Stickier than a sticky thing

[vectisitch]

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?

 

[vectisitch]

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