Tech/maintenance Rubber Cap Gone Sticky

[Pete Effamy]

Opened my clarinet case up for the first time in a while today to find the plastic / rubber mouthpiece cap has had that reaction where it goes all sticky.

Can it be rubbed with Meths or something to remove; rubbed down with fine(ish) grit sand / glass paper…

Is there a hack ?

 

[rhysonsax]

Is this a Vandoren cap with a rubberised finish ? If so this happened a lot. It also occurred with many other plastic items with fancy rubberised finishes that gradually went tacky and basically unuseable.

I threw my mouthpiece cap away, but there are lots and lots of tips online about how to get rid of the sticky finish. For instance (I haven't tried them and so do not personally recommend any particular approach):

View: https://youtu.be/GQZutUWe7IU?si=GekdlFc1LiozCzqn


Good luck

Rhys

 

[turf3]

Unfortunately, certain types of rubber can undergo a DEvulcanization reaction, which as far as I can tell is irreverisble. About all you can do is to scrape the soft rubber coating off and retain whatever's under it.

I had a car key (with chip) where the entire head of the key was rubber and it did this. It was like having a car key with the head of it made of modeling clay.

 

[Stephen Howard]

I think it's meths that strips it off. Either that or naptha. I don't think its ethanol. Some BAM cases have 'rubberised' catches on them which go sticky down the line - like mine did.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I had a pair of JBL speakers do this. I tried acetone and it did remove the stickiness. I’d did this without seeming to affect the material of the speakers so it may work. Acetone can be quite picky about which type of plastic it will destroy though so be careful.

 

[stitch]

I've used meths, which works.

 

[Stephen Howard]

I've got all the solvents in the workshop - you're welcome to pop round and have a breathe of them!

 

[Pete Effamy]

Thanks for your replies folks. I guess they cost about £6 or so, so I tried what I had in the house - Bicarbonate of Soda and Lighter Fluid (Naphtha ?).

The Bicarb worked pretty quickly, and is a nice smooth plastic finish under that "premium" French rubberised finish! @rhysonsax - correct - Vandoren.

So, just whether it comes back..

 

[Pete Effamy]

I've got all the solvents in the workshop - you're welcome to pop round and have a breathe of them!

Is that instead of a pub crawl ?

Thanks for the offer. Might do yet..

 

[lydian]

Here in the US, meth is illegal and makes your teeth fall out. For us yanks, what is the common name of this "meths" of which you speak?

 

[cappers]

@lydian 'Meths' is methylated spirits or denatured alcohol, i.e. ethanol, C2H5OH rendered undrinkable through the addition of both potentially toxic methanol (CH3OH) and foul tasting denatonium. Usually a purple colour to aid ID.

 

[turf3]

@lydian 'Meths' is methylated spirits or denatured alcohol, i.e. ethanol, C2H5OH rendered undrinkable through the addition of both potentially toxic methanol (CH3OH) and foul tasting denatonium. Usually a purple colour to aid ID.

So, basically, for US based people, Everclear.

 

[cappers]

So, basically, for US based people, Everclear.

I think 'Everclear' is pure 190 proof/95% ethanol, without any methanol, dye or bitterent?
You can drink EC and get drunk, you can also drink 'meths' .....if you want a trip to A&E (ER).

 

[Vlad]

When I was at college (1970s) we got hold of some of the pure unadulterated meths, ( without the purple dye and whatever else is put in it )
We obviously tried it, as an experiment, and tbh thought it was quite a nice drink at the time.. 😛

 

[lydian]

@lydian 'Meths' is methylated spirits or denatured alcohol, i.e. ethanol, C2H5OH rendered undrinkable through the addition of both potentially toxic methanol (CH3OH) and foul tasting denatonium. Usually a purple colour to aid ID.

Thanks. No nickname for it here, I guess, just denatured alcohol.

 

[mark_addy]

Common UK ones are Meths (as discussed), White Spirit (which might be 'Stoddard Solvent' in US?) and Cellulose Thinners (probably acetone, might have other things in it!). When I was young my Dad used to bring 'Carbon Tet' (-rachloride) home which was used as a degreaser at his work and would get anything off of anything (and perhaps melt it into the bargain) but these days I think that's too much a carcinogen to be found much in the wild.

 

[cappers]

I love the smell of CTC in the morning! Haven't seen/smelt it in years. Reminds me of the dry cleaners. Ether and chloroform too. Too many years as a lab rat!

 

[mark_addy]

We had a big bottle of chloroform in work which had been used as a plastic solvent / glue in the distant past. I had a (in retrospect rather ill-advised) sniff and it nearly put me on the floor. A rather stricter approach to COSHH means it is no longer in the cupboard...but I do have a few extra solvents at home which came here before they would have to be disposed-of, including a rather amusing 'RS Switch Cleaner' which advises users on its printed 1970s (?) tin that it is 'less bad for you then previously-used switch cleaners'!

 

[Tuppertn]

The goo is silicone gel. You can wipe it off but it might come back until it's all leached out of the plastic.

This is the same silicone gel from the 80's and 90's that leaches out of old breast implants from the same era. Imagine trying to clean that sticky gunk off a patient's chest wall.

 

[wakyct]

I think 'Everclear' is pure 190 proof/95% ethanol, without any methanol, dye or bitterent?
You can drink EC and get drunk, you can also drink 'meths' .....if you want a trip to A&E (ER).

Indeed Everclear is perfectly (heavily diluted that is) drinkable, and makes a nice arugula (Rocket for you all) liqueur among other extracts.