It works better than simple green or even rubbing alcohol? Novus is awful for cleaning rubber...

I'll order some. Thank you for the report

good to know, thanks Dug.

I'll second this one...picked up a bottle this week and I was stunned how well it worked.

The stuff works great. Little bit on a Qtip and your pin will look so much cleaner.

Great product indeed, got a bottle2-3months ago, love it!

I like to use 1/4 denatured alcohol, and 3/4 rubbing alcohol mixed in a 1 quart bottle. One swipe with a paper towel, or lint free rag and it's like new. I can't say that this mixture had a drying affect on the rubber, as I had been cleaning the same game rubbers for 3 years.

Im tempted to try it but 91% on a q-tip has worked great so far.

This is all you will ever need and it can be purchased at your local hardware store. My only regret after getting it was not getting it sooner because it is amazing how good it works. It's great for cleaning metal too and evaporates in seconds.

Naphtha.JPG

I too picked some up from pinball life this week. Best cleaner for rubber I've seen so far. Works amazing.

Just put in my order w/ Terry.

I agree with the Naphtha usage for rubber cleaning. Actually i use lighter fluid (which is the same thing), available at any grocery or party store for $1 to $2 a bottle. Not that it's worse or better than other products (actually i haven't found anything better for cleaning rubber!), but it's amazingly available and inexpensive. Also does not harm playfield finishes (old or new), and is a great degreaser too when you need that.

To order a special product for cleaning rubber doesn't make sense to me personally, as the Naphtha has lots of uses from removing grease, prep'ing playfields for clearcoat, to cleaning rubber, etc. I would rather have one thing that works great, then to have a bunch of different products that do essentially all the same thing.

Naphtha is the wrong thing to put on rubber. It will harm the plasticizers in the rubber leading to early replacement. Naphtha is also flammable and has a level of toxicity.

I've been using Naptha to clean rubber for 20 years. i have some games that i re-rubbered 20 years ago, still have the same rubber on them, and i've been cleaning them religiously for that same 20 year period with naptha (rubber still looks brand new.) So that's just incorrect. Also all the official rubber cleaners that i have tried are essentially naphtha. so again, the real life data doesn't confirm that data in any way shape or form.

Might be possible that these new gooey white rubbers have different stuff in them that might be vulnerable to attack from these chemicals?

I'll let you know in 20 years. I've been cleaning mine with 91% alcohol too, lol.

Oh, pfff, you naptha guys probably use mill wax too......

Do you know how this works as compared to, say, CP-100?

I may pick some up the next time I order parts.

Thanks!

Cool,thanks for the info

This stuff does work very well. The non-toxic/100% plant based thing made me want to give it a shot. I don't normally go out of my way to try stuff like this, but anytime I can get rid of foul-smelling, toxic stuff like RC-88 rubber ring cleaner (which I've used forever, and also works great), why not?

I use a number of cleaners, but the one I get the most use out of is W/D 40 a little on the corner of a rag and wipe clean

WD 40 just makes the machine more dirty. It is like a magnet for dirt and grime. It does not evaporate like alcohol and the oil probably reacts with the rubber and destroys it.

Yo dug, you ain't never lied!

I agree....wd-40 and pinball machine DON"T mix

WD-40 is one of those things that does a lot of things ok but nothing well. In just about every application of wd-40 theres something that works much better. Ive had the same can for 10 years. I just dont use it for anything. It seems like I always have something that works better for every task that comes up. If it gets used around here its because my wife grabs it to fix a squeaky door. Then in a week when the door starts squeaking again i grab a product that works and fix it for good. And yes wd-40 and pins dont mix.

Natural Rubber, silicone, and epdm for example are elastomers that are indeed effected by naphtha. That being said there are also rubbers that are ok with Naptha such as Nitrile and Buna. Pick up any O-ring elastomer technical data book and it will list who is good with what. However it is not very easy to know what elastomer was used in your rubber kit. If you stay on the side of safety for you and possibly incompatible elastomers it would be a good idea to avoid Naptha. It is still Toxic and flammable don't take my word for it read all about it from our friends at wiki.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naphtha

I understand your concern about Naphtha, but my real life data doesn't follow that at all. I use Naphtha EVERY DAY to clean rubber. I fix over 500 games a year, and on every one, I use Naphtha to clean the rubber. That's a lot of rubber cleaning, and on a big assortment of different brands of rubber. I also "collect" rubber (i have a large assortment of different NOS rubber brands and types, collected over the last 15 years), and find different brands work better/worse in certain games. I have about 10,000 rubbers rings in stock at any time. So i'm pretty versed in rubber types, and I've found that naptha works great to clean all of them. Also rubber pinball rings are not natural rubber. In fact I don't believe they contain any (or very little) natural rubber.

The bottom line is this... keeping rubber dirty sets up a chemical reaction that degrades the rubber. Using naphtha (or pretty much any other decent cleaning product mentioned in this thread, except wd40) to clean the rubber is going to extend its life. Again i've used just about all the rubber cleaning products over the years, and lighter fluid (naphtha) is by far the best, most readily available, easiest to use, and cheapest. It leaves the rubber clean and bouncy (assuming the rubber hasn't degraded too much due to dirt and UV light.)

The application may also be a factor. I squirt a little on the edge of a folded paper towel, and wipe the dirt off the rubber. That's it, quick and easy.

On wd40, i would also avoid this on rubber. after the solvent in wd40 evaporates, it leaves a gummy reside behind. I think it's the solvents in the wd40 that's cleaning the rubber, but the other junk in wd40 that gets left behind is what would concern me. So in my eye, avoid the leftovers, and just use the solvents to clean.... Naphtha!

Another "thumbs up" for Pinball Life's Pinguard Rubber Cleaner. There are no petroleum products in it so it won't dry out rubber rings. Try it and you won't be disappointed.