# Rubber Band Residue on Aurora Bodies



## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Hi Guys,
I was taking inventory of my AFX cars still in cubes. While some are banded down with a clear piece of plastic, others are banded down with a thin rubber band. When I noticed one had snapped, I opened the jewel case to discover the rubber band, after 30+ years, had partly melded onto parts of the body. We have all seen this before.

So, what is the best way to remove the pieces of rubber band that are stuck to the body without damaging paint and/or decals?

Thanks...Joe


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

Grandcheapskate said:


> Hi Guys,
> I was taking inventory of my AFX cars still in cubes. While some are banded down with a clear piece of plastic, others are banded down with a thin rubber band. When I noticed one had snapped, I opened the jewel case to discover the rubber band, after 30+ years, had partly melded onto parts of the body. We have all seen this before.
> 
> So, what is the best way to remove the pieces of rubber band that are stuck to the body without damaging paint and/or decals?
> ...


try an earswab saturated, but not dripping ... of WD-40..
lightly apply on remnants of the rubber w/ some elbow grease ;-)

Bubba 123 :wave:


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## foxkilo (Mar 27, 2008)

AFX distributed by Faller had special Faller boxes and were all held down by rubber bands. They have all gone to meet their maker and luckily they normally didn't melt into the body. Unfortunately some of them were black and this ones had a tendency to transfer part of their colour into the body espcially white bodies. Sofar I haven't found something to get rid of this discolouring. 


I'm open for any hint, suggestion or advice.

Mario


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Some of mine have the rubber band stuck to the body. Usually the rubber band gets real hard and just peels off, but these appear to be a little gooey. I'll have to try the WD-40 and see if that looses it up. If there are other suggestions, I'd like to hear them.

Thanks...Joe


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

.......


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Another idea is to remove the chrome and do the hydrogen peroxide on a sunny window sill trick.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

petroleum jelly (Vaseline) should rejuvenate the left over "rubber" and allow it to be peeled off.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Rub a dub dub*

Agree with Al!

WHOA! Think pitch or sap!

Always start neutral, then move towards napalm incrementally. Try plain soap and warm water first. I actually prefer an old t-shirt to a q-tip....you know the one ...it's the super soft one thats got a 100k miles on it and the cat likes to sleep on it.

The soap helps remove any particulate that would scratch the area, the warm water softens the offending dilapidated rubber band making it pliable and kinda greazy.

Then carefully blot a little butter, margerine, or vaseline on the icky spots and work up the rubber band mess onto the t-shirt with a gentle rub. As the slotcar body is hard and smooth; the goobed up rubber remnants will transfer to the softer shirt.

If AFX cardboard signage "Stickers" are involved, call Wayne now....they're already toast.


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## blue55conv (May 23, 2007)

I keep posting this, but evidently nobody reads my posts. Try Ronsonol lighter fluid. It removes gooey stuff without damaging plastic, windshields, chrome, or paint. It also works great for cleaning grease from under bodies and chassis. If it is hardened, try alcohol. However, that will take off paint.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Wow*

Funny that I DID read your post; which is WHY I took the time to post an alternative technique from a conservationists point of view.

Thankfully most guys already know that Ronsonol, aka Naphtha is bad juju because it is a flammable solvent! For those that dont, not only will it affect factory paint by dulling or smudging it in an instant; it can and will re-activate both lacquer and enamel and remove it in a matter of seconds, ESPECIALLY when rubbed or agitated. 


"Also great for removing....










Grease










Oils Stains










Tar and labels










AS WELL AS ALL VINTAGE AFX LACQUER. Looks like that part of the warning rubbed off....go figure.


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## blue55conv (May 23, 2007)

I tried it on several AFX cars. It did not take off the paint. One car had some paint removed after hard rubbing.

Thanks for reading.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

LOL....I been ruining slotcars since 1965. 

Shamefully we used lighter fluid ....uh.....for it's intended purpose: Realistic flaming burnouts with our T-jets, until we decided that alcohol was more realistic....and cheaper.


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## SplitPoster (May 16, 2006)

Thanks for posting Bill, very thorough and graphic explanation. Sometimes you get lucky using a little bit of really potent stuff, then you get burned letting your guard down, or thinking more is better. Learned that from you (and MEV) re-shaping, repairing and resurfacing with goop, slot bodies and old 1:1 plastic switch and trim parts. The least potent solvent/stuff that stays on the surface without soaking in is always the best place to start!


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

What about brake cleaner?


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

I started with soap and water and that wasn't doing much. Then I decided to try Simple Green on a soft toothbrush. Without rubbing hard, but rather using the toothbrush and lightly applying the Simple Green, I was able to remove all the rubber band residue from the body without damaging the paint at all.

Unfortunately the rubber band goo got on the paper decals on one side. There was no way to save the decal. I got all the residue off but the decal lost all printing. Once the goo got on those decals, they were lost.

On the bright side, I removed the rubber band on all the other in-cube AFX and G-Plus cars without incident. Some were dry rotted while others were still plyable.

Thanks...Joe


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

..........


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## urnuts (Jul 3, 2012)

*Decals-*

Which do you need?


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