Figuring out how to remove polystyrene residue from cords
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- Опубликовано: 10 июл 2024
- It's common to find cables of your retro computers and keyboards covered in styrofoam (polystyrene) residue. This seems to come from a chemical reaction of the chemicals in the cord and the polystyrene packing material in the box. In this video, I'm going to try to figure out how to remove this residue from an IBM keyboard.
NOTE: Your mileage may vary. Always test first in case there is a terrible reaction, especially with acetone.
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13:07 I always hear Techmoan's "Ooooh yeaahhhh" in my head when people take off those protective films of badges.
The reaction between PVC cable and polystyrene is a well know problem. The Polystyrene sucks the plasterciser out of the PVC and makes it brittle. In the UK our houses often have cavity walls and it was common practice to pass the mains cables through the cavity. Fast forward to the 80s and many cavities were filled with polystyrene beads. After some time the insulation on the cable would crack away and expose the conductors. It was worse in narrow boats that were insulated with polystyrene sheets and wired for mains, the vibration of the engine would cause the cables to fail very quickly. Have you ever noticed that cables are often in a plastic bag when packaged in with an appliance for this reason.
That's interesting the un-inintended consequences of insulation interacting later with electrical wires.
There's plenty of un-insulated cavity walls in the US, built before insulation became common, say in the 50s or 60s or so. My house was built in 1924, and is a mix of cavity walls, with some later fiberglass insulation. Blowing in insulation later is fairly common.
I don't know if we ever used polystyrene beads as wall insulation. Currently expanding foam is pretty common, rockwool was common, and sometimes vermiculite (some contaminated with asbestos), and of course there's plenty of blown in fiberglass. AFAIK polystyrene was only used in sheets.
The whole cavity wall insulation thing seems to be fraught with later unintended consequences. I was let down by an installer and it didn’t happen, which I’m now kind of glad about. Soz. I’m going off track. There appears to be a whole range of materials used as cable sheathing. I’m not sure that the soft flexible stuff they use in coiled wires is PVC, but there is a semi rigid form of PVC, so it could be that. Either way acetone is very aggressive to many plastics so Adrian’s choice with IPA is safe. Petrol maybe a good try it has poor compatibility with polystyrene. PVCu solvent cleaner is also widely available for plastic window materials that contains a mixture of alkanes (petrol) and other solvents. I’d be giving this ago if I had any. Everbuild PVCu Solvent Cleaner SDS (Google) gives a run down on the solvents used.
No wonder it felt like glue. As a kid I used to make plastic model planes, and instead of buying glue I would just feed the plastic injection molding sprues into a small bottle of acetone (ie. Mom's nail polish remover) and when the consistency got gooey enough it could be used as a glue. Once smooshed between parts the residual acetone quickly evaporates, and you have a very solid bond. You can also just put minute amount of acetone on the edges to be glued together, and quickly mate them, for a very solid bind, although this is risky if you use too much, or wait around too long. Both are old timey model builder tricks. Handy on Christmas day, when you get a model, but there is no model glue in the house, but acetone is always around. The memories.
Later on I used this to fix cracked computer cases, but one needs to apply gingerly, and be quick about it. Once you get a hang of it hairline cracks can be excised almost invisibly.
Great hints. Thanks. Especially for glueing cracks.
I worked in the A/V field for years and it involved cleaning a lot of cables on a daily basis. I think I've seen every kind of contaminant that can exist on a cable. Our company always uses Bestine which I believe is just white mineral spirits. Put it on a rag and draw the cable through, it cleans everything in one pass - no scrubbing.
An anecdote on Acetone and styrene that just popped into my head; When they were creating the scenes for Star Trek III where the Enterprise is undergoing self-destruction, they constructed a section of the saucer out of thin styrene plastic, and to depict the holes being "burned" into the hull, they dripped acetone from above which then ate through the plastic, opening up holes revealling the interior structure, a bit over-dramatic considering that shortly after the same section went kaboom anyway, but it looked neat on the big screen I suppose... :D
I've heard the same thing about the "Alien" scene, where the blood of the xenomorph eats through the decks. Parts of the floor were made from styrofoam, the blood was green coloured acetone.
The acetone bottle is made from HDPE, High Density Poly Ethylene.
