Cleaning Up Contact Cement

[Susan Kline]

 >>Tom,
There is a citrus cleaner that will clean the keys up without a lot of chem.
odor etc.
It takes a little longer before you can resurface the key ( 24 hours ) but
it is worth it to avoid the smells.
Susan? what was that stuff?
Joe Goss<<

Sorry, folks, my computer was in the shop for a few days this week
(what withdrawal pains!!!) so I just now saw this, as I was bumbling
around the archive, seeing what I missed.

The citrus stuff, which smells so nice, is usually called "citrus solvent".
A brand here in the northwest is Citrasolv, but there are others.

It's non-toxic, and usually does pretty well with hardened old crud.
It's fairly oily for use around bare wood, though. Joe, did the
glue stick okay after 24 hours? I suppose I should pour a little
into a bottle cap and let it evaporate, and see what is left.

I've used citrus solvent
to clean up adhesive from note name labels on top of ivory, not
on the keystick itself. On the other hand, if you use it instead of
toluene, your liver will thank you. Citrus solvent doesn't hurt
ivory, anyway, though it might turn some of the older celluloid
fronts gummy. I've used it, in small quantities, around newer
plastic keytops, but carefully, and it was okay. Once I tried
to get some gum from a price label off a plastic ruler, and Citrasolv
clouded it instantly, so there is one kind of plastic which it melts.

Have you softened the contact cement with an iron and wet cloth?
Did it let you remove cemented ones, levering with a knife
blade?

Susan