(Topic ID: 186267)

1930's playfield cleaning

By popperette

7 years ago


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    #13 7 years ago

    This game is WAY OLDER than many people are used to dealing with based on experience commonly on this forum.
    As a result restoration conditions are different.

    Let me carefully assist, as you have a nice game, that I would like to stay this way.

    Read everything in this post.
    There was significant errors in recommendations and advice.

    Denatured alcohol, start with cotton balls in a test area far away from the center of the playfield. Light circles. I have no idea the condition of the paint, and I doubt the remaining lacquer is in superb condition. Move up to a terry cloth with light rubbing, if no paint issues.

    If you want to start "lighter" in terms of testing start with isopropyl alcohol, but it is much less effective with dirt and grime.

    Restorers DO NOT START with Millwax for cleaning of a playfield, but AFTER a playfield is cleaned. This is not a new game, and I do not know how long ago it was cleaned anyway. Operators used Millwax as the standard, but that was for different reasons and different period in history.

    Understand that naphtha is the primary component mineral spirit of paint thinner, and with old playfields can remove paint, this NOT a clear coated playfield. Denatured alcohol is a better alternative, but can remove lacquer as well, meaning you must protect the playfield surface after cleaning.

    This is IMPORTANT. Stay the complete absolute !#$@ away from Mr. Eraser in this case. Too old and delicate. Especially if you have not used the product.

    Novus 2 may be too abrasive and should be used with extreme caution.
    Novus 1 is much safer in this case for light after "spritz" cleaning.

    After you are completely satisfied with your cleaning efforts and there are no residues, you can lightly wax the game with carnauba versus Millwax (DO NOT use both), but you cannot let the wax dry fully to a "white" consistency because excessive rubbing required may result in lost paint or wax into playfield planking cracks. You must do what is called a "wet wax" and remove the wax after no more than 15 minutes while it is still drying with a terry cloth or chamois. Usually, I wipe off in less than 10 minutes if air conditions are causing to form quicker, watch the wax, just do not walk away and forget about it.

    This last part is an advantage of Millwax because there is minimal visible residue.

    Best of Fortune.

    #15 7 years ago

    For an added tip, after thorough inspection of the game including removing anything loose, shop vacuum up as much surface dirt off the playfield with a very soft hair shop brush (not metal) first before you start test cleaning with cotton balls. The importance of using a shop vacuum is if something gets sucked up wrongly by accident you can retrieve it from the container and it makes identification of surface dirt / mold / mildew versus ground in dirt easier.

    Remove every single metal part you can, so you are not spreading dirt around the playfield, into the playfield, contaminating the playfield, and simply to make your life simpler.

    There is no doubt in my mind looking at this close up playfield photos you will have to be extremely careful regarding flaking paint with any of the types of light cleaners I suggested. Even too much hard rubbing with denatured alcohol will potentially start causing damage exclusively based on age alone.

    Keep in mind Millwax as a protectant does also get in crevices and cracks, and is not visually optimal in damaged areas.

    The paint itself still looks very good at the present time in terms of color.

    Yesterday just for an experience note, I was helping someone clean a Bank Shot (GTB, 1976) are we took the cleaning nearly as far as we could with denatured alcohol to remove ball swirls and dirt cracks which is 40+ years old "younger" as a game than yours, but I had to tell them to stop, as we reached a point where although all the ball swirls were gone, we could conduct no more cleaning of this nature without risk of paint damage as some lacquer was removed.

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