Classic Hifi Care

Not sure where to post this. It was inspired by the Sony camcorder post. My brother gave me his old one long ago and it has some soft plastic panels that went sticky. I've seen numerous other items develop this. The same bro. had a radio, think it was a Kloss, with a rubber surround that went sticky. I used some solvent on a little IR temp sensor but can't remember what it was. What do others do for plastics that turn sticky?

Chris Campbell

Vinyl upholstery in cars would sometimes get sticky when stored out here in the heat with the windows all closed. We used some stuff called "Tuff Stuff" to get rid of the sticky substance. You might also try some rubbing alcohol, carefully tested and see what that did. Different plastic compounds would require different methods to remove the sticky stuff.

I was told hydrogen peroxide to clean leather and vinyl by SMS. there's a chance it was coated with Armour All once and that's death to materials. The polymers degrade and destroy the original material.

I don't like Armor All for interiors. I use Meguiar's Interior Quik Detailer on interiors. It cleans without leaving a residue or silicone on the interior material.

I have heard of plastics breaking down after many years ...no matter how much you clean it , it will continue to degrade... I think 12videos did a video about this problem...

I've had good luck with 91% isopropyl alcohol. I use it with plenty of paper towels (I tear them into thirds) and it has gotten it all off. I have had to partially disassemble some items to get the stuff in the cracks. Periodically check the item all over, sometimes areas of it seem to be dry, but aren't after drying a while.

hermitcrab wrote: ↑Sat Sep 30, 2023 3:07 pm I have heard of plastics breaking down after many years ...no matter how much you clean it , it will continue to degrade... I think 12videos did a video about this problem...

Yup, you nailed it.

What happens is the plasticizers are leaching out after they break down.

There are a number of treatments that people swear by, but no matter how long they last, they'll be right back where they started.

This is complaint of many Chevrolet owners. Something like a '72 Nova steering wheel, or a '85 Square body truck steering wheel.

In this hobby (vintage electronics), by far, the most common thing I've seen is the "green slime" that appears around the prongs of the power cords on post-war radios. The plasticizers inside the cord insulation is breaking down, then reacting to the copper strands and turning green. It finds the path of least resistance and ends of "growing" out of the wall outlet plug of the cord OR around the holes of the interlock portion of the cord.

Yuck.

electra225 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 30, 2023 1:32 am I don't like Armor All for interiors. I use Meguiar's Interior Quik Detailer on interiors. It cleans without leaving a residue or silicone on the interior material.

I don't like Armor All either. At all.

There's an old joke floating around out there. It's the kind of thing you tell someone you don't like when he mentions he is Armor All'ing his vehicle.

You say "And make sure you Armor All the brake and accelerator pedals as well..."

My folks had a '73 Eldorado with the flat leather seats. My stepfather armor all'd the seats til they shined. Then that evening they were going to town to eat. that was a curvy road and after they both slid to each side a couple of times, they returned home slowly and called the store the next day wanting to know how to remove it from leather.