Refreshing rubber parts?

[McG99]

I'm not in a hurry but will be working on a parts bike(that hopefully will also be a track bike from time to time) in the future and remember on the old forum people talking about using some kind of "mint" oil on the rubber parts to soften them up to almost new condition.  I can't remember what exactly the stuff was or if there was a mixture of things just that "mint" was part of the liquid to soak parts in.  Does anyone hear have experience with that?
Thanks!

[mollusc]

Wintergreen oil and xylene is what I have always heard.  The oil can be found at health food stores but it's usually in pretty small bottles -- it may be better to find a source online.  Xylene (aka xylol) should be in the paint section of a home improvement or hardware store.
I've never come across a reliable source for the proportions of the two.  I think that the idea is for the oil to dissolve in the xylene which then permeates the rubber.  Once in situ, the xylene evaporates, leaving the oil behind as an elasticiser.
I remember dumping a couple of bottles of wintergreen into a can of solvent and then soaking the carb boots overnight.  Seemed to work just fine, but my boots were also still relatively pliable.  I was cautious about soaking for too long.  Don't want to risk dissolving elastomers out of the rubber if your oil concentration is too low

[McG99]

Mollusc,

Thanks!  I'll look into rounding those items up and some day getting to pulling the boots on the spare parts bike and giving it a try.  The carbs are already off(cleaned) so it'll be fairly easy to pull the boots and give this a try.  Much appreciated!

[draser]

I have used the Wintergreen and alcohol combo, I believe the proportion is 1/3 Wintergreen to 2/3 alcohol. Worked for me and there's a net article by some guy who experimented the proportions and this seemed to be more effective. Used it on the Magna carb boots that were hard as rocks.

[McG99]

EXCELLENT!  Thank you!

[Northern Rider]

Also, there is another spray product (I think it is called Rubbercare) and it comes in a can. Seems to work good on automotive door seal rubber parts.