Paint Question

[dreamaker]

There is a paint out there they use on, generally electronic products. It is usually in the color black, it has kind of a leathery or rubber feel to it.  After a little more than a year it breaks down and get sticky and stays sticky. I have had this happen several items over the years. It see it as a product defect, but it doesn't seem to get addressed and they continue to use it. I have no Idea what kind or who makes that paint or coating.  It is almost like it has a built in timeline to force one to replace or throw it away, just assuming!  (If you have a little patience and some isopropyl alcohol, you can wash it off, use the highest % of Alcohol)

[Gryphon Rider]

I can't say I have experienced this with electronics, but I once had a '75 Olds Cutlass with a well-worn steering wheel that I couldn't make un-sticky.  I don't think I tried absolutely everything on it, but what I tried didn't work.

[Jess from VA]

I think that old vinyl on steering wheels used to break down from hot sunlight and stay sticky.

Almost all of my old jalopies had a lace on wheel cover as a result.

This one.


On the original subject, all paint comes off, given enough time and exposures. 

[dreamaker]

Not talking about the coatings.  But I know from experience, with flexible things like vinyls and other plastics if you use the wrong solvents on them it will draw out the plasticizers and the surface will stay sticky. Plasticizers are added to some plastics to make them soft or flexible.  Have you ever used some spray adhesive that seem to work well and after a period of time it would fall off or detach, then the surface feels sticky.  That is from using the wrong adhesive for the material. 

What I am talking about for the electronics devices, is a paint or coating.  To the touch it kind of feels like a rubber or a leather, generally in black. I have some expensive devices with this coating.  Anyone out there that has a Cardo bluetooth head set, have you had this experience with the headset, I did.  At first I thought that UV was that caused this issue, but I have things like emergency radios the were stored with No light condition, also break down.