Help! Bizarre sticky plastic

So just put my gaming PC back together...found that the video card I reused is failing as well, which is a lot like putting your race car back together, getting ready to hit the track and then finding that your tires are dry-rotted. Mad expensive tires, after you just got a new chassis and engine that were also costly. But that's not the problem here.

The problem is that my BT keyboard was also dead. No problem, I have another one just like it. I pull it out of a plastic storage container and the back is absurdly sticky, like flypaper. I don't make my computer equipment sticky. The one that broke was a little bit sticky and would pick up fibers from my clothes, but it's nothing like this. I've tried De-Solv-It, WD40 and a wash with dish soap and they all have no effect. The stickyness spreads easily but is seemingly infinite. And it's also on the wrist rest somehow.

My plan is to paint over this stuff with plasti-dip, anyone have any better ideas?

Citrus based degreaser or simple green. I use this stuff at the bike shop called Orang Peelz by Pedros to clean label and adhesive residue. It can remove decals, so be careful cleaning keyboard keys with it, it will take the letters off some.

EastCoastMojo wrote: Citrus based degreaser or simple green. I use this stuff at the bike shop called Orang Peelz by Pedros to clean label and adhesive residue. It can remove decals, so be careful cleaning keyboard keys with it, it will take the letters off some.

That's the De-Solv-It, it had no effect

The keys are OK, it's just the back and wrist rest.

Stick some felt to it and call it a day?

Haha I almost could. I stuck paper towels to it to keep the stickyness from spreading.

Sounds like a plastic that is returning to its component parts, i.e., returning to goo. I've never come across anything that will clean it up. You will probably have to cover it with something, paint or similar.

Sounds like its made from the same plastic Nissan made steering wheels out of in the 90's. I put a cover on mine.

Toyman01 wrote: Sounds like a plastic that is returning to its component parts, i.e., returning to goo. I've never come across anything that will clean it up. You will probably have to cover it with something, paint or similar.

I second this motion.

Flock it.

It sounds like the platicizers are coming out of it. Armor All might help a bit.

Putting a plastic that has stuff in it to keep it supple near hard plastic can result in some of the plasticizer getting on the hard plastic and making it deteriorate. Put a rubber worm fishing lure on some kind of hard plastic sometime.

I know about those rubber worm fishing lures...always stuck in the tackle box.

I'll try Armor-All, why not?

Armor-All seemed to "dilute" the stickyness, it didn't have as much sheer bonding power but it felt like it was covered in a thin coat of watery glue which isn't really an improvement. Brake cleaner got it back to how it was before. Citrus based cleaner is better for getting the stuck-on crud off though.

I was thinking maybe I should try spraying with clear coat?

Cut your losses and buy a new keyboard?

But this one works and I won't find a good BT (vs. proprietary wireless) keyboard locally...I've tried before.

You couldn't wipe it off? You'll need to dilute it to get it off. I usually use pentane for this at work, but I can't think of any household chemicals you could use instead. Gas would probably leave a very oily residue and smell.

No I couldn't wipe the Armor-All off completely. It always felt wet.

Alright here's the plan, gonna try to do it in the next few hours, complete with micro-build-thread:

Wrist pad will be covered with a precision-cut piece of black duct tape. This will look close enough to the original textured plastic.

Red underside will be shot with black epoxy rattlecan paint and left without clear to match the black powder-coated PC. I lean it up against the side of the PC when not in use to keep dust out of the keys.

Hey I just noticed that I also have chalkboard paint. Hmm...

Starting out:

Duct tape wrist rest:

The camera flash makes the texture of the duct tape a lot more noticeable here than it really is. Looks great for a cheap and easy fix!

Half-assed masking job with what I had around the house. Forecast: Overspray

1st coat:

It was already vastly less sticky after the first coat. Here's the second:

I think that looks good enough. The texture varies and there's still a little red showing in the crevices, but it's generally the same color on the bottom now. The goal is to make it usable.

Second coat is already dry and doesn't really feel sticky at all. Gave it a little touch-up coat, expect finished pics in about 20 minutes.

If you would like, I can source "Used" computer stuff here at stupid prices. Shipping to Barbados is something we do regularly. PM me if you would like to talk about it.

Computer parts aren't actually much trouble or expensive to get around here, the only problem is the limited selection at the local shops. And it's not really any worse than the brick & mortar selection in North America.

I don't know how well-bonded this paint is, a big piece rubbed off when I picked it up, hopefully just because the paint wasn't fully hardened yet:

I actually got no overspray on the top side, just one little spot of paint bleed.