I acquired a ~16 year old laptop. The mat black plastic top (back of the LCD) is sticky. At first I thought the previous owner had stickers on the back that were removed. But that seems like a bad theory now. I rubbed it with a cloth and denatured alcohol and it only got slightly less sticky, but black residue came off on my hands and the cloth. This is apparently not adhesive… it’s the plastic itself.
What’s my best move? I don’t suppose I can do anything to re-polymerize it. I don’t care about cosmetics… I just don’t want it to be sticky and marking anything that touches it. One temptation is to put plastic film on it, like cling wrap. But that could just make a bigger mess.
BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
Sounds like those “soft touch” plastic surfaces. I’ve had a bunch of old plastic things turn sticky that way - it’s really hard to get it off but what I do is alternate between isopropyl, WD40 (brushed on with a cotton swab or cotton ball and let it sit for a while to let it break down the sticky before using Clorox or isopropyl to remove the WD40), and Clorox wipes. Eventually the matte finish comes off and you’re left with a shiny plastic surface. It just takes a lot of elbow grease, I often give myself finger blisters from scrubbing but it’s a relief to get it off.
plantteacher@mander.xyz 3 weeks ago
WD-40 sounds like an interesting idea. Most people think of it as an oil, but in fact WD-40 is a cocktail of like 12 or so different solvents, plus mineral oil, IIUC. It’s indeed more of a cleaning product than a lube.
cm0002@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Maybe one of those motorized polishing brush things might be good for this…or a sander lmao