Thinkpads Forum

Hi everyone!

I recently purchased another Thinkpad 700 (monochrome model) for parts ($20 or so). It is in good physical condition apart from rubber finish, which is EXTREMELY sticky and I have no clue if it is possible to somehow clean it up or do something. In this condition it is absolutely unusable because it leaves black sticky residue on hands and I am forced to use gloves when handling it. This residue is like black chewing gum, but more soft/blunt/kinda liquid... And it attracts EVERYTHING around...

I would greatly appreciate ANY help or thoughts on this matter as some other machines also suffer from similar problem, though not as severe as this TP 700...

Thank you in advance!

Do not trust me, for I could make it worse.

I recently tried to remove icky stickiness from two things, one is a faux leather strap, the other I forget. I just reached for the rubbing alcohol, and it worked reasonably well. Afterward, I tried to search the Web, and while I could not find any really good advice (ought to have some chemical background or explanation for oozing vinyl), I found two pages with some cleaning ideas. Maybe one of these substances will be effective on your ThinkPad.

http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/how-to-c ... rom-vinyl/
http://secrist.activeboard.com/t3466776 ... ily-vinyl/



edit add: Sleepy664 mentioned a very good site in "600E - strange smell from all 3 machines??". The Institute of Conservation : Care and conservation of plastic materials http://www.conservationregister.com/PIcon-careplastics.asp

YMMV with my advice too...

My cleaner of choice for Thinkpad externals is regular Windex. Try it in a non-conspicuous place and see what happens.

My old T23 had the same issue you are talking about. I have found that some mild scrubbing with a Mr. clean majic eraser and some water gives best results by getting rid of most of the stickiness and scratches. Note that the majic eraser is slightly abrasive, which is how it removes that layer of sticky gunk and light scratches, so don't over over do it. Else, you could end up eating away the finish.

I'd like to 2nd the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

A lot of folks in the old Macintosh community swear by them for removing the yellowing and returning the classic platinum color of old G3/9600/8600 series machines.

I used one on my old 8500 (God I loved that machine and might get another someday). It worked wonderfully.

Temetka wrote:I'd like to 2nd the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

Count me in for 3rd! Using it just now to clean-up the lids of several ThinkPads and I'll be buying a whole lot more to cope with upcoming upgrades for members of the family.