How To Clean Sticky Rubber Grip

VERY successful removal of stickiness on some newer SLR bodies

Perhaps many of you already know, but the BEST way to remove that damn stickiness on some newer SLR bodies, usually the AF type, is Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. I have tried lighter fluid and it does not work as well as simple rubbing alcohol.
Impregnate a clean, soft tissue with the alcohol and start gently rubbing. The tissue will become filthy, proof that it is working. Be patient, change tissue areas and keep at it. Eventually, there will be no more filth on the tissue, proof that the job is nearing completion. I did this with a NIkon N50 and it worked perfectly. (don't know what brings about this stickiness in the first place, but I have experienced it on many of the hard plastic bodies, even some of the Yashica leather ones as well.)

This problem need not plague us any longer: patience and time (five minutes!) are all that is needed. Heed. - David Lyga
Thanks David. I have a couple of Nikon N90's that could use this treatment.
I did the same on a Nikon D70s but after the treatment it's so smooth and doesn't have the same feel like when it was new.
That 'strange' smoothness is the smoothness that was manifest when it was brand new, Chan Tran. - David Lyga
In the past I tried several solvents and Propanol was one of them, but did not find a remedy. These cameras are just doomed.
I can put them on a shelf without further touching and hope they stay as good as possible for some time, or try to take off that compound completely and maybe substitute by something else.
My Maxxum 7 is becoming sticky, so I'll try this method - thank you. Any particular type of tissue? Kimwipes?
No, Isopropyl should be all that you need. Be prepared for the tissue (Kleenex or bathroom tissue is fine, or even a paper towel) to get filthy. THAT is your guarantee that all is well and will be even better until no more filth appears on the clean tissue. Make certain to keep using a clean portion of the tissue. Patience will pay out here. And AGX, I hope that Germany sells bathroom tissue!!! - David Lyga
I did that on my N90s, but I removed the back door, laid paper towels soaked in iso on it, and wrapped it in plastic wrap, let it sit, repeat a few times. I let the chemical do most of the work - it did still take some scrubbing.
Flamethrower.
Unfortunately any "fix" is temporary - my first cellphone was covered with a similar compound; it's all turned to goo. I was offered a rubberised Nikon sonething-or-other, when I tried to put it down, it was stuck to my hand.
The leather on my '36 Contax, '46 Rollei; bellows on the '51 Deardorff and '59 Linhoff are just fine
If it is five minutes fix which will lasts for five months, I'm OK with it to be temporary.
I have two Minolta Dynax 7's that are similarly afflicted. I have removed the sticky rubber right back to the bare moulding on one of the camera backs.
Can't remember which solvent I used - isopropyl alcohol or lighter fluid, (naptha). I used an old soft T-shirt and had to change the cloth patch frequently as it discoloured with the dissolved coating from the camera. Had to be careful around the LCD screen and buttons on the camera back.

This is a permanent fix as all that is left is the bare camera door as it was moulded before being spray? coated with the rubber compound.

I'll get around to cleaning up the second Dynax 7 one of these days. In the meantime I am enjoying a Minolta 807si and a swag of Canon FD bodies. (If anything I find that the Dynax 7 body without a grip is a bit small for my hands. Also have to use the expensive CR123 batteries. My 807si has a grip and I use AA's).
I will go along with the Isopropanol remedy. I bought a Nikon F100 for not a lot of money (about half price of a one without a sticky back) and the stickiness was removed almost immediately with isopropanol wiped over using paper from a kitchen roll. Two years later it is still like new. I also tried it on an F80 which was worse and this took a bit more work but eventually that succeeded as well. Go for it, a simple remedy for an annoying problem.
P.S. Isopropanol works very well as a lens cleaner too. I make my own with 10% isopropanol, diluted with 90% distilled water plus a couple of drops of Kodak wetting agent. I fill this into a 50cc pump action atomiser bottle and this will last for years.
Any photos before and after to show the outcomes? I have had mixed success and would love to see other peoples results with this method.
Some cameras have a rubber-like coating sprayed on. Some cameras from the same period though have complete rubber-like parts attached to body. These parts not only develop a smeary surface but also develop cracks.
[QUOTE="BMbikerider, post: 2113917, member: 58881"
P.S. Isopropanol works very well as a lens cleaner too. I make my own with 10% isopropanol, diluted with 90% distilled water plus a couple of drops of Kodak wetting agent. I fill this into a 50cc pump action atomiser bottle and this will last for years.[/QUOTE]

