My results have been very different. I’ve put in a bunch, including on other peoples games. As others have said, microfiber leaves fine scratches on them and make them look like ass very quickly.

I was taking my Metallica to a show, so I put all the Cliffys and a playfield protector, and flipper button Mylar as well. The game has a couple thousand games since then, and it still looks and plays fantastic. Does it play different than a bare playfield? Of course it does. But once I adjusted, it’s nice.

I just put one on my Star Trek a couple weeks ago. I’d owned the game for a while now, and it was getting a lot of games. Again, I like the way it plays, and it will be fine for many years of play. I play my games quite a bit, so that one also got shooter lane protection (Cliffy) as well, because it was starting to get chewed.

I’ll do Eight Ball next, because the inserts are a bit cupped and they can impact ball travel. The game isn’t worth doing the whole CPR treatment to me.

So overall, I do them on a case by case basis. I like the way they play, and I LOVE knowing that the playfield will still be there looking good long for decades. Some day every game I own will be in someone else’s house. I want it to get there in good shape.

Now the one game I “failed” on was Getaway. It was the very first one I did, and I quickly learned I made mistakes installing it. It plays fantastic, but doesn’t look great. I didn’t notice that I had a bit of dust on the playfield when I put the protector down. A speck of dust or dried wax under the protector looks like hell, especially in a well lit room. And there is no way to get it out without removing the protector. I left it on, but at some point I’ll end up replacing it on that game.

Probably not. But you really didn't define "incredibly dangerous to dead bounce on it" beyond it just doesn't work. It could be a bad bushing, or even something as simple as the height of the rubber on the flipper. I find the best course of action for things like this is to grab my phone, and film a deadbounce in slow motion. That way I can see the real action and discover where the energy of the ball is going. Don't throw the ball at the flipper, just drop it from the same spot on the playfield over and over to let it deadbounce on its own. The playfiled protector should not be involved with that.

That was a wild guess because you didn't really describe what "not working" means. When a ball is coming down the playfield and you dead bounce, if it doesn't, that energy had to go somewhere. As dq13 said, it may be ball spin which can send the ball straight down the flipper. You may have got "heeled" which is when the ball hits that little spot between the flipper and the guide and just zips down the flipper on an angle. I suggested bushings because if they are cracked or broken, the flipper itself may just be getting hit, and all the energy goes into the broken bushing which would look odd. And the way to check the bushing is to just pull the glass, grab the flipper and wiggle it (you can feel it it has a lot of give in it) rather than just shotgun replacement. It could also be bad links that absorb the energy. Or the ball getting pinched from a flipper rubber that is too high.

So like I suggested at first, slow motion footage will usually tell you where the energy is going. When it isn't working, it is usually fairly easy to track down.