Removing rubber stickiness

ibose

Skilled
Jun 20, 2009
1,644
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I have some old stuff where the rubber exterior has become sticky.
I have tried talcum powder and IPA. Talcum powder worked better but it was for short term.
I will try some of the other stuff listed here -
In the meantime I am sure you would have faced this at some point as well and would appreciate any hints as to what worked best for you as a long term solution apart from throwing it all out, of course.
 

6pack

ex-Mod
Sep 19, 2005
8,589
2,699
378
do you mean that silicon rubber type coating we find on some items? i used IPA to reduce the stickiness first. IPA cleans it but we get the problem soon. If you rub IPA too much the coating might wear off completely. I usually remove the coating since the items are better to use that way. If you have ethyl alcohol based hand disinfectant, you can use it to remove the coating 100%. I was out of IPA and used hand disinfectant and the rubber on my Black&Decker drill half came out. The other half i ripped it out. Seems like ethyl alcohol dissolves the glue holding that rubber to plastic.

edit : for rubber coating that cant be removed, try chalk or carrom board powder.
 
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n1r0

Adept
Oct 17, 2022
571
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Rubber deteriorates over time, nothing you can do to prevent it, or restore it after the fact. This is the reason car/bike tyres HAVE to be replaced in 5 years even if they have tread left - the rubber will become hard and give you less grip.

Depending on the device, you can get away by removing the rubbery coating altogether and replacing it with tennis/badminton racquet grip tape.
 
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Clayfire

Disciple
Nov 16, 2023
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Rubber deteriorates over time, nothing you can do to prevent it, or restore it after the fact. This is the reason car/bike tyres HAVE to be replaced in 5 years even if they have tread left - the rubber will become hard and give you less grip.

Depending on the device, you can get away by removing the rubbery coating altogether and replacing it with tennis/badminton racquet grip tape.
wouldnt grip tape be more sticky?
 

nRiTeCh

Skilled
Mar 24, 2005
7,456
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51nD m3!
www.techenclave.com
WD40 spray shall help but not in one go. One needs to apply daily for a few days.
You can even try nail polish remover.
I cant recall which rubber stuff stickiness I was able to remove using these two things but it worked just fine.
Just do not expect magic like an Alladin lamp in one application.
 
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greenhorn

Patron
Dec 29, 2005
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I had a keyboard which had this issue. I took it apart, scrubbed the sticky parts with Isopropyl Alcohol and Scotch brite. Dried it and put it back. It looked like crap, but felt perfect.
 

roadrash99

Disciple
Sep 27, 2023
119
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Had this issue with a Logitech M720 mouse. Bought a new body for it from ebay from china for 1000 rupees, and vowed to never buy any logitech mouse again. Apparently even on the MX Master series the rubber can turn into the same sticky mess.