Caution: the problem with using Isopropyl for lens cleaning is that is does not remove static, thus dust will still cling. This is more apparent when you clean inner elements, then put the lens back together, and, viewing though the whole lens with a light on the other end, you see much dust. Better to use a very dilute solution of water and a drop of dish liquid, enough to cause slight, very slight bubble, but not enough to leave a film after wiped with a soft, clean tissue. - David Lyga
No photos but the result is a very smooth (without 'tooth') surface that, finally, you do not mind rubbing against you or your clothing. It works, I promise, it works. Just be generous with both the alcohol and the tissues. When the filth finally stops, it will be almost done. - David Lyga
Leaking plasticisers. The plastic will become brittle with time and maybe shrink and disintegrate. The Yashica covering is probably a plastic leatherette.
In payment for this vital information, I demand that everyone send me his camera. - David Lyga
The Ferrari F355 is notorious for having a console that becomes sticky after a while; perhaps your solution (heh) will work in that situation as well and you can obtain a few cars as payment.
For the extremely sticky Sigma 400mm lens Ronwhit sent me as a restoration project, I tried your method of Isopropyl alcohol and paper towels, but it was very slow and would have taken forever to clean this lens, so I went straight to acetone.
Of course, the underlying body of the lens is METAL, so I wouldn't try this on a plastic body of a slr/dslr , but if you have a lens like the Sigma that is terminally sticky, this works a treat.

I still had to rub firmly and change cloth areas often. The gooey rubber that comes off is evil and will stain everything it touches, so wear gloves.

It is weird how the paint on the lens can survive but the black, rubbery goo comes off as long as you gently wipe over the painted numbers, allowing it to dry between swipes and don't linger or rub hard. It does degrade the numbering somewhat, but the lens would have be unusable anyway, so it's worth the trade-off.

I was fully prepared to re-paint or put new transfer numbers back on the lens, but I might not have to now.

Now I can pick the lens up and not have black goo transfer to my hands; it was literally melting into my skin from body heat contact.

Next, disassemble the beast; 7 elements down lies a fungus farm of amazing proportions...
Acetone is very dangerous with plastic and can permanently mar it. Be careful. - David Lyga
Canon's EOS 1 and later EOS 1N thoroughbreds were once derided for a stickiness that was prominent on the palm-door fascia but nowhere else, leading to all manner of conspiracy theorists having their day. My own EOS 1N has this, and it is not and never has been a problem. Creative types took to this "disturbing problem" with acetone, with the predictable outcome that the treatment destroyed the entire surface, necessitating costly replacement of the palm door. Others still used Shellite, hydrogen peroxide, super glue, shoe polish and even a Dremel tool to abrade the surface. IDIOTS! The stickiness was there to enhance one-handed freestyle gripping of the camera with the attached palm-strap -- a set-up I adopted many, many years ago and which is unbeatable in its efficiency. As irritating as it was, and seeing the need to appease the sweating pundits, the EOS 1V mothership was devoid of this feature, and the EOS cameras and their mentally traumatised owners lived happily ever after.
"Of course, the underlying body of the lens is METAL, so I wouldn't try this on a plastic body of a slr/dslr...,"
LOL. Just goes to show you; you underline and bold a disclaimer about acetone and plastic, but it does no good.
There is a difference between a rubber-feel and stickiness.
So far I have not come across any item be it a camera or another consumer good that was sticky from the very beginning.
We'll call it sticky rubber -- the same stuff my tyres are made of on the car...
Well, than let me define what I understand under these terms:
Rubber Feel = a feeling of friction when trying to let glide ones finger over a true rubber surface, but nothing more

Sticky Surface = a feeling of getting stuck when lifting off ones finger from a surface

To my understanding this thread is about the latter.
Furtermore there is variation in these decaying compounds. One compound becomes a more smeary feel and look than sticky (with gradual variations).
That's correct. In the case of my Maxxum 7, in the last year or so the surface has become sticky. Certainly it can be felt when removing a finger from the surface, but I notice stickiness even when gripping the camera - it is a feeling which is different from gripping a pure rubber surface. With my camera, I think the stickiness becomes evident as my hand moves or adjusts slightly while still gripping the camera.
Yes, this is the correct definition of the surface on the palm door of the EOS 1N , just enough to differentiate it from the rest of the body finish (which is extremely smooth) yet provide a feeling of reassurance of gripping the palm of one's hand when the adjunct hand strap is also used. Contrary to commentary around the time many years ago, this rubberised finish was not present on either the Command Back E1 (intervalometer) nor any part of the power drive booster E1.
Of course of millions of users the actual personal definition of the palm door finish varies enormously. In whatever and any case, it is a major error of judgement to attempt to remove it, especially some of the bizarre and downright destructive methods used.

