You’ll probably end up needing something stronger than Isopropyl or WD40. You need to remove the entire coating. Methylated spirit or petrol tends to work OK for this but you are at risk of softening the underlying plastic.

Short answer is that there isn’t really a quick and safe way to do this, it’s either quick and risky or slow and safe.

paradigital wrote on 2022-05-30, 08:48:

You’ll probably end up needing something stronger than Isopropyl or WD40. You need to remove the entire coating. Methylated spirit or petrol tends to work OK for this but you are at risk of softening the underlying plastic.

Short answer is that there isn’t really a quick and safe way to do this, it’s either quick and risky or slow and safe.

Willing to go slow and safe here as the laptop itself is in excellent condition aside from the palm rest coating degrading, ill try Metho if the WD40/Iso doesnt move it, might try some high grade goo remover too.

The best thing I have found to remove that crappy coating is doTERRA lemon essential oil.

I've used it on mice, joysticks, BT speakers, boom boxes, etc.

I had to remove the coating from my Thinkpad 560X, but it was very sticky and pretty far gone. I ended up scraping it off with a plastic card (like a credit card) and took care of the rest with isopropyl alcohol. It was a pretty slow process, but it looks fine now. No scratches and no damage from the alcohol.

Not even sure what possessed them to use this type of coating, it was horrible to start with and its even worse years later.

Fuck the guy who developed this coating.

Fake rubber is just god awful

I use chanteclair degreaser, apply wait wipe. Reapply if needed.
No harsh chemicals. At least it always worked for me.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-05-30, 16:02:

Not even sure what possessed them to use this type of coating, it was horrible to start with and its even worse years later.

Fuck the guy who developed this coating.

And it is still in use on new products.

The person that invented it and the companies that still use it, need to be forced to clean it off ever single device that it is used on... With nothing more than a rag and water.... There needs to be a special level of Hell where that is what the punishment is.

Forget oily solutions, there are 1001 people talking about using wd40 or other crap, this will only "fix" it at best, but overall, you'll end up with a disgusting, greasy rubber. This stuff deteriorates chemically, and needs to be completely removed. I've had a lot of experience with Thinkpads, and even newer lappies like the Asus G73jh. This was one of the biggest misfortunes invented in computing.

You need to use a solvent that doesn't attack plastic, just rubber. Isopropyl alcohol will remove, but needs millions of "rubs". I recommend using Ethanol because it is faster and less aggressive (use gloves). In my country, ethanol is a very common fuel for automobiles, and I usually buy it at the gas station, I don't know how it is in the United States, maybe you can find it in a chemical or agricultural product store. Gasoline and even diesel will also "dissolve" it but I would only recommend it as a last resort as they will attack the plastic underneath the rubber.

I think race fuel in the US is really the only easy way to get 100% ethanol. The normal stuff here is 85% ethanol, 15% gasoline/petrol.

I've tried a ton of different things and th best I've found so far is the lemon essential oil. Think goo-gone but about 100 times as effective.

That is, if you get the good stuff. The crap that Walmart sells I am sure is already diluted down as it is very weak.

Rikintosh wrote on 2022-05-30, 19:45:

Forget oily solutions, there are 1001 people talking about using wd40 or other crap, this will only "fix" it at best, but overall, you'll end up with a disgusting, greasy rubber. This stuff deteriorates chemically, and needs to be completely removed. I've had a lot of experience with Thinkpads, and even newer lappies like the Asus G73jh. This was one of the biggest misfortunes invented in computing.

You need to use a solvent that doesn't attack plastic, just rubber. Isopropyl alcohol will remove, but needs millions of "rubs". I recommend using Ethanol because it is faster and less aggressive (use gloves). In my country, ethanol is a very common fuel for automobiles, and I usually buy it at the gas station, I don't know how it is in the United States, maybe you can find it in a chemical or agricultural product store. Gasoline and even diesel will also "dissolve" it but I would only recommend it as a last resort as they will attack the plastic underneath the rubber.

The stuff is not actually rubber. It's a synthetic

Rikintosh wrote on 2022-05-30, 19:45:

Forget oily solutions, there are 1001 people talking about using wd40 or other crap, this will only "fix" it at best, but overall, you'll end up with a disgusting, greasy rubber. This stuff deteriorates chemically, and needs to be completely removed. I've had a lot of experience with Thinkpads, and even newer lappies like the Asus G73jh. This was one of the biggest misfortunes invented in computing.

You need to use a solvent that doesn't attack plastic, just rubber. Isopropyl alcohol will remove, but needs millions of "rubs". I recommend using Ethanol because it is faster and less aggressive (use gloves). In my country, ethanol is a very common fuel for automobiles, and I usually buy it at the gas station, I don't know how it is in the United States, maybe you can find it in a chemical or agricultural product store. Gasoline and even diesel will also "dissolve" it but I would only recommend it as a last resort as they will attack the plastic underneath the rubber.

I can get Methylated Spirits easy enough which is just denatured Ethanol but getting Ethanol itself might be difficult as its not sold here in its denatured form outside of chemical suppliers. I think I will try a two pronged approach with both Methylated Spirits and Essential Lemon Oil following it to clean up the surface after.

maxtherabbit wrote on 2022-05-30, 22:04:

Rikintosh wrote on 2022-05-30, 19:45:

Forget oily solutions, there are 1001 people talking about using wd40 or other crap, this will only "fix" it at best, but overall, you'll end up with a disgusting, greasy rubber. This stuff deteriorates chemically, and needs to be completely removed. I've had a lot of experience with Thinkpads, and even newer lappies like the Asus G73jh. This was one of the biggest misfortunes invented in computing.

You need to use a solvent that doesn't attack plastic, just rubber. Isopropyl alcohol will remove, but needs millions of "rubs". I recommend using Ethanol because it is faster and less aggressive (use gloves). In my country, ethanol is a very common fuel for automobiles, and I usually buy it at the gas station, I don't know how it is in the United States, maybe you can find it in a chemical or agricultural product store. Gasoline and even diesel will also "dissolve" it but I would only recommend it as a last resort as they will attack the plastic underneath the rubber.

The stuff is not actually rubber. It's a synthetic

I'm not worried about what it is just how to exterminate it from my Thinkpad without damaging the plastic under it.

I have never used lemon essential oil to remove rubber, but I did use it once to remove a strong damp/mold odor from a Powerbook G3 that was completely contaminated. It worked very well, and to this day it has a slight lemon scent.