Playfield & Magic Eraser, good idea ?

Level42

New member
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
5,895
Reaction score
49
Location
Ridderkerk, ZH, Netherlands
I'm looking into how best to clean my Judge Dredd (Diamond plate) playfield.

Seeing what great job Magic Erasers have done on some CPO's and side-art of videogames I was thinking about trying that but I'm a bit worried if I might damage the playfield ?
 
i used it

i used a magic eraser with millwax....but dont go crazy buffing
it is a MAGIC ERASER LOL!!! seriously it does get some of the worst crap off it...
 
Magic Eraser does work pretty well. However, it is abrasive as you already know so be easy with it. It can do damage if you're not careful. I use it with some isopropyl alcohol for cleaning and then follow up with wax.
 
Like most have said use with care. I used one to clean the dirt out of the loop shot with one. Pulled the dirt up but there was a spot or 2 where it pulled a little paint up. Overall they are great but you just gotta pay attention to what you are doing. A little attention is worth the avoidance of a damaged playfield.
 
Not sure how it would do on a DiamondPlate field, but it did well on my Black Knight. As everyone has said, don't go crazy, or it can (and will) take paint.

Here's before and after from my use (a little paint loss :()

48089088_8cef357882.jpg


48089645_866a9058ee.jpg


Chris
 
I wouldnt use magic on any diamond plate games. It will scratch the clearcoat. Its only good for ss, system 11 games, and ems, as long as theres no clear.

AGAIN DON'T USE MAGIC ERASER, ON DIAMOND PLATED PLAYFIELDS!!!!!

just my 2 cents
 
Last edited:
I would use some Novus 2 and elbow grease, carefully, followed by Novus 1 on a clean cloth to clean up the residue. Magic Eraser is very abrasive--paint loss is not a good thing! Use the ME sparingly and only on the really tough spots (or Novus 3, followed by 2 and 1).
 
My buddy Ken just restored his Judge Dredd - he stripped the playfield and used the Treasure Cove kit. Now it shines like glass.

RussM

I'm looking into how best to clean my Judge Dredd (Diamond plate) playfield.

Seeing what great job Magic Erasers have done on some CPO's and side-art of videogames I was thinking about trying that but I'm a bit worried if I might damage the playfield ?
 
Right on russ. The treasure cove kit is great stuff. If you don't want to spend the cash on the kit, I recommend use novus 2 to clean the playfield. After you do that use a carnuba wax with no additives, for the best results. Novas 2 is not a wax!!!!

If you use a carnuba it will shine like glass
 
Novus 2 and buffer pad first line of attack. If you have swirl marks or ball trails magic eraser works wonders. Its for heavy ground in dirt.
 
I used a magic eraser on a small portion of my DE SW playfield. Princess Leia looked like she had a beard from the ball rolling over the inlane. I couldn't get rid of it any way else, but the eraser did the trick. I didn't have any damage, but you have to be careful.
 
I might as well pile on and say the same thing everyone else said ;)

Eventually experience will tell you when you need Magic Eraser and when you don't but as an overall guideline I would say you should only need it for ball swirl, dirt in planking cracks and any dirt that's ground in to fine cracks in the cleat coat. Surface dirt just requires time, elbow grease and Novus #2.
 
One issue with a Magic Eraser is that the way it works, it's very fine and can clean out cracks that are in the playfield that nothing else will clean out.

However, after it does that, when you wax the playfield you'll get white residue in those little cracks. If the playfield was in pretty good shape, it'll look fine, but if the playfield has planking or is heavily worn, everywhere you had black dirt before, you'll now have white wax.

The way to avoid that is to clean it, then clearcoat the playfield but that's very labor intensive.

The white looks better than the black did, but it makes dark areas of the playfield look faded since all the little cracks are now little white lines.
 
I used ME on my Corvette Playfield but it was DIRTY as all heck. Novus2 just wasn't cutting it. The PF was very dull afterwards. Not sure if it was from the ME or just the total lack of previous care. Probably both. I then cleaned it very well with Novus 1 and then took the Treasure Cove kit to it. Then finished with a couple of layers of wax. The PF looks almost new.

I would not use ME on a non coated PF though.
 
I used ME on my Corvette Playfield but it was DIRTY as all heck. Novus2 just wasn't cutting it. The PF was very dull afterwards. Not sure if it was from the ME or just the total lack of previous care. Probably both. I then cleaned it very well with Novus 1 and then took the Treasure Cove kit to it. Then finished with a couple of layers of wax. The PF looks almost new.

I would not use ME on a non coated PF though.

So which is it then-- use on diamond plated pf's or non-diamond plated/clear coated pf's? You all are given all kinds of "Dont do's", which is the right pf to use ME? The right answer comes up then this thread should be closed, as to avoid wrong info that can ruin someones game. my game has nothing now mylar or clear coat, IMO, i guessing that my pf is a prime canidate for ME. Diamond plate protects pf from pf crack in the paint so what are you talking about dont use on non coated playfields SealClubber? I'am needing to do the same thing to get dirt and ball swirls out.
 
So which is it then-- use on diamond plated pf's or non-diamond plated/clear coated pf's? You all are given all kinds of "Dont do's", which is the right pf to use ME? The right answer comes up then this thread should be closed, as to avoid wrong info that can ruin someones game. my game has nothing now mylar or clear coat, IMO, i guessing that my pf is a prime canidate for ME. Diamond plate protects pf from pf crack in the paint so what are you talking about dont use on non coated playfields SealClubber? I'am needing to do the same thing to get dirt and ball swirls out.

You can mess up either, so the warnings apply to both. Diamond plate is a little harder to mess up the art work because you have to wear through the clear first...unless the clear is already worn away due to ball tracking, etc. So there really isn't a simple one size fits all answer other than take it slowly and be careful no matter what you use it on.
 
You can mess up either, so the warnings apply to both. Diamond plate is a little harder to mess up the art work because you have to wear through the clear first...unless the clear is already worn away due to ball tracking, etc. So there really isn't a simple one size fits all answer other than take it slowly and be careful no matter what you use it on.

Exactly. There are no rules and there will never be rules. You could use magic eraser on ANY playfield that still had the original clear coat and you could do damage to the art on ANY playfield that had worn clear or you just scrubbed too hard for too long. Anyone who says "don't use it on this" or "don't use it on that" is talking out of their ass unless they've seen the playfield.

There is no substitute for experience and experience is expensive.

Edit: All playfields started life with a clear coat on them. Some were harder and thicker than others but all were cleared.
 
Last edited:
I meant the old non-clear coated, non-diamond plated playfields. Ones where you would be using the ME directly on the paint. Even still, I would be careful with it. It didn't take much rubbing to get mine clean.
 
Back
Top Bottom