giving the keys a rinse cycle with a water and rubbing alcohol mixture. Did not anticipate the keys melting, but dish soap didnt do much.
Someone destroyed their plastic keys by soaking them in a water/rubbing alcohol mixture.
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Can I Rescue This 1957 Royal Quiet De Luxe Typewriter and Find It a New Home?!<br /> by [[Dynamically Typed]] on YouTube
One can use a hairdryer or heat gun at a medium setting to remove the white moldy-looking (it's not mold) outgassing/plasticizers found on old plastic typewriter keys.
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it is not mold; it is plasticizers coming out of the plastic. I remove it with various means: alcohol, polishing with a very fine polish, Goo Gone™, naptha, and such.
The white gunky substances seen on the plastic keys of old, unmaintained typewriters generally isn't mold, but plasticizers coming out of the plastic. These can usually be cleaned off using simple household cleaning products or if necessary heavier cleaners (Goo Gone, alcohol, naptha, etc. - test these on hidden parts first to ensure they don't react with or destroy the plastic or remove the paint of the key letters) followed up by light waxes or polishes and buffing.
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