I just watched YT video on this .. and it was two Acer laptops too, but whoever made this video didnt put laptop/plastic/acer in the title so I cant find it 😒
from my failing memory (I avoid anything with this sticky material so didnt pay attention) he took both laptops completely apart, then dunked plastic parts in IPA for "some" time, then scrubbed and scrubbed and scruuuubbed for over an hour

I found older Julian Ilett video on this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgcqDbTeEVo

Edit: it was Compaqs after all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzWf1kFxayA. Now I need to figure out why my browser history search fails to find words laptop/restoration/sticky in page titled "Vintage PIII laptops Repair & Restoration. MOBO repair, respray, sticky rubberized paint"

This is a plasticizer leak problem and is probably going to affect every rubberized surface like that. I have few thinkpads that are going to go bad like this in future. From what I have gathered you only can deal with it using mechanical means but I have found that using deep freeze helps the process since it temporarily stops the stickyness and allows less terrible removal 🤣

Lemon essential oil from doTERRA makes pretty quick work of that sticky junk.

Generic (any other brand) of lemon essential oil will work as well.

Put a drop or two on and rub it around in a small-ish area for a bit and then wipe it off.

Make sure to try on a piece that doesn't show because some plastics are not very resistant to citrus oils.

I haven't had any problems with any computer plastics but I guess there could be some that is really cheap and won't hold up.

When you do wipe it up, make sure to get it mostly dried as if it stays on there long enough it has a better chance of causing issues.

Non-diluted essential oils will evaporate pretty quickly which is why I only recommend doTERRA.

If you don't have access to good essential oils, you can also use a citrus based furniture polish. It just takes a lot longer for it to break down the sticky junk.

Murphy's oil soap is meant to be the miracle cleaner for this... I was convinced enough to grab a small bottle, but haven't tried it yet.

Acetone and lots of it will remove, had a 2008 Visio tv remote like this and nothing affected it accept acetone.

I've seen it with a few things including mice.

My old 2010 ASUS G73JH notebook melted too. I experimented with some fixes but in the end bought an aftermarket skin set to apply over it.

Yeah, if you can cover it over it's FAR quicker, we had a P4 compaq with a large expanse of thickly coated wrist wrest area and on finding out it took over an hour to get one small test corner completely free of any trace of the damn stuff, we just covered it over with clear "stickyback plastic" film.

I had a sticky plastic/rubber surface on one similar keyboard (not the keys themselves) and after ordinary cleaning failed, I just applied some potato starch to the surface, and it seems to have worked out for me.

A long while back I powdered a couple of things in the initial stages of sticky with talcum powder, before we knew that you can't necessarily guarantee that it hasn't got forms of asbestos in it, and that held it off for a while... if it's something you forget about for a bit though, it goes right through the "little bit tacky" to La Brea Tar pit/Tasha Yar's doom kinda thing.

At our office, we had a similar issue with a laptop that had been sitting unused for quite some time. The cleaning company we hired, Going Green, approached it delicately, using cotton balls and Q-tips dipped in rubbing alcohol to gently remove the sticky residue. They were careful not to saturate the area, as we didn't want alcohol seeping into the switches.
If you try this method, remember to be gentle and cautious. Rubbing alcohol can dissolve sticky residue effectively, but it's important to avoid getting it on the screen, as it could cause damage. Also, take care not to rub too hard, as abrasive cleaning could damage the plastic or the stickers you want to preserve.

As long as you are cleaning a metal chassis, plastic ones are going to deform quite a lot...

Tiido wrote on 2023-07-25, 02:44:

This is a plasticizer leak problem and is probably going to affect every rubberized surface like that. I have few thinkpads that are going to go bad like this in future. From what I have gathered you only can deal with it using mechanical means but I have found that using deep freeze helps the process since it temporarily stops the stickyness and allows less terrible removal 🤣

my IBM Thinkpad 760EL is getting quite sticky in certain areas, mainly the palm rest area.

goofyahhuncle wrote on 2024-04-23, 09:54:

Agree with the acetone. Really helps.

I'd be really careful with acetone on computers and peripherals. It literally dissolves ABS and similar plastics. At least find out what kind of plastic the shell is made from, and check its chemical resistance chart before trying acetone.

I've successfully used a combination of mechanical removal (old credit cards and guitar picks are useful tools) and ethanol/IPA to remove sticky rubber coating. Sure, it's no wonder medicine, it'll need some work, but at least it's safe with most if not all plastics used in computer equipment.

Otherwise chlorinated hydrocarbon based gasket remover works really well. It is however also very aggressive to plastics in general, so the same precautions as for acetone applies.

Clean it up with mechanical brute force and re-cover with Plastidip for a similar feeling finish as the original.

This plastic degradation happens on lots of items after their expected service life...had the same happen on Saitek X52 joysticks and similar items, on Canon cameras and so on. I guess it will at some point affect any "soft touch" plastic.

I've dealt with my share of soft touch surfaces and find it hard to believe that IPA won't work here. There's quite a bit of wiping involved (try to avoid hard rubbing, it won't help remove the coating but may hurt the surface), but so far it's always done the trick eventually. And it doesn't even interact with prints (e.g. logos, button labels) that may be on there (well, so far at least - ymmv). Unlike acetone, which will not only smear prints but will often also dissolve and destroy the surface.