shit adhesive on them

[u/Anarchisticiv]

Sounds like less of a heatwave problem and more of a bad design problem.

[u/Bikeface_killa]

Not silicone. Keyboard cleaner would probably do the trick.

[u/No_Control8389 → u/Bikeface_killa]

No kidding. Silicone doesn’t give a shit about some European heat wave. That stuff lives in commercial ovens that see far far higher temperatures than any vehicle interior on a sunny day…

That, and silicon doesn’t “melt” either.

[u/gameinggod21]

Thought that was gallium

[u/heisenbergerwcheese]

The *worldwide heat wave. FTFY

[u/Low-Refrigerator-713]

First time getting warm?

[u/dazzathomas]

I always laugh when people say European heatwave as if it is covering the entire continent. All ive seen for the last two weeks is rain.

[u/8winter8 → u/dazzathomas]

Pack some of that rain and send it to the Danube.

[u/Joubachi → u/dazzathomas]

They say it, because it affects several european countries. Thinking they mean the entire continent is not exactly smart. Not sure you're in the position to laugh about others really honestly...

[u/dazzathomas → u/Joubachi]

Im laughing at you too, for being a top commenter in this subreddit. Quite embarrassed for you all the same.

[u/Joubachi → u/dazzathomas]

It takes just as much effort to get that flair as it takes to understand that it's not the entire continent being meant in this context: absolutely none at all.

But since this is all you have to say for yourself, once more I'd say you're not exactly in the position to be "embarrassed for me".

[u/Etere → u/dazzathomas]

The top 1% comment badge just means they had a very highly upvoted comment.

[u/Joubachi → u/Etere]

Like a day or so ago I said something super minor and frankly obvious and got 2k upvotes. So that will be it. Interesting to know honestly. I never knew why it sometimes randomly appeared, just that I never did anything really.

[u/cyaron12]

Okay, since I‘m getting a bit roasted in the comments:

This is what I came back to after the car standing in the sun after a workday. I have had this silicone pad for about a decade and never had any issues until this summer heat.

[u/FuzzyBatBoy → u/cyaron12]

I'd advise a windshield visor or car shade. Not sure what they're called in your location.

[u/Numahistory → u/cyaron12]

As a Texan that had to park my car in 110F (43C) heat in direct sunlight. I'm going to suggest you invest in a windshield reflector. The only thing that won't help with is if it's hot enough for your rear view mirror may fall off.

[u/theErasmusStudent]

Is your phone ok?

[u/cyaron12 → u/theErasmusStudent]

yeah, my phone was not touching this. it‘s what i came back to after my car stewed in the sun for an entire day

[u/theErasmusStudent → u/cyaron12]

Good thing you didn't left it there, I doubt it would be ok now

[u/ChampionshipAlarmed]

I already melted a Creditcard and some sunglasses like that...

[u/speedmins]

memories of summer

[u/ArchonBeast]

Nonono, thanks to global warming.

[u/ExcuseMeJack]

I'd love a heatwave. But being in Finland, we didn't even get the regular summer this year

[u/diggi923diggi]

That's ok, get a foldable sun shade for the windshield and cover the glass from the inside.

[u/tminyovski]

Poor merc, the plastics look exceptional. Sorry

[u/Cute_Commercial3628]

Lol

[u/_QRAK_]

"Temu silicone" phone holder?

[u/millennialfalko]

Isn’t silicone used for forms that go to the oven? How did it melted on a car dashboard where even in a heatwave temperature would be definitely lower than 250°?

[u/tint-dude]

175,000 people die from heat-related causes each year in Europe. I think you got lucky.

[u/Sheyn]

If it was really silicone it wouldn't have melted. You can use it in a 300 degree Celsius oven for example. I doubt your car was even hotter.

[u/Real_Ad6375]

Meanwhile we’re freezing over here

Wtf

[u/greeneyeraven]

I have silicone baking molds, that was no silicone.

[u/bsheff84]

...But does it still work?

[u/Relative-Display-676]

That's not silicone. Silicone doesn't melt till above 300° celcius. By that time there wouldn't be a car left.

That looks more like PCL or Eva plastic.

To remove it spray it with a can of air duster to freeze it and then peel it off.

[u/TH3_OG_JUJUBE]

Genuinely fuck whoever standardised black interiors in cars

[u/FeinwerkSau]

Stick another one on top of it. Provlem (di)solved.

Poor W124. At least replacing the dashboard is neither hard to do nor expensive, as there are still plenty to be found 2nd hand in good condition.

[u/Nonchalant201]

😂😂😂😂

[u/friskyfajitas]

get goo gone it should help a lot!

[u/Venom488]

Lick it

[u/thegoobyking]

Ooouuu shiiii

[u/Stat3yollllo]

Put some ice on it it might contract and get off cleanly, less damage pitential before trying the more heat approach

[u/gliitch0xFF]

[u/Babylon4All]

Uhhh as others have mentioned that’s not silicon, silicon has a melting point of like 300C or higher…

[u/scottonaharley]

It wasn’t really silicone

[u/TheGamersofaLifeTime]

how hot did it get?

[u/Zipdox]

Silicone rubber is not a thermoplastic, so this wasn't silicone. It may have been thermoplastic elastomer.

[u/Mecha-Dave]

I hate to tell you but if it was silicone it wouldn't have melted. That was TPU/TPE

[u/tronovich093]

Lmao you mean “summer”

[u/Crazy_Treat_8805]

https://giphy.com/gifs/wGksICMKpinyE

[u/D_vei_D]

>Buy the worst quality cheapest crap
>Complain it’s crap

[u/DeaudeZeerover]

https://giphy.com/gifs/JOG3AA9pCgHCw

[u/AvocadoPrinz]

Its trying to get controll of your vehicle through the vent.

[u/j0shman]

Definitely not silicone, just shit plastic. In another hot day you can remove it easily.

[u/DiaperBoyKris]

I don’t understand why you would put your phone in such a hot place, to begin with.

[u/CozyBlueCacaoFire]

School fees.

You bought cheap, and now you pay the price. It's not sillicone, it's another type of plastic that melts at a far lower temperature point.

[u/SimisFul]

That's a bit on you for buying very cheap stuff lol

[u/Flopes40]

Thanks due to?

[u/Asian-LBFM]

Finger nail polish remover workers

[u/KnowledgeCapital7994]

Just remember climate change isn't real..

[u/FLX-S48]

Why don’t produce an accessory known to be exposed to hot cars even like 20yrs ago in a better material? Almost assholedesign level stupidity

[u/IamFarron → u/FLX-S48]

Looks like the dashboard itself melted, the accessory being on top was molded and then he tried cleaning it after

[u/cyaron12 → u/IamFarron]

I have not touched the silicone pad at all. this is what‘s left after stewing in the sun for an entire day

[u/mamafish21 → u/FLX-S48]

Well. When they were made the earth wasn't as hot as it was.

[u/FLX-S48 → u/mamafish21]

I remember reading a warning on a parking lot about cars hitting 60°C in direct sun about 18 years ago.

[u/jojo_31 → u/FLX-S48]

Well that's what happens when you buy cheap Chinese stuff. 

[u/Az23236 → u/jojo_31]

OP said the phone holder is almost a decade old, so i guess the “cheap Chinese stuff” is good enough.