Just found a Bluetooth numeric keypad that I bought when I was teaching. The formerly very nice, tactile, rubbery border has turned into a sticky, plasticizer-oozing mess.
Note to manufacturers - either make it with materials that will last, or make the whole thing out of corn silk so I can throw it in the composter… 🌽 👍
@MichaelPorter Always wondered if there was a way to reverse that plastic-gone-sticky, or at least strip away the residue invovled. Need to find a #chemist who knows what's going on.
Alternatively, perhaps I should try some nasty solvent to remove the surface goo. Maybe some toluene or acetone.
@ottaross I’m going to try some ethanol to start… Maybe Goo Gone if that doesn’t work. I’m not optimistic, though – I doubt my efforts will affect the underlying material. It will probably continue to ooze now that the polymer has begun degrading. I hate throwing stuff out, though!
@ottaross 95% ethanol seems to have cleaned it up quite a bit. I gave it some elbow grease and scrubbed until the surface was smooth again. Still *slightly* tacky but a vast improvement from when I discovered it.
@MichaelPorter we have a frying pan with the same problem, I'll have to experiment.