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Author Topic: Sticky keys!  (Read 1426 times)

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Bakerspace

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Sticky keys!
« on: January 31, 2019, 09:56:06 PM »

Just taken ownership of a nice  Bb/Eb box,  and at some point in the past it's obviously had adhesive paper labels on the keys,  which have left a residue.
Any suggestions for the best way to clean then up please.

Thanks

Paul
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Peadar

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Re: Sticky keys!
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2019, 10:38:18 PM »

If the keys are plastic I would try making a very SMALL amount of lather of warm water and toilet soap and rubbing them gently with the corner of a damp J-cloth or similar. that should soften the residue and lift it off. The tip of your fingernail is an effective scraper if wiping with the cloth doesn't lift the traces of gunge off. You could also break the head of a match and use the end of the match-stick to scrub the buttons clean. you could probably use the same technique with metal capped wooden buttons. 
« Last Edit: January 31, 2019, 11:27:37 PM by Peadar »
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folkloristmark

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Re: Sticky keys!
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2019, 10:43:50 PM »

If its glue residue use a light spirit like lamp oil or surgical parafin . Careful with getting too much water near thebox.Easier if you remove the finger plate cover to get around the keys if possible dont bend the levers.
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Mark Taylor
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Theo

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Re: Sticky keys!
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2019, 10:53:24 PM »

Lighter fluid is good for label residue.
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Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

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Stockaryd

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Re: Sticky keys!
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2019, 11:06:05 PM »


   ;)  Just keep on playing.
Residue end up on your fingers and then you can wash your hands
After a week you can wipe the buttons with a damp cloth.
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Grumpy

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Re: Sticky keys!
« Reply #5 on: February 01, 2019, 10:32:48 AM »

Try a small out-of-the-way place first with WD40, its great for removing sticky stuff. Even removed double sided conduit from a plastic conservatory. Got the tip from youtube, many people recomending it for removing this type of glue.
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Chris D, Surrey, UK
Getting old but still learning. Pokerwork G/D, Saltarelle L'Elfique G/D, Castagnari Lilly G/D and Hohner Liliput Declubed G/D + English concertinas, mandolins, recorders, tin whistles and other items unknown to household managment

Lester

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Re: Sticky keys!
« Reply #6 on: February 01, 2019, 10:35:45 AM »

Try a small out-of-the-way place first with WD40, its great for removing sticky stuff. Even removed double sided conduit from a plastic conservatory. Got the tip from youtube, many people recomending it for removing this type of glue.


The only acceptable use of WD40 on a melodeon is for sticker glue removal! 

Peadar

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Re: Sticky keys!
« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2019, 05:08:59 PM »

WD40-spray? No way. Get that stuff - an aerosol, but basically heavy hydrocarbons dissolved in much lighter ones - under your keyboard and into the rocker bearings of the keys and......great for stripping glue off plastic I am sure and it seemed like a wonder product when it first came out, but I would not (today) let it near any thing to do with a model railway...and I don't get the impression that melodeon actions are much less delicate.

(Now you all know what I was doing in the 1970's)
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Bakerspace

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Re: Sticky keys!
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2019, 09:57:02 PM »

Thanks for the suggestions.

Used some isopropyl alcohol with a cotton bud and that did the trick nicely in the end as I didn't have any lighter fluid handy.

Next question! Anyone dealt with a smokey smelling box before? Any suggestions.
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Lester

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Re: Sticky keys!
« Reply #9 on: February 03, 2019, 10:03:27 PM »

Next question! Anyone dealt with a smokey smelling box before? Any suggestions.


I usually remove the bellows, hold them open and spray with Fabreze Fabric Spray, wait til it's dry and normally the smell has gone. May take more than one application.

Peadar

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Re: Sticky keys!
« Reply #10 on: February 03, 2019, 10:38:57 PM »

Next question! Anyone dealt with a smokey smelling box before? Any suggestions.

Not really- but if your box has a grille with a cloth backing you may find that the cloth is nicotine impregnated as well.
I found this on a Casali PA, removal and replacement of the cloth/gauze was the solution.
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Tone Dumb Greg

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Re: Sticky keys!
« Reply #11 on: February 03, 2019, 10:47:07 PM »

What do you do with a box that smells, overwhelmingly, of Fabreze?
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Greg Smith
DG/GC Pokerwork, DG 2.4 Saltarelle, pre-war CF Hohner, Hohner 1040 Vienna style, old  BbEb Hohner that needs a lot of work.

ACCORDION, n. An instrument in harmony with the sentiments of an assassin. Ambrose Bierce

Tone Dumb Greg

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Re: Sticky keys!
« Reply #12 on: February 03, 2019, 10:49:46 PM »

Thanks for the suggestions.

Used some isopropyl alcohol with a cotton bud and that did the trick nicely in the end as I didn't have any lighter fluid handy.

Next question! Anyone dealt with a smokey smelling box before? Any suggestions.

Suggestion from my wife, apply a match and get rid of the problem permanently
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Greg Smith
DG/GC Pokerwork, DG 2.4 Saltarelle, pre-war CF Hohner, Hohner 1040 Vienna style, old  BbEb Hohner that needs a lot of work.

ACCORDION, n. An instrument in harmony with the sentiments of an assassin. Ambrose Bierce
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