Stickier than a sticky thing

vectisitch · 9 Jan 2024 at 13:55

So after a looong time of not playing games i decided to get back into some war thunder. Got the old joystick our the cupboard to find it was really sticky. Nothing i do will get it off. Is it the rubber breaking down or what? Anyone had this and found a way to clean it?

Oh Ed not again. · 9 Jan 2024 at 13:56

Soak in isopropyl alcohol and it should just fall off.

Disassemble first obvs.

vectisitch · 9 Jan 2024 at 13:58

It's only a cheapy so will probably replace it. Just wondered what was going on. I thought something had been spilt on it

picnic · 9 Jan 2024 at 16:09

I had this with my Microsoft Sidewinder, tried the IPA without much success. I was rubbing it as I hadn't disassembled the joystick at this stage. After disassembly I found washing up liquid did a good job.

Mr Evil · 10 Jan 2024 at 12:56

This is common with "soft touch" rubber coatings. So much so that I prefer to buy things with a plain plastic finish, because it lasts longer. Others have already mentioned that there are ways to remove it.

Pulseammo · 10 Jan 2024 at 17:12

I've had a mouse and a TV flicker with the soft coating on it which went sticky after being stored away, both were able to be cleaned with IPA, but it's really removed the coating back to the plastic once clean.

Bubo · 11 Jan 2024 at 08:16

I had some headphones which the headband covering started to perish so I got some of that automotive fabric tape used for wrapping cable bundles and repaired it with that. I imagine the same could be used to cover over sticky grips on a joystick. It would basically add a "fuzz" side to the grip which will not get sticky ever, as long as it stays on.

5abr3 · 25 Jan 2024 at 18:12

Bubo said:
I had some headphones which the headband covering started to perish so I got some of that automotive fabric tape used for wrapping cable bundles and repaired it with that. I imagine the same could be used to cover over sticky grips on a joystick. It would basically add a "fuzz" side to the grip which will not get sticky ever, as long as it stays on.

Sounds like you are talking about a PET fleece tape (e.g. Tesa 51606), there are also PET cloth tapes if you wanted to try to avoid the fuzzy feeling (e.g. Tesa 51026) though neither of those are normally in contact with skin for long times so not sure how much they'll change in-hand feeling longer term.

Also imagine a tennis racket grip might work well, particularly on warm days.