Sticky Rubberized Stuff Fix

[charlesb]

Rubberized, or rubber-coated stuff tends to get sticky with time. I have a Russian night-vision scope that I have not fooled with for a few years. When I took it out of the safe and pulled it out of its case, the rubberized coating was really sticky, so much so that I did not enjoy touching it, and using it was out of the question.

I was most disgusted - but did a web-search and found several recommendations to use ordinary brake fluid on it.

Still uncertain, I got a patch and put brake fluid on it - and was amazed at how efficiently it cleaned up the scope. The sticky stuff came right off with little effort and zero damage to the scope or its lettering etc.. I was of course careful to keep the brake fluid away from lenses or mechanisms, only touching the sticky areas with it.

The end result was a scope in great condition - but no longer rubberized. It appears the rubberization was a thin layer of rubbery goo on the plastic case that the brake fluid removed completely.

I put the lithium battery in my old Ruskie night-scope and tried it out this evening. - It still works great.

There is also a 10x monocular here that has sticky syndrome. - I've been avoiding using it because it feels so yukky. - So I look forward to getting that thing back in action again too.

Try it on a small, out of the way area before going to town with it, to make sure it will work OK on your particular device. I was amazed at how well it worked on my "Night Owl" scope from Russia.

[Bullseye]

Good to know. Handling brake fluid requires some special care and precautions, it can cause harm to surfaces that you do not intend to clean as you have indicated in your post.

R,
Bullseye

[blue68f100]

That's good to know. I have a few items that have the sticky feel, will give it a try.