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Sticky Cords EWWWW!

Started by HowardPgh, May 15, 2019, 01:59:47 PM

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HowardPgh

Why do some of the plastic and rubber cords get sticky.  Is there a way to eliminate this and to clean them?  I also encountered this problem on rubber items that are new but have been stored for a long time.
Howard

FABphones

Have you tried a CRPF search? Here's how I cleaned (and recoiled) one of mine:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=21890

:)
A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

jsowers

I'm not sure you can end it. I had shelves at work that were poly finished wood and when I put WE phones on them the cords would stick to the shelves. I'm not sure what was outgassing. I have unfinished pressed wood and lacquered maple shelves in my display at home and the cords don't stick to that. So I'm thinking it was the finish on the shelves at work, or that was the newest piece in the puzzle since they were made in 2001. Picture below.

The cure? I could clean off the shelves and the phone cords and put them back, which I did a couple times, and they would stick all over again given a couple months. The actual cure was my boss and the HR director telling me to pack up the phones. Now that took some nerve, but I followed orders.  ;D I retired soon after that, so they would have to be packed up anyway.

My favorite cleaner for cords is denatured alcohol. It gets off just about everything including paint dots and embedded dirt and sticky places. I start in the middle of the cord cleaning it to preserve its coil direction, if the cord is otherwise OK, and work my way to the outside end. Then re-coil it and start in the middle again and re-coil afterward. Sometimes they don't like to be coiled in the opposite direction. Sometimes they do. You never know.
Jonathan

twocvbloke

What works for me is biological washing powder (or laundry detergent depending on your locale), mixed up in some warm water and hang the sticky offender in the mixture overnight, following day give it a good rinse in cold water and the stickiness is dealt with... :)

Jim Stettler

#4
I have some transparent modular handset cords made for WE by AE.
They out-gas to sticky. I tried Dawn dish soap and It did work. I don't know how long term the fix is.
Next time I have the spares out , I will try these suggestions and see what seems to  work best.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

kleenax

To clean my cords and remove the stickiness, I moisten a terrycloth towel with straight household ammonia and then draw the cords through the moistened towel (thru my hands). After they dry off, you are good to go. 
Ray Kotke
Recumbent Casting, LLC

guitar1580

I know I'm late on this thread, but I thought I'd share a recent experience, which may relate to the original poster's question.

There are cords that are sticky from dirt, smoke film, etc., and I've had luck cleaning them with some of the above mentioned methods and cleaners, but then there are cords that are sticky from the outer coating actually breaking down.

I recently ordered a W/E NOS 25' clear modular cord, sealed in the factory plastic bag.  I could tell that it was stuck to the bag when I opened it, but I soon realized that every millimeter of the cord, from plug to plug, was ultra sticky, to the point where it was hard to get off of your hands after you handled it.  It seemed that the coating was breaking down and dissolving.  Maybe the outgassing in the sealed bag magnified the effect.

It reminded me of foam rubber I've seen in some older motorcycle helmets that breaks down with age.  It first starts to lose its ability to spring back, and as it mashes down, it eventually turns to a very sticky tar like goop.

Someone with more chemistry knowledge than me may know the reaction / breakdown process, but I'm guessing that there are some similar common elements used in some flexible phone cords, foam rubber, vinyl, etc, that melts certain finishes and eventually chemically self destructs.