303 protectant smell

Pencils used to be made of solid cedar. Some cheapies are made of wood(or paper) dust and glue, your smell could come from either one. If it's a chemical smell, it's probably from the glue.

Never heard of 303 aerospace protectant, who makes it? You could look up the safety sheet online and see what's in it. Probably has some form of wax and a solvent plus some secret sauce for anti-rust. Your smell could come from any of those. I know that LPS 2 smells like the Alox that's in bullet lube, Deep Creep has the same smell. Alox was first an anti-corrosion goop that was used in the oil fields. So probably a relative.

Stan

It's supposed to be a rubber and plastic UV protectant and moisturizer of sorts without silicones. I hate how silicone stuff creeps and makes everything shiny.

I've used it on rubber stuff that tends to dryrot, but never noticed the smell before, until I got it all over myself.

MSDS is just "proprietary". The smell is faint, and the stuff look appears as a slightly milky fluid.

I did finally get some LPS-2, had to mail order it from a hardware store in NY to get some in Chicago. I don't like its smell, it reminds me of WD-40, and seeing that or smelling it usually means somebody did or is about to do something stupid.

LPS 2 is meant to leave a lubricating and rust-resistant coating behind, unlike WD40 which leaves something akin to rosin when the carrier evaporates. But the odor IS sharp off of it.

Is the 303 stuff on the shelf somewhere or is it strictly mail/web order? Rubber protectants usually have some sort of wax base, most rubber formulas have more or less wax in them, depending on inside or outside use. Tires have a LOT of wax, when it starts running out, that's when the cracks and weather-checks show up. So if you're in the habit of soaping up the tires every day for appearance, expect weathering a lot sooner. You'll be washing off the wax meant to keep the rubber from weathering. I use a dry silicone spray on the weatherstripping for that reason. Usually is water-base, so no wax removal with it. That stuff doesn't get shiny and ice doesn't freeze the doors shut with it applied. Reminds me I need to get some new wiper blades, last storm took a chunk out of one.

Stan

I've never seen it on the shelf, but it's probably at boating and RV places.

Once rubber is weathered/dry/white is there anything that can be done anymore, or is that just too late?

I've noticed turpentine vapors really swell up old dry rubber, but I can't imagine is heals any cracks, and I'm not sure how long the stuff will say swelled up, or if the turpentine ends up dissolving the rubber anyways.

My only use is on rubber grips on knobs and the like where once they fall off, the equipment looks ugly, and you'll never get a replacement.