Does anyone know a good way to soften a padded dash after the cover has hardened with time? If it can be softened, should it be stained before or after the softening process?

Does anyone know a good way to soften a padded dash after the cover has hardened with time? If it can be softened, should it be stained before or after the softening process?

Try using saddle soap, like you'd use on a baseball mitt.
Unfortunately, other than that, you're pretty much out of luck with the hardened dash, much less soften it and then color it. The color will effectively seal the surface, so nothing will penetrate it to soften it, and if you put anything on the dash to soften it, you'd have to remove it all to get the color to stick.
Take a white rag and some dash cleaner like ones sold by Meguiars and Armor All. If you wipe the dash and the rag turns the color of the dash, it's history. The vinyl is breaking down from age.

[b]The point to life isn't necessarilly the decimal.<\b>

PMDRACER, thanks for the ideas. I read on an internet site that baby oil may penetrate the surface. What are your thoughts about that idea?

I have had good luck slathering it with petroleum jelly, and letting it sit in the sun. This has worked very well, but I think if you tried to dye the dash afterwards, it would be a fiasco.

Seems wise to store the dash in a heated room, like the furnace room, in a sealed bag. This would promote material softening &expansion, and reduce the forces that lead to cracking.

Then, let the goop of choice marinade into the molded-foamed-vinyl/urethane dash material until uniformly absorbed.

sooo, Aside from solvents like Gasoline, kerosene and lacquer thinner,
what swells urethane?
what softens vinyl?

"11.00/123MPH/1.50 60foot/29.5"/4.10:1/10"/472 #48/Flat HYD/DualQuad/Wenzler/3250Lbs
12.00/112MPH/1.61 60foot/26"/3.31:1/10"/472 #48/FlatHYD/Q-Jet/Torker/3650Lbs
12.70/103MPH/1.71 60foot/28"/4.10:1/12"/472 #48/FlatHYD/Q-Jet/Torker/3950Lbs"

Petroleum jelly is great for softening and storing the dash pad. I do this every two or three months, especially in the winter and still have a perfect dash today. I was told by an upolstery pro that the dash has the same chemicals as petroleum jelly and eventually it starts to dry up with time and neglect. I'm not sure how true that is, but I have yet to have a dsh crack or fade in color on me.

If you're going to take the dash out, store it in a plastic bag or wrap after applying a liberal amount of petroleum jelly to it. Keeping it warm will help a lot more than the cold, but keeping it soft will help the most.

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I agree with the posts for plastic bag storage during the winter, but without the posts saying they have done it for umpteen years, I would have questioned any petroleum-based material like Vaseline. I'm not a chemist, so I'll take the owners of the previous posts word on it. Again, I use saddle soap.
Either way, painting something with Vaseline, baby oil, saddle soap, or whatever on it - I don't think the word disaster is a strong enough term.

The point to life isn't necessarilly the decimal.