A cure for sticky feeling rubber hoods?

[freiston]

I sorted out the [gone sticky] rubberised finish to an Aldi drill grip and an old microsoft joystick by scrubbing with a scourer and isopropyl alcohol.

 

[Profpointy]

I sorted out the [gone sticky] rubberised finish to an Aldi drill grip and an old microsoft joystick by scrubbing with a scourer and isopropyl alcohol.

Worth knowing. I'd have assumed the rubber had degraded and it was a lost cause. In a similar vein certain first generation plastic cameras can get a sticky effect on the soft covering layer to the extent you see them advertised on ebay with the words "no sticky" if they are no so afflicted

 

[rydabent]

If anyone else dislikes the feeling of stickiness that tends to manifest itself on rubber brake/brifter hoods after a while.....
I have found that a clean up with silicon lubricant does the trick. Spray some onto a cloth (to avoid contaminating brake discs/rims when spraying it onto hoods directly) and then give them a good clean. Use a white cloth if you want to see how much filth comes off (from even supposedly clean hoods after a normal soap and water wash).
Both WD40 and 3-in-1 do a good silicone lubricant. NB.... normal WD40/GT85 etc. does NOT work for this!

And---------------be sure to wash off any oily sun screen you have on your hands. It attack the rubber on grips and hoods.

 

[Legs]

I always have, and it leaves me wondering why my hands never get sunburnt.

If you've ever been sunburnt on the backs of your hands, you'd remember it.

 

[presta]

If you've ever been sunburnt on the backs of your hands, you'd remember it.

But I haven't, and it makes me wonder why.

 

[wafter]

This is a subject I'm very familiar with...

Over time many rubbers will degrade; the worst offenders seem to be the nasty "soft touch" coatings that can be found on myriad products despite the fact that they've been known for years to break down into a sticky mess. These may be worse because they're thin, or perhaps because they need to be applied in some way (dipped, sprayed etc) rather than moulded like solid rubber objects.

The presence of organic solvents such as oils and greases will hasten this degradation; my Brompton grips are a proper mess thanks to my use of Vaseline on my hands every morning before the commute.

There appear to be two ways to treat degradation. With "soft touch" coatings the best approach appears to use a mild solvent such as isopropanol to remove the stuff completely - note that these are often applied to plastic substrates so use of anything too aggressive (i.e. acetone) will likely damage what's beneath.

The second approach is to try and stabilise it a bit seems non-solvent liquids might help in this regard, as might inert powdered stuff. I've found gym chalk dries my grips out for a while, however since I'm constantly exposing them to a problematic substance the issue just continues ad-infinitum.