Question about cleaning old games...

[Ska_music_fan83]

This may sound really dumb...

 

But I'm confused... I want to clean my old games and every time I read about cleaning old games, they always say to just use alcohol. However, looking at an NES game, it literally says on the cartridge, "Do not clean with benzene, thinner, alcohol or other such solvents".

 

So was Nintendo wrong? Does alcohol not harm the games?

 

Any feedback is appreciated, thanks!

[karokoenig]

Alcohol usually works ok. But it CAN damage the plastic surface, and especially the labels. Not so much with NES, because those labels are usually laminated. But Atari 2600 labels respond extremely badly to alcohol exposure. For example: I have more than once cleaned a cart with alcohol, only to find a whitened fingerprint on the label later - just from handling the cart with a little alcohol on my fingers. The pins, however, can take all the alcohol you can bring, and it works very well.

 

If you have grimy plastic surfaces, jelly remains or carts that are covered in cigarette soot, I would always try warm water with a gentle soap and a Kleenex first. I also use bits of old T-Shirts instead of Kleenex. If that doesn't work, you can still go for tougher stuff like alcohol.

 

Stuff like benzene and especially acetone (e.g. nail polish) are very aggressive and should not be use on any part of an old cart. I've heard people use benzene from time to time to remove stickers or fubar labels, but I prefer the hairdryer method for this. Heat up the sticker and peel it off. Works like a charm. The plastic surface of some carts seems to actually react with benzene, and the carts stink awfully after that.

[Dripfree]

I can vouch for karokoenig I've had the same result on 2600 carts, genesis carts (genesis and 2600 carts have very similar label paper and glue it seems), and some snes carts. I still use alcohol but am very careful. I use hair dryers and goo gone for stickers. Obviously don't go near the label with the goo gone. Use a cue tip and be precise. Best tip I got though magic eraser will take billy's name off of your cart's even if he used a sharpy! And I know the magic eraser is a very mild abrasive so some may not like that. If you don't stay in one spot too long you wont hurt the plastic. I almost always go over any thing new I get with a magic eraser soaked in a little rubbing alcohol. It gets off everything marker, boogers, smoke damage, crud that came off billy's dorito fingers. ONLY BARE PLASTIC WITH THE ERASER no labels, logos, or paint. It will ruin pretty much anything but the bare plastic. It leaves a white film on the plastic. I take a cloth lightly spritzed with armor all an wipe it off. This will make the plastic glow and almost seem to repel dust.

 

I have a rule with my nes. I keep a bottle of alcohol and cue tips next to it. I do not put a game into it until the contacts have been cleaned with rubbing alcohol. It plays every game first try 99% of the time. Nintendo was wrong, or........ My theory is they just put that on the back of the cart because they wanted you to by the nintendo brand cleaning kit which came packaged with a little bottle of rubbing alcohol.

Edited May 25, 2013 by Dripfree

[Taskmaster99]

I always clean old cartridge games before use. I have many different ways but my most effective was a kit from Nintendo Repair Shop. It came with a white liquid rubbing compund of sorts and a wash(alcohol....lol) Works great on all my games. I also have a bottle of game clean that I got off ebay. Its a greenish liquid that doesnt smell like alcohol. I use that with a q-tip after playing the game to keep the contacts clean. I know....sounds anal right?? My games work 99.9% of the time.

[CatPix]

In France we have a solvent called "Essence F" (F gas. No idea what it means ). It's used to dry cleaning of clothes, removing stickers, and cleaning plastic parts since it doesn't burn any plastic surface.

Wikipedia give equivalent for it as being "white gas" (not white spirit) si if you can find a way to get some, it's a nice way to clean your cartridges, clean your laminated labels (non laminated works too, but you may make a bleaching effect if you rub the label too hard) and it's very effective to rub CD cases with it with a very light abrasive material such as paper towel to remove scratches.

 

Still, if you're unsure how to deal with chemicals, the best way is ; water+ soap for the cart, and cristal vinegar for the electronics.

 

If you wanbt to get a cart working, a very effective and fast way is to rub cardboard on the contacts. It got a very small abrasive effect on corrosion, so you can make a cart working with just that.

Edited May 25, 2013 by CatPix

[Ska_music_fan83]

Thank you all for your cleaning tips and comments, it's greatly appreciated!

 

And it does actually make sense that Nintendo would say "Don't clean with alcohol", not because its bad but in order to sell more of their cleaning products that ironically contain alcohol in them.

[goldenegg]

I personally use electrical contact cleaner on my carts. Works better than anything else I've tried.

[Ska_music_fan83]

I personally use electrical contact cleaner on my carts. Works better than anything else I've tried.

 

Hrmm.. interesting, never thought about that! Thanks!