Hoping for an endorsment deal.

Thought I would do a little post on some of new cleaning supplies I have run across while working on this Fun House. Now, I love to clean, I find it very satisfying and zen. I don't think I could stand yoga but if I need to take my mind off stuff nothing works better for me then cleaning something.

First off, forget Home Depot, that place is the worst, I try and avoid it at all costs. Plus if we are talking strictly cleaning supplies their selection is terrible. Last time I went they only had two different metal polishes, pathetic! If you live in the bay area like me, ACE is the place. Just look how excited this lady is to find such a great selection in this pic I found on the internet:

She is stoked! Anyway, trust me. They have like a whole shelf of just metal polish, they have like five shelves of deodorizing stuff, plus the staff is usually helpful which is more than I can say about Home Depot.

First new cleaning product: Purple Power.

 

 Its already got a cool name, so you know it will work great

 

This worked great on the subway ramps under the playfield, took the nasty stuff off no problem. I formerly used Simple Green but I did not like the smell at all. I also used Simple green to clean cabinets but its green colored and when I tried it on my friends Mata Hari it turned the yellow a greenish color (don't worry, I tested it in a spot you could not see first, if you dont tell my friend they will never know.) So this is the new go to.

 

 

Next new product, Flitz metal polish. I am so happy to find a metal polish I really like. Before Flitz I used Neverdull wadding polish and then followed it up with Brasso to shine it. I never liked either of them. Neverdull is a pain to use and the brasso just was not as great as I hoped it to be. When I came home with the Flitz I figured I would try it on a ball guide I had already done with the two aforementioned products, after using some Flits the cloth came away totally black getting a lot of dirt the others had not. Now I only use the Flitz. Its one drawback is that its 5.99 for a little bottle and I think it will take the whole bottle to get all of the metal clean so its not as cheap as the others but in my mind the time saved and results more than make up for it.



The lightning bolt in the letter "Z" lets you know it means business.

 

 

This is the first time I have used a tumbler as well. I had hoped to have some great before and after pics to show but my camera is not that great so the pictures all looked the same. So instead please enjoy this video of Culture Club performing I'll Tumble for ya

 

 

Ok, now that you are back from that. I really did like the results from tumbling, basically if its made of metal and fits in the tumbler its going in. I also used some KITs Scratch Out as an additive. I know I could use Flits instead but many people on RGP swear by this and its really cheap and worked great to shine up the metal. Its in the automotive section at ACE. Just squirt a couple of rings around the walnuts before you turn it on, not too much though.

 

For the tumbler media itself I used crushed walnuts, you can get it at most pet stores. I have always heard to get it in the reptile section, but the stuff for reptiles looked a bit fine for polishing. My tip, check the bird section as well, the crushed walnuts there were a bit coarser.





Just don't let your parrot take a crap in your tumbler.

 

 

Lastly, Novus 1, the most neglected of the Novus products. I have seen people on the forum say don't bother, its basically windex. I got a bottle from my pal Tony when I bought his F-14 Tomcat and I really like it. I cannot thank him enough, I almost told him not to bother but I used this on all of the playfield plastics. Novus 2 works great on plastics but I find it leaves a residue, Novus 1 gets it nice and shiny. I get my Novus 1 at TAP Plastics FYI.

Don't call me Windex Muthaf**ker.



That Playfield is so clean you could eat off of it (if you like your food to taste like Novus and wax.)

Lets look at a couple of pics of how dirty this playfield was when it came to me.

 

 

So I finally got the playfield stripped, cleaned and waxed! My method was to use Novus 1 for the initial clean of the really built up dirt. Then I went into a couple of the area that had ground in dirt and hit them with Magic eraser. Next up was a thorough going over with Novus 2. lastly I did three coats of wax. I decided to try a new wax that was highly recommended on all of the forums and sold by Pinball Life, my preferred online parts shop. I bought the little jar so I could test it out and not commit to 30$. The results were fine but did not blow me away. Plus because it came in a tiny little jar it was kind of a pain to use, so the second and third coat were meguires gold wax, which people also swear by. It works well, but I was really hoping to get that mirror shine others get after a wax job, but I have come to the conclusion you need a clearcoated playfield if you want that, so while I am extremely happy with the way the cleaning went, the waxing will just help keep that ball rolling and protect the playfield but did not add a ton of shine. Still take a look, the playfield looks great!

So now it is on to putting everything back where I found it.

I should really document how I do my playfield teardowns, I think I will save it for a later date though so I can take a few pictures of my set up.