Alcohol or Water?

[King Atari]

No, it's not a question about what to drink. I'm talking about what to clean labels off with, specifically NES and Genesis labels. The Video Game Critic says he wipes off labels with alcohol, but I've been told on here before that alcohol hurts labels, and that water should be used. Video Game Critc told me that water is what would damage the label, and not alcohol. Can anyone clarify? I've got some NES carts that have some annoying sticker residue.

[Famicoman]

Try water in small amounts, that does it for me. You could always mix em'.

[AtariYoungin]

I use Goo Gone on my NES Labels and they seem fine to me

[Famicoman]

I'm still too lazy to get me a bottle.

[figgler]

Don't use alcohol as it could cause discoloration of the labels. I say lighter fluid to remove stickers works best and antibacterial wipes to clean the labels after is the way to go

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I just use a damp soapy cloth on my genesis and atari labels. Water only damages if you use too much water and soak the label. Don't do that...

 

As for alcohol. I have used that on NES carts without any trouble. For some reason NES carts...most of them anyway, seem to have a protective plastic coating over the labels. I also have a few EA genesis carts like this. Still I really wouldn't want to use Alcohol on anything except for the contacts on the carts themselves.

[King Atari]

I used alcohol to try to get some stick crap off of an NES Ikari Warriors once, didn't quite work, but I was told the label would now become brittle. I haven't noticed that happening, probably because the alcohol dries so quick?

[spongebue]

I heard that cooking oil spray has similar compounds to goo-gone. Spray it on a paper towel and rub. Worked for me, and your carts smell like butter for a couple days

[rpmxxipt]

You need to identify your stain! Alcohol is neither good nor bad.

 

Most cartridge crud is from little cruddy fingers handling the carts. A water-based cleaner really works best. I prefer to use an aerosol can of window cleaner (you can get these at any dollar store) on NES carts to clean most of the light spots of Yoo-Hoo or whatever crud is on those labels.

 

I use Naptha to clean grease marker off cart labels or plastic, as well as to dissove the adhesive of price stickers on labels.

 

I agree, laminated NES cart labels seem pretty impervious to crud. However, if you're using a solvent, this CAN get "under" the edge of the label and discolor it for quite some time (until it evaporates).

 

Some observations:

 

If some drone at your local thrift used a black grease marker to write on an Atari Silver label, or stuck the price tag on a Silver label, you are SOL. These silver labels just get murdered using any kind of solvent, however gentle.

 

I've found that black ColecoVision labels as well are EXTREMELY difficult to get a sticker off of without messing it up. Everything will seem to be proceeding fine, until you notice you're lightening the label for no apparent reason.

 

Also: NES cart plastic seems very soft and reactive. I've used solvents to try to dissolve 20-year old permanent marker "autographs" and ended up "burning" the plastic.

 

The only nice thing about alcohol is that it doesn't leave a grease film like goo gone.. plus it smells "technological" afterwards. It's non-reactive and probably fine for cleaning the dust off of something.

[rpmxxipt]

Oh, and two more things:

 

Naptha works great to dissolve the adhesive on packing tape, when your local idiots tape everything closed by wrapping it 10 times around. If you work it carefully, using (about 20) saturated Q-tips at the point of contact, you can generally get all tape off and be able to wipe the residue off with a clean rag.

 

Don't even bother trying to remove 20-year-old masking tape. Ain't ever gonna happen. And old Avery labels are the absolute worst on a porous surface.

[dark_vampiric_rogue]

Most cartridge crud is from little cruddy fingers handling the carts. A water-based cleaner really works best. I prefer to use an aerosol can of window cleaner (you can get these at any dollar store) on NES carts to clean most of the light spots of Yoo-Hoo or whatever crud is on those labels.

 

Gees, dont use Windex---my friend Buddy Blevens tried to use that and it destroyed his artrages---plus on top of that he used on my ex's copy of Grand Theft Auto (vice city) that i bought him and it hasnt worked right sence then.

 

Just use rubbing alcahol, cotton balls, and q-tips

[King Atari]

So, is Goo Gone safe on all surfaces? I can borrow a bottle tomorrow, and I could use it on the NES labels, but also one of those snap DVD cases that Warner Bros. puts out. You know, the cheap kind, where the cover is unlatched and opened like a book. Would Goo Gone be okay on that type of surface?

[mechanized]

For CLEANING, use Alcohol (preferrably 90% concentration). It evaporates faster. Alcohol is great for just polishing up a label, dusting, and cleaning connectors.

 

For REMOVING STICKERS and RESIDUE, use Goo Gone. Buy a bottle and you'll eventually swear by it.

 

For removing Permanent Marker = You're screwed. Alcohol doesn't loosen it up enough, Goo Gone barely touches it. Don't consider anything harsher, like nail polish remover, paint thinner, and so forth - it's more likely to damage the plastic than remove the mark. On a Label, Alcohol will probably work fine. If the Casing is marked, buy a security bit to remove the screws for the cartridge because the only way you'll be able to make it pristine is a casing swap. Label Transplants are possible with Goo Gone, a steady hand, and patience.

 

 

...I think that about covers everything...

[King Atari]

For removing Permanent Marker = You're screwed. Alcohol doesn't loosen it up enough, Goo Gone barely touches it.

 

Actually, I find it depends on age, or at least that what it seems. "Penn" autographed a copy of Super C for me, but a few cotton swabs and some alcohol later, I removed said autograph.

 

 

 

For REMOVING STICKERS and RESIDUE, use Goo Gone. Buy a bottle and you'll eventually swear by it.  

 

Cool, I'll borrow some tonight, there's some really nasty sticker residue on my Resident Evil 3's case. Just too make sure, is it safe on any surface? I know it won't hurt a CD case, but then, there's that DVD 'snap' case I mentioned above. Would it be okay on that?

[King Atari]

Okay, I'm putting the fate of Rad Racer and Yo! Noid's labels in the hands of goo gone. My PS1 jewel cases should be fine, but I don't think I'll use it on the DVD, just doesn't feel safe.

[rpmxxipt]

I think Goo Gone sucks - I have a bottle sitting unused somewhere. I've NEVER had an issue using aerosol glass cleaner to clean water-soluble crud off of cartridges. Alcohol will NOT do the same job, although it's a nice cheap solution (no pun intended) for cleaning contacts. Alcohol or Goo Gone will NOT cut a quality permanent marker in the least - but I qualify this by saying that most markers in the hands of kids in the 1980's were NOT quality permanent markers.

 

I'm still swearing by my tried and true -

 

For food/fingerprints = water-based cleaner

For grease/crayon/labels = naptha

For Marker = I'm still working on it. I think there's an answer somewhere, even if it's Methyl Ethyl Ketone (which dissolves marker INSTANTLY) followed within seconds with an alcohol wash to avoid plastic burn.

 

I need more authentic autographed carts to conduct my "experiments" upon.. moo hoo hoo hah hah hah!

[Room 34]

I've got this fairly toxic stuff called "OOPS!" that seems to work fairly well on some permanent marker inks, on some types of plastic. I've even used it to remove permanent marker from a LABEL without any damage to the label (but it depends a lot on the coating on the label... I had it completely remove some permanent marker from a Yars' Revenge label without harming the label itself in any way, and I also had it remove the PRINT from a Space Invaders label without harming the MARKER... so you just have to be careful).

 

The biggest thing I've learned... if the game is rare, and you're not sure what your chemicals will do to it... you're better off just leaving it dirty.

 

(Just ask me about my Submarine Commander sometime. )