Aging rubber and plastic

[Rod RenshawParticipant @rodrenshaw28584]

Rob

Useful tip, thanks.

Just re-read this thread ( in lockdown) and it reminds me of a conversation I had with a museum curator about bakelite exhibits which apparently just disintigrate without any warning about 80- 90 years after manufacture when on display in temperature and humidity controlled exhibition cases. She said it was a well known problem and threatens whole collections of 20th century household and electrical objects.

Rod

[StewartParticipant @gaunless]

Just a wee note, I had a radio where the rubber trim went sticky, rubbed it with WD40, it removed the sticky and restored the smooth finish. I've done that with several items with the same finish and got the same result. Worth a try perhaps. On old rubber items that have gone hard, a blow with a hot air gun can bring them back to a nice finish and restore pliability.

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

I must re read this thread and try out the offered solutions, there is nothing to loose.

Plastics are not the only things which can fail in a relatively short time when their enviroment changes. I picked up a small ammonite on the beach at Lyme Regis which was made from iron pyrites and took it to Exeter museum. They told me that they were common and many of their exhibits had disintigrated over the years after surviving for millions of years in the rock and clays after forming.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

It's not just me that think Clark's shoes have gone down in quality then, Latest pair the soles are dropping off and the shoe mender chap reckons the underneath is perished and so can't be mended. Trouble is if you have wide feet there's not much else to choose.

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

….the shoe mender chap reckons the underneath is perished…

Cobblers!

I'm sorry, just couldn't resist

I'll get me coat…

[Oily RagParticipant @oilyrag]

Just to further add to this thread – the recent trend to replace wooden window frames with wood look-a-like plastic is now causing similar problems with window frames disintegrating or warping. The first signs of trouble are the frames begin to go a dull matt rather than the wood lustre original. Then they begin to warp and split.

Mrs. Rag has for a long time looked enviously on houses with new window frames and I have always been adamant that I'm sticking with wood frames! The shift to plastic windows has been accelerated by painters now not being allowed to burn off old wood stain, H&S and insurance issues or so I'm told. But burning off old wood treatment stain or varnish cauterises any mould or funguses and protects the wood. I think the shift away from cadmium and lead stabilisers is definitely a root cause in the deterioration of modern rubbers and plastics.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Posted by duncan webster on 06/01/2021 16:59:05:

It's not just me that think Clark's shoes have gone down in quality then, Latest pair the soles are dropping off and the shoe mender chap reckons the underneath is perished and so can't be mended. Trouble is if you have wide feet there's not much else to choose.

Given this unfortunate situation, I have considered going back to ecco or trying Baer; however, the replacement Clarks pair (see my earlier post) in H wide fitting seem to be holding up so never say "never again"!

[PeroParticipant @pero]

Here in darkest Australia I have had both a pair of shoes and a pair of workboots ( neither Clark's ) kept for several years unused, one pair in the original cardboard box and one in the airing cupboard, both of which fell apart on first use. The boots fell apart in the garden which was disappointing, the shoes at the optician leaving bits stuck to the floor both on the way in and the way out. Very embarrassing!

Since a good pair of boots should last for quite a few years I would say the sole material is not fir for purpose. The same could be said for the shoes however as these are typically expected to have a shorter lifespan the rapid breakdown of an item which is unlikely to be recycled is perhaps an environment benefit. No, I don't believe it either but I'm sure the shoe companies would push this line if they think of it.

As others have noted it is not something I have encountered with regularly worn shoes. As an example, two pair of shoes bought at the same time, one worn to death with no damage to the sole other than expected wear, the second pair worn the day after with immediate failure of the sole. Perhaps there is someone out there that can explain the chemistry, it's beyond me.

It also makes me query the long term survival of polyurethane insulation materials and adhesives where one would hope for decades of performance – hopefully better chemistry, but I will be more cautious in future use.

Back on the treatment of sticky plastic, one benefit of hand sanitizer is that it usually contains glycerine or similar as a moisturiser which is good for most plastic surfaces in addition to your hands!I have on occasion used talc but have found that over time it just results in a rather dirty sticky surface as the cure is only skin deep and the underlying deterioration continues.

Pero

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

As a film camera collector this is a recurring issue with many cameras from the 1980's onwards. Removing the gungy mess is not too difficult – I use white spirit as has already been suggested, but I am not aware of any way to restore the surface, short of fitting a replacement part in better condition.

New old stock (NOS) parts may be as badly degraded as the one you already have.

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

The posts referring to shoe repair remind me of some years ago at work. Chris, the charge hand in our fitting shop had the chairman call in with the sole falling off one of his shoes. It got mended easily and Chris put a notice on the door "cobblers to the management". It was an excellent place to work, the managment laughed just as much as everybody else.

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

After some of the plastic on a pair of F clamps I bought about four years ago from Toolstation broke down recently rendering the clamps useless I started to wonder what other plastic items I own serving a more critical purpose might break down catastrophically without warning. The castors holding up the bench my milling machine sits on sprang to mind.

With all our advances in technology, it would be nice to be able to have confidence in critical weight-bearing items of recent purchase, but threads like the present one, as well as personal experience, suggest such confidence would more than ever be misplaced.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 07/01/2021 20:29:41

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I suspect the clamps from Toolstation were designed on the premise that heavy daily use on a building site would wear them out more rapidly than their materials would degrade. If so, four years is probably a good life for them, and anyway the trade user is not paying for them – his customer is.

We expect our tools to last that much longer, as we use them intermittently and much more considerately, in the far more benign conditions of our model-engineering workshops.

'

One of the worst materials for degrading, and surprising since like all good employees it spends most of its time kept in the dark (closed box), is the foam used for the nests in sets of drawing-instruments and the like. I don't know the material, but it gradually breaks down to a sticky mess all over the instruments.

'

I recall reading of the building of the new Coventry Cathedral, in the 1950s. The architect, Sir Basil Spence, had to change his mind about the plinths for the internal columns. The manufacturers he approached could not guarantee a minimum service life of 5 Centuries for glass mouldings…

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