If you are worried about water on your playfield then you'd better not use the Novus 2 (60-70% H2O)or Novus 3 (60-80% H2O).

http://www.novuspolish.com/pdf/NOVUSPlasticPolish2RevMay2012.pdf
http://www.novuspolish.com/pdf/NOVUSPlasticPolish3RevOct2012.pdf

Well, I will say this and probably get hammered for it...

It's better to clean a playfield with Pledge ocassionally than to never clean it at all.

An ocassionally cleaned game with Pledge would be a lot nicer than one that was never cleaned/wiped down.

So if an operator used pledge ocassionally, because he's a lazy slacker, the game would be in better shape than a lot I see in the wild.

I'm not saying that Pledge is the be-all-end all, but I did use it on my Honda S90 when I was in high school.

Robert

You guys remember when everyone was cleaning their CDs with ********* because some guy from an audio magazine was recommending it.

Then a few months latter ************* quietly changed their formula and tons of CDs were ruined by the new chemicals.

************ said it was not their fault, as they never advised anyone to use their product to polish optical discs.....

I will state that a quality paste carnuaba will last longer than Novus 1, on a EM playfield. Just to clarify my statement.

Now using a man made Paint Protectant or a Paint Sheild, with either Silicone,or Teflon, or a UV inhibitor in it. This is another different but similar debate. I never play my pins outside so the UV protection is not needed. Although the man made sealers do last a fairly long time on a car.

I would not recommend using Pledge, or Endust. Due to the chemicals in these products.

Crest brand toothpaste??? Just a guess never heard that cd story.

If sealants last longer on cars (and they do), wouldn't you expect them to last longer on a pinball machine?

This thread...

train_wreck.jpg

Ouch it got that bad?

How about silicon spray for a little extra speed before a big night of the silver ball?

I am just a novus2 and wax guy normally. But hey pledge, silicon what ever works and doesn't hurt the paint i'd try.

One of the reasons i mentioned the pledge on the lino floor, a little bit on mylar may make things very slick.

I would imagine that a bunch of EM's and SS pins were cleaned with Pledge (or something similar) because people were not thinking about long-term damage. You know, before the internet.

We used Pledge on show cars with lacquer paint and clearcoat for 10 years on the same car and never saw a problem. I don't use it on my games, but doubt it would be a problem.

Liquid Glass is the big thing with nice street cars now. I wonder how that would work on a playfield? Supposedly it even prevents rock chips on cars after 5+ coats. Just sayin...maybe someone wants to be "in" on the newest product that has been around for years but never used on playfields that I know of.

It's so funny because an expert woodworker gave a professional opinion yet you people keep trying to justify Pledge. My millenial nephew makes the same arguments.

No....use Novus then Carnauba wax.

does not make him a chemist just means he can make one hell of a dovetail joint. and i still keep thinking it may be way better on mylar than wax. not the wood.

Personally I wouldn't use Novus on a playfield at all.

He has a heck of a lot more experience than many of the morons commenting on this thread.

I know. It reminds me of when you were in middle school and you would come home crying, pants pulled down, anus distended. Your mom would try and tell you that the older kids were not your friends and that they were too big for you.

ok.....

I'm a Lemon Pledge believer.
I've been using it for 20+ years on ALL my pins. Even on the cabinets.
I just use it sparingly.
I spray a cloth or paper towel and wipe it down till the area is smooth and shiny.
I never spray the playfield with it, Always the cloth or paper towel, then apply and buff till gone.

I then use the Pledge paper towel to clean and wipe the balls too!

and I love that fresh lemony pinball smell!!!
LOL

I don't normally use it either, but its not a playfield wax, its a plastic polish compound.

Exactly.

I just don't understand why so many people use a plastic polish compound on a clear coated playfield. Use a polish made for clear coats.

You want a slick PF wipe it down with Plexus.
Crazy fast.

Why bother will all the other impurities?

Just spray Silicone all over your playfield.

silicone.jpg

who is this? I want to make sure to never buy a pledge game from them.

note to self, start sniffing machines before you purchase.

mine smell like bacon. been using bacon grease. i'm in the club.

^^^^^ THIS! ^^^^^

Oh NO! but all these bad things are supposed to happen from Pledge. Maybe it's at 30+ years the bad things start...

