cleaning shining polishing expereinces and reviews what worked well

ixtlann

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cleaning shining polishing expereinces and reviews what worked well

Simple what waxes acleaner methods, etc have you used/ tried on what kinda parts and what was your experience.

Probably better if you go more in depth then i will at this point.

glass cleaner invisible glass, a+ the name says it all basically avaialble at auto parts stores.

no dull chrome metal polish/ cleaner good for cleaning wires frame ramps etc. worked very good ime available at auto parts stores.

mill wax, often debated. It in one heck of a cleaner. get out alot of surface black ball marks with ease! as some have mention\ed before me, more of a cleaner then a wax. it will make stuff look good but i would through some other wax ontop after wards for sure. it also is smelly solvent. A+ for playfield cleaning.

meguirs spray quick wax! Awesome! use it on my playfields, wire frames and the pinballs themsels alot, really speeds up the games, plays smooth!

who here waxes there glass?
i just tried mequirs spray wax on my ms pac video games glass screen and i am amazed! awesome! just awsome!


many so called spray waxes are alot more water based, and can cause damage and not seem to wax at all! more like a cars quick detailer, the offenders are lucas slick mist, eagle wipe n wax, etc.

mr clean erasers for deep ball swirls. Def work just be patient! amazing difference in playfield look after losing the "5 o clock shadow of acrap ton of ball swirls. careful though, it can remove good paint as well if you push to much. Def takes some though, and i think the reason some people think it doesnt work is they tried it and never got through there wax layer first.

so again who here waxes glass?
 
Here's my process.

Strip the playfield, and clean it up with Simple Green and a rag. Make sure all loose dirt is gone. Use magic eraser on the super tough dirt. After that, I use Novus 2 and a buffer twice. Follow that with a Novus 1 wipedown of the playfield and finish off with a hard wax (usually use Turtle Wax) that I apply evenly and buff off. I'll generally do a final Novus 1 wipe again just to make sure I have all the wax debris off too.

The machines look fantastic afterwards. You can really get by with just the Simple Green and Novus 2 if you want. I very much prefer them to Mill Wax, which really lacks the shine you get from Novus 2 and a hard wax.
 
Here's my process.

Strip the playfield, and clean it up with Simple Green and a rag. Make sure all loose dirt is gone. Use magic eraser on the super tough dirt. After that, I use Novus 2 and a buffer twice. Follow that with a Novus 1 wipedown of the playfield and finish off with a hard wax (usually use Turtle Wax) that I apply evenly and buff off. I'll generally do a final Novus 1 wipe again just to make sure I have all the wax debris off too.

The machines look fantastic afterwards. You can really get by with just the Simple Green and Novus 2 if you want. I very much prefer them to Mill Wax, which really lacks the shine you get from Novus 2 and a hard wax.

what size buffer do you use? 2 or 3 inch?
 
I have a 3 inch. It makes it so I can't quite get into the smaller areas, but it gets the job done for the most part.
 
Treasure Cove polishing kit. It is as good as advertised.

I use Mill Wax to polish/clean metal parts. At least I found a use for it instead of throwing it away!

Bleache White to clean anything that won't bleed paint. It does wonders on playfields.
 
Anyone have any tips on where to get Novus? I looked at:

Advance Auto Parts
Home Depot
Family Dollar
CVS
Bi-Lo

And couldn't find it.

I may try Bleach White- is it available at Wal-Mart? Also anyone have a product link? When I search for it, I just get a lot of results for cleaning clothes.
 
Plastic shops, hobby stores, etc.

I know of a few hobby shops locally that stock it, and I know TAP plastics here stocks it. I would check the phone book for plastic shops.
 
Here's my process.

Strip the playfield, and clean it up with Simple Green and a rag. Make sure all loose dirt is gone. Use magic eraser on the super tough dirt. After that, I use Novus 2 and a buffer twice. Follow that with a Novus 1 wipedown of the playfield and finish off with a hard wax (usually use Turtle Wax) that I apply evenly and buff off. I'll generally do a final Novus 1 wipe again just to make sure I have all the wax debris off too.

The machines look fantastic afterwards. You can really get by with just the Simple Green and Novus 2 if you want. I very much prefer them to Mill Wax, which really lacks the shine you get from Novus 2 and a hard wax.

This is pretty much exactly what I do but I skip the Novus #1 and I use Mother's wax. I might try Turtle wax on some games I'm shopping out to sell because it's quite a bit cheaper.
 
Anyone have any tips on where to get Novus? I looked at:

Advance Auto Parts
Home Depot
Family Dollar
CVS
Bi-Lo

And couldn't find it.

I may try Bleach White- is it available at Wal-Mart? Also anyone have a product link? When I search for it, I just get a lot of results for cleaning clothes.

Try motorcycle stores for Novus. They use it to clean windshields.

Phil
 
I didn't even know they had "plastics stores." I also tried Wal-Mart and Lowes later this evening, to no avail. If I remember, I'll try a motorcycle shop.

I actually got some Mcguires wax and simple green, based on a few recommendations in this thread. My plastics are fairly clean, and the simple green and a scrubbing pad are doing just fine cleaning the dirt off of the playfield. I'm using my high speed dremel to clean the switch contacts as I go.

Tomorrow I'll go back through and wax it, and try and reassemble everything.
 
I have seen Novus at "The Container Store", they also carry it at the Harley dealership, but I order mine from Pinball Life when I order parts.

Anyone have any tips on where to get Novus? I looked at:

Advance Auto Parts
Home Depot
Family Dollar
CVS
Bi-Lo

And couldn't find it.

I may try Bleach White- is it available at Wal-Mart? Also anyone have a product link? When I search for it, I just get a lot of results for cleaning clothes.
 
I use only Mills Wax. I guess I am lame. :)

What's bad about it?

I have been afraid to use hardwax since I am not willing to strip playfield. Do you guys ever apply hard wax without stripping?
 
i have this problem where this is so many micro cracks in the playfield that wax gt in there and drys up on this new pin i have. then it looks nasty and stuff, until i takes all the wax back off again? any suggestions? i was considering going to that turtle wax ice since it doesnt get as white as traditional waxes supposedly
 
Novus can be purchased at a lot of pinball stores online such as http://www.pinballlife.com



Novus is recommended for all playfields with a modern clearcoat(pinballs 1991+). Don't use Mill Wax or Wildcat on pinballs with this type of finish. It will slowly eat away and damage it.

My TAF playfield is prime example.:( The op who owned it before me used Millwax and Wildcat 125 to 'clean' it. It accelerated insert wear and made a lot of the mylar come up around the edges.
 
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