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Playfield Cleaning Before Waxing For League Meeting - Advice Pls

DRD

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I always give my machines a spruce up before league meetings and it is here again in a few weeks.

Due to the 2 year covid hiatus and accumulated maintenance issues, they all had a thorough clean and 2 costs of Gerlitz wax before last year's meeting.

Most machines have seen less than 20 plays since. Space Station did 2 heavy days at NERG so needs a bit more tlc.

I don't want to spend masses of time on 11x playfields like I did last year. What is the real world way of cleaning the playfields before re-waxing them please ?

Just use pledge and apply Gerlitz again ?

Just use pledge and forget about the Gerlitz ?

Something else to clean them then the Gerlitz ?

Thank you
 
Never ever use pledge - it has lots of nasty stuff in it that is not good for pinballs . I use Novus 2 on really dirty playfields when shopping out but yours should not need that. You do need to be careful with Novus 2 though, particularly on pre 1990s non diamond plate / clearcoated playfields, I Use Novus 1 for light cleaning, then wax. Others use foam cleaner for dirtier playfields - available from usual suppliers.
 
Never used it myself but this is the foaming cleaner others on here rave about:

 
Never used it myself but this is the foaming cleaner others on here rave about:


I always use foaming cleaner first - that one from pinball heaven is good.
 
I always give my machines a spruce up before league meetings and it is here again in a few weeks.

Due to the 2 year covid hiatus and accumulated maintenance issues, they all had a thorough clean and 2 costs of Gerlitz wax before last year's meeting.

Most machines have seen less than 20 plays since. Space Station did 2 heavy days at NERG so needs a bit more tlc.

I don't want to spend masses of time on 11x playfields like I did last year. What is the real world way of cleaning the playfields before re-waxing them please ?

Just use pledge and apply Gerlitz again ?

Just use pledge and forget about the Gerlitz ?

Something else to clean them then the Gerlitz ?

Thank you

I wouldn't even touch them, they're likely to still play fast
 
Nothing wrong with Pledge!

Screenshot_2023-01-02-22-29-48-083_com.google.android.apps.photos.jpg

Seriously though, I've been using it for quick playfield cleanups for 10 years, none of my machines have self destructed.
The only actual negative I've ever heard is if you're going to clear coat a playfield you'll have to get rid of all traces of pledge residue first ( and how many of us is that going to affect? )
 
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Another vote for pledge, been using it for over 30years, as that's what all the Arcade engineers used back in the day
 
When I first got into Pinball 20+ years ago I was in Asia and active on the old rec.games.pinball google group. On there, anything with silicon in it was a big no-no hence my reaction to Pledge and why I have never used it. As they say, every day is a school day! Not that i am going to start using Pledge though.
 
old rec.games.pinball google group. On there, anything with silicon in it was a big no-no
they used to spout some stuff like how anything water based you couldn't use because it was on wood. It isn't on wood, there's paint and a clearcoat.
Personally I use Mr Sheen Original as it also does rubber great.
 
So - whilst on the topic.... (sorry to hijack slightly)....

51TyIsdhi1L._AC_SL1000_.jpg

I know quite a few on here like this... looking at the instructions i see it is Petroleum based... And also mentions that it is goof for use on clearcoat.... I am presuming that this couldnt be used on Painted wood (a La Gottleibs and Zacc's), and to go with Gerlitz??

To be fair, it did to an awesome job on my car yesterday tho!!
 
So - whilst on the topic.... (sorry to hijack slightly)....

51TyIsdhi1L._AC_SL1000_.jpg

I know quite a few on here like this... looking at the instructions i see it is Petroleum based... And also mentions that it is goof for use on clearcoat.... I am presuming that this couldnt be used on Painted wood (a La Gottleibs and Zacc's), and to go with Gerlitz??

To be fair, it did to an awesome job on my car yesterday tho!!
Yes that for clear coated and Gerlitz for painted is what I do and is what Kruzman recommends doing although you can use other brands that are similar.
Also use that for my car😎

The arcade engineers I knew in the eighties didn’t care about the machines and just wanted them sorted asap, they loved furniture polish😂

”Common furniture cleaners such as Pledge furniture polish, may actually damage the topcoat of your furniture. Furniture polish will leave a glossy, often uneven residue over your tables surface. The low sheen finish we all desire will be difficult to recover. We recommend avoiding furniture polish on our custom furniture pieces!”
 
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