Seriously, other than all the knee-jerk herd opinions on the first page from guys who've never used it, has anyone with tried and true experience with Pledge ever actually seen ANY detrimental effects?

I assume you're referring to this...

How does it pass through the clear coat? And I'm asking for all the guys who've been using it for 20+ years, when should they expect this miracle to occur?

And why are you connecting Magic Eraser with Pledge??

And why are you telling us what your apprenticeship told you about 'finished wood'? Like the underneath of the playfield? If you'll notice, everyone who is praising its use has said they spray it onto a rag and buff their playing *surface* with it.

I honestly think there's evidence that light use of Pledge as a cleaner/friction reducer can help in keeping wear off of playfields, and the only downside appears to be what those insane ball speeds can do to the old style stationary targets, which aren't reinforced, or airballs breaking plastics, and things like that. Because the ball speeds ARE unnaturally fast for the next couple of playing sessions after a fresh polish.

I wouldn't put pledge on my PFs...

However, this might be interesting to some:

ICE, the maker of SuperChexx Bubble Hockey, suggests using pledge on a rag to make the ice surface play faster. I did this on my SuperChexx and the increase in puck speed was 100 fold. Almost too much! It made the game lightning fast.

I would imagine that some pledge on a rag would probably have a similar result on a pin. If the surface has a clear coat or mylar, would it damage the surface? Would it get residue on the ball that could cause rust or corrosion elsewhere in the game? I don't know. But, based on my SuperChexx experience, I'd be willing to bet that the ball would fly around like crazy.

Making pizzas has probably taught you a lot about wood and finishes, do what you want, I could care less. Done with this topic.

Who cares? Whether Pledge can help some or not, the bottom line is that it isn't the best or safest bet in this situation. Why take a chance on something like Pledge when there are so many better alternatives that are specifically designed to protect a clear coat?

Was Pledge designed to work on cars? Are auto detailers using Pledge to wax their cars because they found it to be perfect for that application and better than the other alternatives? Nope.

As far as the "friction reduction" any quality wax or paint sealant will do exactly the same thing.

Using Pledge on a pinball machine makes zero sense, as there simply are no advantages to using it.

"Who cares?" Stop reading the thread if you don't care. How's that? Problem solved.

That's the point of the thread, actually, to dispel the myth that you are somehow "taking a chance" because multiple people have cited 20+ years of experience with it on play fields.

And no, you're absolutely incorrect that any wax will do exactly the same thing. It won't. Pledge is different. Hence the discussion. Not less friction but next to ZERO friction. Nothing that I've used is even comparable to the lack of friction exhibited by a pledge polished field. Nothing at all like wax.

I find this discussion very interesting only because so many knee jerk responses with zero first hand experience right out of the gate, and sheep herd came bleating along in agreement. Lol. In other words: just another day on Pinside

The Jesus uses Pledge to polish his balls.
Nobody f@(ks with The Jesus.

TheJesus.gif

Oh please, that's not what I meant and you know better than that. I meant "who cares" in terms of whether Pledge could help some or not when there are better more proven alternatives THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY MADE FOR THE APPLICATION AT HAND.

Comprende?

So it's like magic?

Don't use pledge on anything made of wood, I don't care what their marketing says, or how long people have used it. The main ingredient is water. Water + wood = bad.

The End.

Cougtv....do everyone and their grandmother a favor...PM the mods to shut this thread down. You got the info you wanted and now it's just gotten dumb.

Like PEN said..."the END." Please for the love of God.

Yeah, I understood and still understand. It's an obnoxious way to answer a post. My post was asking questions of the only person with any experience (although it was not with pinball playfields) with Pledge who said anything negative. Yet, his points were mildly incoherent so I was asking for clarification. And have you seen Apollo 13 recently? I don't care what something was designed to do; I care what it CAN do. Comprende?

Again, you're simply being obnoxious. Your statement was incorrect. I know from first hand experience how vastly different Pledge and wax make the surface of a playfield. They will not do the exact same thing. It's not magic. Just simple physics.

Yet there is a difference between soaking a piece of raw wood in water AND buffing a clearcoated playfield surface with a cloth damped lightly with Pledge.

I mean, oversimplify much? As someone pointed out, Novus and Powercut and all those things which restorers use to refurbish and polish playfields are also mostly water. LOL This percentage of water thing is silly. You know you're mostly water yourself, so maybe you should stay away from your playfield also!

