It is not often that the temperature drops below freezing here in the Southern region.
For those of you that have to endure/survive the colder temps in the wintery north; Do you have any methods or apply any product on your rubber door and hatch seals to prevent them from freezing/sticking shut?

The past few days this week have been unprecedentedly wet and cold here in the southeast. I live in an apt complex so my Mini is parked outside among the "general population" (scary. I know)....
Having gone out to my Mini the other morning to find it covered in a sheet of frost and ice (temp was 19°F); only to discover my doors were nearly frozen shut.
After gently persuading them open, I spread a thin coat of silicone lube around the door seals. This seemed to work, as today the temps were down to about 20° this morning and the doors opened without sticking.
Unfortunately, I never lubed the hatch seal and upon attempting to open the rear hatch this morning, it too was frozen shut. I wound up cracking the rear hatch handle.


Pictured above: You can see the rear hatch handle cracked in the center and a larger split over to the right having occurred while trying to open it after the rubber seals had caused it to be frozen shut.

I'll have to replace the rear handle this Spring.
But - Any suggestions from you guys who live up North, as to how you avoid this during the winter months?

Thanks!

 

This is what you want:
https://nextzettusa.com/gummi-pflege-rubber-care-stick/

 

Good to know.
Thanks.

 

Yep gummy fledge is the old school German seal protectant and is also supposed to make them swell slightly to seal better, but that may be more myth or legend from at least back in the 90s.

me, I just used some of my dg ceramic interior spray on em.

 

A couple of winters ago, my car doors froze shut after a freezing rainstorm, and I ended up snapping a piece off my door handle trying to force it open. Since then, I’ve learned a few tricks. Silicone lube is definitely a good move, but I also started using a rubber conditioner designed for cold weather. It keeps the seals flexible and helps repel moisture.

One thing I read about (and tried) is seals made from HNBR rubber. It’s way more resistant to extreme temperatures and doesn’t get as brittle in the cold. I had a shop replace my door seals with hnbr ones after that winter, and I haven’t had a single freezing issue since.