Minolta dreaded white grip

[truls]

Using a car interior plastic renewer can improve the looks on cameras with "white" grips. Here my Maxxum 5000, before and after application of the agent.


Before


After

[philbirch]

Yeah, it does look ten times better but don't you get that smell and the oily feeling?

[truls]

Jul 16, 2014 17:16:56 GMT -5 philbirch said:

Yeah, it does look ten times better but don't you get that smell and the oily feeling?

Smell is fairly neutral, it can be somewhat slippery at first, but it is fine after a day or two. I shall find a better plastic solvent, with better result. Any ideas?

[lloydy]

from memory, which isn't very reliable, I think the white surface is caused by the loss of one of the elements of the plastic / rubber material which cannot be fully replaced. I think it's a paraffin type element, and if wiped on does help a lot.
It's a problem classic car owners get with very old tyres, and there is a product they use called 'Tyre Reviver' or something like that, and on another camera forum people reported good results with it.

[truls]

Jul 19, 2014 18:51:30 GMT -5 lloydy said:

from memory, which isn't very reliable, I think the white surface is caused by the loss of one of the elements of the plastic / rubber material which cannot be fully replaced. I think it's a paraffin type element, and if wiped on does help a lot.
It's a problem classic car owners get with very old tyres, and there is a product they use called 'Tyre Reviver' or something like that, and on another camera forum people reported good results with it.

Thanks, I will try the tyre reviver, I think it will improve the original color better than interior stuff.

[lloydy]

The interior stuff, such as Armour All, is usually silicone based and doesn't actually do anything except make a new shiny surface, and if it doesn't cover up the white degradation will be a bugger to remove and just about impossible to apply anything on top of it.

[truls]

Jul 20, 2014 18:53:51 GMT -5 lloydy said:

The interior stuff, such as Armour All, is usually silicone based and doesn't actually do anything except make a new shiny surface, and if it doesn't cover up the white degradation will be a bugger to remove and just about impossible to apply anything on top of it.

I see, fortunately I have more Maxxum's to try on. If I killed this one, it do not matter.

[lloydy]

boxster.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Plastic_and_Rubber_Care

the unlikely named Gummi Pflege is the stuff I was thinking of, it's used by car detailers for rubber seals and trim, but also on tyres for show cars. It's silicone free.
In the page from the link there's also 'Black Again' which is similar to 'Black Opal' - which I know a friend of mine uses on his classic Jaguar. Again they are silicone free.

[philbirch]

Jul 21, 2014 11:51:56 GMT -5 lloydy said:

boxster.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Plastic_and_Rubber_Care

the unlikely named Gummi Pflege is the stuff I was thinking of, it's used by car detailers for rubber seals and trim, but also on tyres for show cars. It's silicone free.
In the page from the link there's also 'Black Again' which is similar to 'Black Opal' - which I know a friend of mine uses on his classic Jaguar. Again they are silicone free.

Gummi Pflege translates as rubber care, a very likely name given that's what it does. But is that the right thing to put on these grips? They aren't latex based surely?

[lloydy]

I dropped on to a great thread on a forum ages ago, I can't remember which forum and I've crashed the computer so the information and links that I know I save is lost.
But, I'm pretty sure it's a rubber / plastic composite that responds to these treatments, even if it isn't permanent. I've got a few of these Minolta's from this era, but none have suffered the whitening, although some have faded a bit. I've wiped mine with lens cleaning wipes and that has improved it a bit. They are what I use to clean cameras anyway - cheap and disposable.

I think that rubber is a substance that once moulded and finished into a product cannot be recovered or re-constituted when it degrades. The camera manufacturers used a rubber / plastic hybrid, some better than others, which is probably harder to recover than straight rubber, where are the rubber and plastic geeks when you need them ?

Paraffin seems to be the base liquid, and once again - from memory, I think paraffin might help ? But don't hold me to that !

[philbirch]

Jul 21, 2014 16:48:25 GMT -5 lloydy said:

I dropped on to a great thread on a forum ages ago, I can't remember which forum and I've crashed the computer so the information and links that I know I save is lost.
But, I'm pretty sure it's a rubber / plastic composite that responds to these treatments, even if it isn't permanent. I've got a few of these Minolta's from this era, but none have suffered the whitening, although some have faded a bit. I've wiped mine with lens cleaning wipes and that has improved it a bit. They are what I use to clean cameras anyway - cheap and disposable.

I think that rubber is a substance that once moulded and finished into a product cannot be recovered or re-constituted when it degrades. The camera manufacturers used a rubber / plastic hybrid, some better than others, which is probably harder to recover than straight rubber, where are the rubber and plastic geeks when you need them ?

Paraffin seems to be the base liquid, and once again - from memory, I think paraffin might help ? But don't hold me to that !

I imagine a rubber plastic hybrid would avoid the rubbery smell. Its called sweet rubber. Paraffin is a wax base isn't it?

[Stephen]

The cause is known, acid from sweat, but the cure is difficult, if soft natural rubber, then a clean with spirit, wipe over with ammonia, and then polish with boot polish is good, but I suspect the grip is not real rubber. Try a small area with cellulose thinners or acetone, discontinue if it dissolves the surface. All the car type revivers are a bit temporary in effect.

Stephen