Dude, give it up. You are out numbered and at this point you need to save face. It's OK to be wrong...just let it go.

Pledge is 60% water. Why not just put water on your playfield then?

Cigarettes were also deemed harmless.

Until someone noticed the build up and seepage into the playfield. You don't notice WD40 on a machine either at first glance. Is that OK to use as well?

On horrible dirty routed machines, wildcat and pledge was commonly used as a quick fix.

Probably not the best for more modern finishes, but it worked well in the past on non clearcoatd games.

It may not have been a perfect solution, but operators wouldnt have used these products if they didnt work well.

But a lot has changed since then...

So to sum up the thread thus far.

100% of the individuals who've had multiple decades of, or any at all for that matter, first hand experience with Pledge on pinball playfields have positive results and have seen not even the slightest detrimental effects.

Those who have ZERO experience with Pledge on pinball playfields, and petulantly continue to undermine the discussion about it, don't advise its use.

I honestly wanted to read Beepnutz's follow-up if he's still following. I'd like him to expand on what he's seen with the negative effects of Pledge. If there are any legit concerns, then we'd honestly all like to know about it.

Dude. Seriously. Shut up. You offer NOTHING to this discussion. You are spam. Every post you make is pure spam. You have no original thoughts of your own. You've offered nothing to this discussion at all. No experience, no evidence, nothing but a bunch of yammering and nonsense. Seriously. Go away! LOL

Mr. Moderator: "Tear this thread down."

reagan-berlin-wall.gif

Why? You keep asking a discussion about playfield product/care/maintenance to be closed. Is there a reason, other than the experienced answers to the thread question all disagreed with you?

If you've tired of the discussion, simply leave and move along!! Thanks!

OMG. It's like talking to a child. Yeah, WHERE in this thread do you find ANYONE advocating WD40 use on a playfield? Please move along, dude. It's painful to read your utter nonsense.

I use Pam spray. Nice shine, fast play, and can cook bacon on my overheating Addams Family magnets.

Huh...
"About the only protection wax affords is against abrasion, and even that is not significant. It's not the actual film of wax that protects wood against abrasion, because the film is too thin for that. Wax makes the surface slippery, thus objects slide across a waxed surface, rather than digging in and scraping. You must remember that wood needs more than just abrasion protection. A piece of furniture that has only wax to protect it will soon become dirty and will have no water, water vapor or chemical protection. A wax finish will soon become filled with dust and dirt that will stick to it and create a dull, dark ugly mess. The only way to fix this is to remove all the wax, clean the wood and sand the surface to prepare it for another finish, hopefully not just wax by itself."
http://www.antiquerestorers.com/Articles/SAL/pastewax.htm

That article is talking about raw wood and paste wax. Ask car dudes if wax does anything for clear coat, then ask car dudes if they pledge their clear coats. Oh no here it is: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/car-care-discussion/988229-lemon-pledge.html

I figure if I raise your blood pressure enough you'll go into cardiac arrest and the thread will then be closed.

fred-sanford-im-coming-o.gif

OMG That's hilarous! Those guys all arguing also!

It's a mirror of this thread, actually. Some guys say not to use it because that's not its intended use. And the guys who actually used it for 20+ years with great results all praised it. Yep, sounds about right. I mean, it's eerie how similar.

Here's why..

I believe the knee-jerk "It MUST be bad!" reaction is simply because Pledge is something we've always known to be in the cupboard with Raid, WD40, Windex, and Mr Clean. Only Moms and Grandmothers used it of course. It's been known by most adult men as a slightly effeminate household item, and is mostly foreign to them other than seeing it shine a dark streak through a dull wooden floor on a commercial.

When you actually look at what it is, a water based and mild silicon spray designed to polish, then you break through that mental barrier.

Novus 1 alright to use on say New machines you just unboxed, I'am expecting 2 machines, and was going to hit both playfields with a quick wipe down (spray on microfiber towel) with novus 1.
If this is not good Rob, let me know? Actually what do you guys do when you get NIB games, just put in PBL's ultimate pinballs and play? I'am cool with that if its the case. but, from seeing pictures and video's of the manufacturing plant, I can imagine the dust, etc. that got on the playfields. Rob, you wax the playfields right away, or wait awhile?