If you live in CA, you can buy it out of state online.

When I got my first, I took just about everything off the top. It scared the crap out of me at first because I hag no idea what I was getting into but to this day it is one of my favorite pinball experiences. Stripping the plastics, ramps, etc off your first machine is super educational and fun, plus you end up with a much cleaner machine. You cannot take too many pictures when you do this! Pictures are your friends.

I thought that pledge and other similar products contained silicone which we want to keep off of playfields due to the fact that it wreaks havoc of anyone ever wants to clearcoat it in the future?

Sometimes I wax my balls just for fun... ...makes any game extra fast, if only for a short time.

Yikes!

What's the sandwich bag for?

Beeswax is WAAAY softer than carnuba, so I guess it depends on the mix ratio how well it would work on a pin.

I understand the ball trail and agree with the above advice, but flippers should not leave a trail. Properly installed flippers don't touch the playfield. As Vid said, a picture would really help.

New balls are often coated with oil to prevent corrosion in storage. They should be wiped clean with alcohol or lacquer thinner or other effective degreasing solvent prior to use. After that, inspect them for wear (nicks/ scratches) and replace as needed. If reusing a ball after cleaning and waxing the playfield, just wipe it clean of any dust with a soft rag.

Plain old rubbing alcohol works fine for oily balls. You're just dissolving a thin coating of oil from steel. No biggie....

That's a lot of deep planking (cracks) and ball swirls. To make it go away and do it well, you're looking at a nearly total repaint. If you're up for it check out Vid's guide to playfield restoration. Otherwise clean it, wax it and enjoy it. Well cleaned and waxed with fresh balls in a heated home environment, it probably won't degrade a bunch more.

Yup - just go easy on the cleaning. Overdoing it with the music eraser is going to pretty much take off whatever is left of the original lacquer clearcoat. Keep the alcohol away from the playfield and keep the naphtha and abrasives to a minimum. Personally, I'd just vacuum it really well, give it a light wipe with a soft cotton rag slightly dampened with naptha (this will also remove old wax and crud if there's any there), wax and enjoy.

My understanding is that planking is caused by excessive temperature and humidity fluctuations which cause the wood to expand and contract more than the paint/clear can withstand. This is why people try as much as possible to keep their machines in temperature controlled environments. Wax isn't going to prevent planking.

I also seem to remember Vid saying no fabric softener because it will ruin the absorbency of the fabric?

I picked up a bottle of mist-n-shine recently for my new to me WOZ because it has 7.5v boards and JJP recommended it for its anti-static properties. I am curious if anyone has ideas about what it is exactly. I read the MSDS but couldn't tell from that. It definitely leaves a slippery, thin film on the surface it is applied to. I don't recommend it for glass. It makes the glass too slippery. If it does not contain silicone or oil, what do we think is the slippery substance is? Glycerin?

We pinheads tend to use lots of stuff from other industries for our hobby. In the case of automotive stuff - paints, clearcoats, super high grit wet sandpapers, waxes, polishing compounds, cleaners, etc. "Detailing" is just a way of saying "really meticulous deep cleaning" in the world of cars. If you mean that it is not a cleanser, you are correct and thankfully so since we do not want abrasives here. That space is reserved for Novus 2, novus 3 and melamine foam (magic erasers). This stuff does help to get things clean, much the way that a slightly water dampened cloth will pick up stuff better than a dry cloth. Mind you, I'm not getting the cloth or the playfield really wet. I'm just slightly misting the cloth to pick up fine particles that the vacuum did not.

It works well for what it is: a final wipedown type product that leaves a slick surface behind. I only use it because JJP (Jersey Jack Pinball) recommends it for its early versions of WOZ which tend to suffer light board failure. The board failure seems to be partly related to static electricity and this product allegedly has anti-static properties. Otherwise, I wouldn't be using it. Plain old vacuuming, maybe some occasional novus 1 for detailed wiping or novus 2 for ball trails and such followed by wax is what I usually do. I'm only using the mist-n-shine on WOZ.

I am suspicious of the film it leaves behind, honestly, though really just out of cautious ignorance. I'd like to know what is left behind that is slippery and can't figure it out. Since folks on pinside come from many different walks of life, it's always worth asking.

...as usual!

Good point.

I would use Sparkle but it seems to have been banned in CA. Not sure why but HD stopped carrying it here and neither HD or amazon will ship it to me.

Many, many years.

Well said, sir!

I hereby nominate pinballinreno as Vid2.0 with all rights, privileges and burdens assigned thereto!