What's the best solvent for removing rubber residue from flipper bats without softening or damaging the plastic? Alcohol and naphtha have removed some of the surface residue, but what's left has been ground-in from thousands of ball hits and won't budge. Will anything dissolve this without harming the bat?
I've never had luck in cleaning them off to a point I was a happy, so I just replace them. It's a cheap part that makes a game look significantly better.
Just cleaned some white Gottlieb flippers with Goof Off, the stuff that strips paint and melts plastics. Came out great. Had the flipper bats out of the machine, and used small pieces of cloth dampened with the solvent. Got all the black gunk out of the ridges on the top of the flipper, and took off the rubber residue from the sides. EDIT: Test it on an inconspicuous spot. Would not try Goof Off on any flippers with painted accents or decals & would hesitate to use it on translucent flippers.
All the while I'm thinking that I should just buy new flippers, since cleaning them is tedious and time consuming.
Has anyone used an ultrasonic cleaner for the flippers?
Quoted from Biffbar:Has anyone used an ultrasonic cleaner for the flippers?
Yes. The problem is the black material basically embeds itself into the plastic. It's not just surface grime. Ultrasonic cleaners do well against surface grime, but won't do much against the black marks on the flippers.
Why attempt to remove the resudue? Its not seen and you will just see more the next time you change the rubbers.
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