1 of 1- paperskater
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Suggestions for typebar cleaner?
Has anyone come up with a good replacement product for those old gummy typebar cleaner wads? I've heard that some people use those kneaded art erasers, but I'm curious if anyone's actually tried it out. I'd like to have something easy on hand for a quick cleaning touchup without having to bust out the alcohol and Q-tips.
- Shangas
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Re: Suggestions for typebar cleaner?
Wads of cotton-wool in spirits might work.
"Not Yet Published" - My History Blog
"I just sit at a typewriter and curse a bit" - Sir Pelham Grenville "P.G." Wodehouse
"The biggest obstacle to professional writing is the necessity for changing a typewriter ribbon" - Robert Benchley
- paperskater
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Re: Suggestions for typebar cleaner?
I'm kind of looking for a "dry" option, easy and quick, just to tidy up after writing something. 
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Thread Starter- thetypewriterman
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Re: Suggestions for typebar cleaner?
Back in the day, you used to be able to buy a special type-cleaner putty, a bit like 'Plasticene', which you kneaded, and then spread over the typeface. When pulled off, it would take most of the ink with it (assuming that it wasn't dry baked on). You cannot buy type cleaning putty any more, but ordinary 'Blu-Tak' will do the job almost as well. It won't last as long as the properly-formulated stuff, but unless you are cleaning dozens of machines daily - it really isn't a problem !
- ProfessorC30
- Platen Punisher
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- From: Arkansas, USA
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Re: Suggestions for typebar cleaner?
In the US, Silly Putty (children's toy) would probably be a good substitute. It's designed to absorb ink. I'm not sure if it's available where you live.
Clark
- Uwe
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Re: Suggestions for typebar cleaner?
I've used proper type slug cleaning putty but found it too slow a process. What I do now to keep my type clean is to keep a box of wood toothpicks with pointed ends nearby and the moment I notice a slug starting to get gummed up I quickly pick it clean - it only takes a few seconds.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Shangas
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Re: Suggestions for typebar cleaner?
I have a block of type-cleaning putty in its original tin. I found it in a small junkshop. It works great for cleaning the type-slugs!! I suspect that ordinary blu-tak would work just as well. But it may be a bit messier.
"Not Yet Published" - My History Blog
"I just sit at a typewriter and curse a bit" - Sir Pelham Grenville "P.G." Wodehouse
"The biggest obstacle to professional writing is the necessity for changing a typewriter ribbon" - Robert Benchley
- skywatcher
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Re: Suggestions for typebar cleaner?
Hi Paper-Skater
Get some of that soft knead-able product for sticking posters to the wall. Many different companies make it and it goes by names such as; Blu-Tak, Fun-Tak, Pritt-Buddies, Handi-Tak, Uhu-Tak and many other names. Take one strip or five squares and roll it hard between your hands into a ball. As you roll it, you'll feel it warming up (the harder you roll it, the hotter it gets).
Once it's warm to the touch, press it into the type bars and lift the ink and dirt out of the letters. Depending on how dirty the type bars are, you may need to use a tooth pick to pull the caked in muck from the hollow letters like e,a,o,p,d etc. As the surface of the tak gets loaded up with residue, flatten it out, fold the dirt in, re-roll and start again. You'll notice that the more you use a piece, the darker it gets.
The piece of Handi-Tak I'm using at the moment started out yellow but as I'm running purple ribbon in both my Hermes 3000's, the tak is turning quite a pretty mauve. Anyhow, hope this helps and all the best,
Sky
We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
- beak
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Re: Suggestions for typebar cleaner?
I once noticed that a kit for typewriter cleaning (by Olympia, I think) along with the usual brushes included two plastic holders which seemed to contain a pad of felt-like material. I imagine these were for cleaning the slugs, presumably one applied a little mehs [?] to the pad first.
It may even have been here that I saw it!
Last edited by beak (12-4-2014 19:27:24)
Sincerely,
beak.
- Uwe
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Re: Suggestions for typebar cleaner?
beak wrote:
It may even have been here that I saw it!
Yes, and it was in this sub-forum too. Here's the thread.
Lately, if I have a typer that needs a lot of slug cleaning I use platen cleaner on them. The stuff is meant to remove ink from rubber platens, so it works well on type slugs too.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
