1 of 1- RWWGreene
- Platen Punisher
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- From: New Hampshire, USA
- Registered: 14-11-2013
- Posts: 86
Do plastic typewriter covers degrade?
I just picked up a Lettera 32 at Savers for $6. By eye, and the Underwood-Olivetti badge on the front, I pegged its approximate year of origin (late). It is in good shape and comes with an original cleaning kit and plastic cover. The cover is oddly sticky, almost greasy, and I noticed similar qualities on the cover of a similar vintage Lettera 33 I picked up last year. I washed that cover and it stayed sticky. Has anyone else seen this, and is it a matter of degrading plastic or the poor snacking habits of prior owners?
- Uwe
- Moderator
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,408
Re: Do plastic typewriter covers degrade?
Good question. It's hard to say given the variables involved, where they were stored and what they were exposed to. I've not experienced any sticky plastics on any typewriters, but plenty of brittle, faded, and stained plastics, And of course lots of crumbling and dried-out rubber pieces.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- TypewriterGuy
- Typewriter Talk Vet
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- From: United States
- Registered: 24-4-2015
- Posts: 1,250
Re: Do plastic typewriter covers degrade?
Yes! That has happened to my smith corona sterling case, and my lettera 32.
Back from a long break.
Starting fresh with my favorite typer. A Royal Futura!
- retro
- Platen Punisher
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- From: Suffolk, England
- Registered: 11-2-2015
- Posts: 66
Re: Do plastic typewriter covers degrade?
TypewriterGuy wrote:
Yes! That has happened to my smith corona sterling case, and my lettera 32.
I think it is due to long exposure to sunlight when the chemicals start leaching out of the plastic. It is quite commmon on boat fenders and I have never found anything to really clean it off. Maybe there is an answer somewhere on the net to this as I would have thought an industrial chemist out there would know the answer. The colours on the Smith Corona like mine would bleach out and this is quite common. They will also warp which probably explains the ones you see for sale with missing key covers and on my Empire Corona the whole case has a small warp on the left hand side. Many model boats and railway carriages suffered the same fate especially if displayed in a glass case.
