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Gottlieb, 1969You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider cody_chunn.
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Mother's Mag Polish is what I have used for several years with excellent results. Lots of debate on vid's guide to playfield cleaning.
Disregard this suggestion. Mother's isn't effective as an initial cleaner. It is great after cleaning for polishing the playfield surface.
Naphtha is a very weak cleaner, in my experience. It's OK to clean up residue from a real cleaner, but it'll take forever to clean a grungy field with naphtha only.
MEs are a great tool as long as you use them properly. I'm convinced that ME and alcohol can dissolve vintage (pre '90s) clears, so it should only be used on fields that require touchup and re-clear. After that, the fields look great, and have a nice protective clear.
Quoted from Brtlkat:Agree ME will remove the clear coat and leave it dull, Yes they clean but, No more shine after ME is used.
This is not entirely true. It leaves a dull haze that must be removed and then it will polish to a brilliant shine. I am going to be posting some pics soon that will prove it.
Quoted from Brtlkat:Seen it in action, A buddy used it on a stern POTC and no more shine, No matter how much it was polished. So use at own risk
Yes, that may be on a newer field, I don't use it on those.
Quoted from cantbfrank:OK I am relatively new to this hobby compared to everyone else. But being new, I have experimented with a lot of different methods. Right now my preferred method for a pin that needs a completely shopped is ME and 92% alcohol. Obviously you need to be careful as everyone has already mentioned. I avoid any area of the playfield that has planking. ME, alcohol and a planked area of a playfield do not mix well together. At least in my unfortunate opinion. After the ME/alcohol, I remove the white haze with Naphtha. I polish with Novus 2. Then heavy wax. I only do this process once to a newly acquired EM that needs heavy cleaning. Any future cleaning is strictly Simple Green and wax.
The 'problem' with alcohol is that on older fields it dissolves the top coat leaving the original ink unprotected. Not a problem on fields you're gonna clear anyway, but on nice original condition fields that require no touchup don't need the topcoat removed...which alcohol and ME appear to do.
PS: I never use Novus2 on older fields. I do not like the results at all.
Quoted from cantbfrank:Interesting. What do you use to polish an EM playfield?
Well, let me relate why I don't like Novus2 on older fields. You may have different experiences and can disregard my methods.
I had been using Novus2 on every game for a long time, with "good" results. However, on one game I noticed that an area I just polished with Novus2, when looked at while reflecting overhead lighting, still had residual images of the dried Novus swirls. So I buffed it again. Then again. Now, I do all this by hand, so if you use power tools you may have entirely different results. Still, I could not buff out those residual images. So I was thinking what to do and saw my can of Mother's Mag Polish sitting there. Well, it sure does a bang-up job of putting mirror finishes on steel, so...
I tried a little dab of Mother's on the same spot I was unable to buff away the Novus. Rubbed it in with no special applicator, probably a paper shop towel, let it dry, then buffed it out by hand with a dusting cloth. The results were amazing. Not only were there no residual marks from the Mother's like Novus left behind, but the finish was super clean (you can feel the clean with your fingertips) and had a deep luster that mirrored the overhead lights in some detail. Not like real details, but you could see the individual light bulbs in the reflection.
So, based on that experience, I use Mother's Mag Polish on older fields with not "good" but fantastic results (compared to Novus). Granted, Novus does "OK", and you can't really see the residuals unless you look at a light's reflection, but it doesn't feel clean, and I know those artifacts are there.
Pics are coming soon...
I absolutely agree. It started me thinking when vid suggested to quickly wipe up the remaining clearcoat after using ME/Alcohol. That means you can liquefy the topcoat without completely stripping it. The ME picks up the dirt particles that are trapped in the swirl cracks and the alcohol liquefies the topcoat to gain a more uniform surface when it reconstitutes. Is that your experience as well?
Quoted from TimMe:I use small ME squares and 92% alcohol for the initial cleaning. I work small areas at a time. I immediately follow up the area I've just cleaned with Turtle Wax liquid polishing compound. I go through a lot of cloth shop towels, ME, alcohol, and polishing compound when cleaning a PF!
I never leave an area of the PF with the haze of the alcohol sitting on it, I remove it immediately and re-polish the top coat after I'm done cleaning an area with ME/alcohol. The polishing compound not only restores the gloss of the PF topcoat, it also provides some additional cleaning.
I think it's important to note that this kind of aggressive cleaning takes skill and judgement. When you use ME and alcohol, it does start to strip the original top coat. The trick is to clean just enough to remove as much of the marking as possible without stripping off too much top coat. This is not a trivial judgement to make and it takes some practice to get a feel for it. Many of us end up "practicing" while we're working on our actual keeper games. If you can acquire an old PF and practice on that first, it's probably time well spent.
In any given area of a PF, the goal is to get the maximum cleaning done while doing the least amount of damage. The condition of the PF topcoat varies from game to game, and the condition of the topcoat will usually vary widely across a given PF. In general the upper part of the PF is in the best condition and is the most resilient to aggressive cleaning, while the area just above the flippers is the most worn and is the most easily damaged by cleaning. So I think it's important to evaluate each area before you clean it, and to pay close attention to what is happening to the PF surface as you clean it.
100% of the time, my experience has been that it's ALWAYS better to stop cleaning and leave a little bit of marking on the artwork than to over-clean in an effort to remove all the marking. Over-cleaning might work on the resilient upper playfield areas, but that same over-cleaning will NOT work on the worn areas. The marking doesn't come off, and the artwork just gets damaged. That's why it's important to evaluate the condition of each area you are cleaning and adjust your expectations accordingly.
Over-cleaning a worn area of the PF strips all of the topcoat away, leaving the screen-printed artwork without any protection, and also causing an unattractive "burn" on the artwork. The burn effect occurs because you are seeing the raw bright ink color without the patina of the topcoat over it. The topcoat adds a distinctive amber patina that mutes the colors of the artwork. To me, this patina is an important part of making an EM playfield look good.
- TimMe
Quoted from Otaku:Still baffled people are still advising Naphtha, but to each their own. I nearly had 0 results with it regardless of how hard you scrubbed on any machine. So, I'm going to assume they meant playfields that have already been gone through previously by a collector within the last year and just need routine dust/very light dirt cleaning and not actual cleaning. It does nothing for ground in dirt in my experience. If I had a playfield caked with dirt I might use it to get the surface dirt off before using Novus 2 but that's about it.
Absolutely agree. I have a can of naphtha that I will probably never open again. It is a pathetic cleaner, and generates highly combustible fumes that can actually travel to another room and ignite there. It is dangerous. Anytime someone suggests that stuff it should come with the disclaimer that methlab-type explosions could occur.
I like Novus OK on newer fields, but say '91 or so back I do not like the wipe artifacts it leaves behind but have had great results following up novus with Mother's Mag polish (but I usually don't use novus at all on older fields at all)
Quoted from flynnibus:It is a solvent - not a detergent
If you use the right chemical for the right job you'll be much happier
It's great for removing residual residues and as a wetting agent that won't swell wood. It will not dislodge dirt or act as an abrasive itself. It's more to wet so a towel can collect things without leaving any residue of its own. It is fantastic at removing any types of oils... Which is why it's popular for wipe downs before paint applications and dealing with wax.
It is not in competition with a simple green... Purple power.. Etc. different products for different things.
I'm not trying to start an argument, but if you search this forum for naphtha, there are dozens of posts advising to use it for cleaning playfields. So hopefully you can understand my confusion and disappointment.
Thanks for the clarifications.
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