I seem to remember something about Nikon's F90X having a sticky (not rubbery) feel to it somewhere; perhaps this was another camera among many cameras, can't remember...
Many thanks.
Seems to be lots of opinions about restoring the plastic finish after the sticky surface is removed.
There appears to be some confusion between a grippy rubber finish as described by Poisson de Jour and the degraded coatings that affect other cameras.
In the case of the Minoltas the coating on the camera back is definitely degraded and if I rub hard with a dry finger I can produce a little ball of coating. The camera back is sticky and unpleasant to hold. This is the situation I am fixing by removing the coating completely. This leaves the bare plastic door moulding on the camera back.

From what I have read it appears that some Nikon models also suffer from degraded coverings on the camera back but these are a more substantial coating that is laid on in sheet form and was possibly replaceable. Removal of these coatings with solvent alone may be impracticable. Would probably have to remove the sheet coating in a similar fashion to removing leatherette before cleanup of residual adhesives. Good luck in getting the rubber sheet off in one piece.
I can't believe these camera companies didn't know better than to make the crap they did after about 1980. Certainly they knew rubber didn't last.
Such stuff is still applied.
I use IPA with a piece of coarse stocking net cloth ( a dishcloth ) to clean both my Minolta Dynax 7's and a Nikon F80 .
Nice clean and smooth , cleaned up a treat and made them useable again .
I use for a variety of tasks a variety of solvents. One I use regularly is a commercial blend that contains acetone as one part. Thus one may blend acetone oneself.
But they did know that most uzers would have a new camera long before the coating turned into goo
To re-iterate: Use isopropyl alcohol, use much tissue, and rub like you mean it. Done. Fun. Task won. - David Lyga
I never fail to gasp at how utterly brilliant Japan is capable of being and, at the same time (but, thankfully to a far lesser extent) how downright stupid they are capable of being. The disparate combination leaves me speechless.
To be fair and transparent here, however, one must remember that 'after 1980' the powerful yen became a defacto reason for an extreme obsession with cost cutting. We tend to look only at what our dollars can buy in the here and now, but, remember, those Japanese manufacturers had to be paid in the yen which was (at least in the 80s) ever increasing in value. - David Lyga
+1 Thank you David!
Worked on my Nikon F100. Tissues cause lint, instead use a paper towel. Remember pour the isopropyl alcohol on the paper towel, do not put the paper towel on the mouth of the bottle and tip the bottle because that pollutes the alcohol.
Duh, they always wanted you to buy the latest and greatest. That is why many cars and appliances do not last.
Now, if I could just find some isopropyl alcohol in a store.
When I started this there was no COVID 19.
Maybe this thread should be a sticky, since it is ABOUT sticky. - David Lyga
Top tip. Use an old towelling sports sock inside out. Worked a charm on my F100.
Revisited this thread after cleaning the melted grip of my rebel t2 and the remote ir window fell out... Now have to get some crazy glue to re secure it - wrongfully assumed canon used a mechanical method of holding it in place
I used goo gone, then went over everything with a damp paper towel so the residue didn't attack anything else

My rebel t2, my f100 and my maxxum 7 were all sticky - better than the maxxum 7000 that crumbled

Are the eos 1/3, f5,6 better at not melting? Makes me want to sell all my af stuff (maybe I'm a bit over dramatic)
I took out an old inexpensive pair of variable power Bushnell binoculars to see the International Space Station passing overhead last weekend. Its rubberized coating had turned sticky gummy.
Reading this thread reminded me of that, so I took to the goo with Goo Gone and a paper towel. The gooey stuff was removed with only moderate effort, leaving the hard plastic body instead of the coating originally applied to improve grip. It seems a lot of manufacturers were sold a bill of goods about coatings for 'improved grip'. More than a 20 years ago, I had to replace the 12" woofers on a set of high end stereo speakers because the foam surrounds had literally 'melted'...good thing the original manufacter was still in business and 'only' a two hour drive away, as I could buy a new set of drivers from them.
Hi,
Had to do this (with IPA) to a canon HI 8 camcorder a while back. Took me ages to find info on what to use but it worked a treat on a camera that appeared to be literally melting. Good info this
Steve.
I'll try this on an older cameras at school. Thanks!