Will acetone clean/fix Control 24’s armrest/side panels?

[Armando]

Hello! I’ve put off trying to clean off the “sticky” issue with the Control 24’s armrest and side panels. I just came across a You Tube video where the guy uses acetone and a hand towel to clean/restore these with a device with what looks like a similar surface covering: https://youtu.be/adTIczFEyWY?si=OFMKLP8ykuSHy1Nb

If anyone has tried and had success using this process please chime in.

Thanks in advance!!

[BScout]

Try (+90%) isopropyl alcohol first. Acetone is a "last resort" solvent. It will eat through a lot of plastic/rubbers and remove printing/screening (not to mention bad to inhale or have on your hands.)

Isopropyl will take more effort but without all the other issues.

[Darryl Ramm]

^^^ IPA (isopropol alcohol) is the solvent of choice. You can also try lighter fluid (Ronsonol Lighter Fuel, friend of guitar techs everywhere), I'd not usually want to try stepping up to much nastier lacquer thinner, and nastier still Acetone. If you end up needing to clean plastic with lacquer thinner or acetone it may remove all the coating or cause it to bubble/peel off later and may harm the plastic underneath. All of these except IPA are carcinogenic, with that and other rapidly increasing health risks as you go up the scale. I have handled lots of this stuff, I would not use acetone except in a fume hood or outdoors with forced ventilation.

I just took off the stickiness all over some specialized mechanics LED lights with lacquer thinner, but they were in a really bad state basically did so by deliberately removing all the in this case very thin soft rubber layer. Much happier to have that all gone.

[Armando]

Thanks! Will try the Isopropyl alcohol method first.

[albee1952]

I removed all the panels from my Control24, put them in the sink and scrubbed with warm soapy water and a scrubbing sponge. It came out great. In the end, I sold off the old beast as it was simply too big for my setup(and had way too many unused functions to give up that space).

[Armando]

Thanks for the suggestions! I went with both IPA(70&99.8%). Used a few microfiber cloths and was able to clean and remove the tacky feel and look of both the side panels and the armrest! Feels great! One thing I’d still like to find is a product that can be applied like say, Armour-All to protect the surface but I don’t want to apply something that will negatively affect the current feel. Cleaning these surface left a somewhat streaky appearance even though to the touch, it feels totally smooth.

Anyone recommend a product that produces a nice finish? Thanks!!

[BScout]

Long time since I've been at a Control 24. What is the material of the panel left? Armour-All will make it slick/greasy -- so not good. I think what you want is Lexol "Vinylex" spray. (sometimes known as Lexol Vinyl Protectant) Comes in a blue-green spray bottle. (remember to spray cloth and then use and not directly so you don't get overspray)

Vinylex is what's used on a lot of showroom gloss-finished wood speakers and also to clean up vintage cable jackets on vintage mics (this is where I first heard of it: to treat my 70+ year old Neumann tube mic cable jackets to keep them from cracking and make them look new and then a speaker-maker brought up the same thing for their speaker cabinets for trade shows.)