So tired of seeing age-old recommendations for Napatha. It sucks. It just really, genuinely, honestly sucks.
Official photo of Napatha from the national congress library:
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It doesn't take any real dirt off (I kind of giggle when I read people saying it does) except maybe if you dropped potting soil in your game. Nothing says "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" like your playfield looking like a half-ton Miracle-Gro disaster. I've tried it on several different games and it literally did nothing. I restore games. They are dirty, real dirt. I can only assume people who use Napatha to remove "dirt" (light dirt that clearly isn't ground-in as per usual) are already doing it to a playfield that was properly cleaned by somebody else before they bought it.
It smells godawful. It's super bad for you. You have to wear gloves to use it and wear a gas mask to be around it. One time I spilled it on my hands and tasted it for two days. It doesn't come in a metal tin for cosmetic reasons...
Don't light a match and make sure your buddy isn't playing an EM next to you or the extremely harsh vapors in the air will combust. The last guy who did it thankfully had a camera rolling: (This is a jokingly-said statement but this and the health risks are serious concerns)
Unfortunately, there's a no convincing a lot of the older die-hards around here that this nuclear waste is a "waste" of time.
But for the newbies with an open mind this could be a good tip.
Now let's take a look at this pretty lil' lady:
NOVUS 2 (Can be bought online or in any The Container Store - I drive 20-40 minutes for mine "locally" because I'm impatient):
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Looks good, right? Well, it works good. Cleans real dirt. As it SHOULD.
Pretty cheap. I think I pay a few bucks per bottle and it's generally less than I remember for paying for Napatha tins. Comes in tiny sample bottles, medium bottles (the standard ones), and BIG bottles mostly for refills of lesser sizes, presumably the medium size.
It won't make your veins glow bright green at night...
annnnnd, it won't burn your house down when your heater comes on or when your buddy lights up a smoke.
So, next time you're thinking of cleaning your pinball machine, do it right.