Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Steve Z, who writes with another option to clean radios (like the Eton E1, Eton Satellite and others) with a rubberized coating that has become sticky with time:
I ran across this blog when I recently took out an Eton portable radio and found it to be a sticky, gunky mess. The radio is probably around 8-10 years old and it’s been a few years since I used it. I didn’t have any of the products mentioned here, but tried a few similar products I already had in my home with varied success:
- Simple Green: Did nothing. Don’t bother.
- Goo Gone liquid: Very limited results. Had to scrub a lot for minimal results. Not worth it.
- Simple Green Grill Cleaner: Worked well. Sprayed a portion of the radio, waited a minute and then cleaned with microfiber cloth. Had to use a little elbow grease, but results were good.
- Goo Gone Kitchen Cleaner (foaming degreaser): WINNER by far! Easily and quickly cleaned sticky gunk off radio. Sprayed portion and then easily wiped clean with microfiber cloth. No damage to writing or graphics on radio. Whole radio took about 30 minutes. It would have been faster, except there are a lot of dials and nooks and crannies to work around.
Thanks for the tip, Steve! I’ll add this to our growing list of sticky radio remedies!
I tried Mr Clean lemon cleaner, full strength on a rag (like an old t-shirt), and it worked great. Just a little bit of scrubbing required, and the stickiness comes right off. Paper towel can be used too, but you’ll go through a lot. After I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove the Mr Clean.
I have the Eton E1 radio and it got so sticky that I almost threw it away. It got to the point where I would only touch the on/off button and nothing else, not even the knob to change the channel. That is until I saw this site. I bought a bottle of the Purple Power and after an hour of cleaning it is like new. A week later and the surfaces are still smooth as silk. Prior to this I tried 70% isopropyl alcohol, 95% isopropyl alcohol, denatured alcohol, acetone, Simple green and hesitatingly lacquer thinner which caused the most damage to the finish. None of them worked except the lacquer thinner to some extent, but the stickiness came back after a week or so. Purple Power is the only thing that worked.
In some cases along with the dirt the lettering of the radio is gone.
I clened my set with isopropyl alcohol and I lost some printed letters.
I wonder if anybody has got any idea how to put some letters back, on my ETON E5.
Never would have thought. Thanks for the tip.