Came here to say that :D
For cleaning dirt/mold/glue from cables and plastics, I use either dish washer soap or a soft fabric cleaning (anti-mold) product in a piece of cloth (like the one you had covering the keyboard) or a soft sponge (with very small holes) and rub it. The construction of the cloth or the sponge is more coarse than the cue tip or the paper you used and that helps grabbing the residue without being coarse enough to scratch the cable/plastic.
Man... if you search the internet for PVC and Styrofoam you can really go down a chemical wormhole!
Styrofoam is Plystyrene, ABS is Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, they're chemically similar and "plastic glues" (like Warhammer model glue) will dissolve both. The Citadel Plastic Glue is made from butyl acetate. There is a bunch of other chemicals that will do the same thing.
FOR THE EMPEROR!!!😁
Goo Gone/Goof Off is the go to for this. You see when you use the alcohol that the foam just flakes off. Thats because its not so much "adhered" to the cord, but they expanded differently and one grabbed on to the other, then pealed off when pulled apart. What you need to do is get it to relax and let go, which the thin alcohol does. A thing penetrating oil will do the same.
Searching the MSDS for goo gone it appears to be mostly be naphtha with a lemon scent added. I’ve used naphtha and mineral spirits when I need to remove sticky residue from a plastic I don’t want to melt. PVC cement for plastic water pipes seems to have an acetone component to it if the smell is any indication, also it melts the connections together to some degree. I would be very wary of acetone on cords like this, but would think naphtha or mineral spirits would be cheap and effective.
Too late for this cord obviously, but have you tried using a pencil eraser? A bit of rubbery abrasion might do the trick.
As for acetone: Great solvent but difficult to work with. It evaporates so fast that it leaves a thin film of the gunk you are trying to clean off, so a second pass is often needed. Considering that it is not safe with all kinds of plastic I keep it as a weapon of last resort.
I regularly use my own solution of low concentration acetone and 99% IPA for this kind of thing. I also use it for cleaning the bed of my 3D printer and it works great - way better than either acetone or IPA on their own.
I like to think about the polystyrene as part of the history of the cables/devices. That attitude saves me tons of work.
I have heard that it's additives in the cord (plasticizers) designed to keep them flexible/supple that can cause them to melt/transfer other plastics (like ABS and polystyrene). None of those plastics are particularly soluble in alcohols so I'm surprised it even worked at all, but it would definitely take some elbow grease.
Acetone can dissolve a wider variety of plastics; the bottle it's in is probably polyethylene (likely the low-density variant, referred to as LDPE). Any time you see a milky white bottle that's fairly flexible like that, chances are it's LDPE since it's cheap, easy to mould, and pretty chemically resistant. I suspect PVC would be at least slightly soluble in acetone, which explains the dull appearance after you used it.
Other things to try:
-Gasoline (smelly and will leave some residue) or other similar solvents (mineral spirits being my recommendation for something less smelly) will likely dissolve the polystyrene quite well and may leave the cord less affected than acetone.
-Ethanol (rubbing alcohol) and isopropyl alcohol have slightly different solubility profiles, so I keep both on hand and try the other when I encounter something stubborn. If you carefully check the labels in either pharmacies or hardware stores, you should be able to find 95% ethanol to keep in your stash to try, but in this particular case I suspect the IPA will work better considering the materials you're working on.
-Lacquer thinner or MEK will be stronger, but I suspect they'll attack the cord itself as well.
love seeing all the tips and tricks. merry x-mass!
My go-to cleaners are IPA, denatured alcohol, acetone, limonene and WD40. Between them you can remove pretty much anything from anything.
This reminds me of the one PC my middle school library had and we were never allowed to touch except for like one day per year to look up a book. I love the keyoard though. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Adrian excellent tutorial.
Gasoline. Dissolves polystyrene really well. Discovered this with my brother when we were 8-9 years old. With the resulting mixture we didn’t end up starting any fires that were beyond our ability to handle. It was close though.
Nicely done.
Interesting information. Thanks.
These PVC IBM cords are insanely strong.. Mine still look brand new after 40+ years.. Can't say the same for Compaq. The cords they used tend to completely desintegrate. The softeners just seem to "evaporate" making them crumble into an million pieces, which makes a lot of those old Deskpros, Portables and SLTs look pretty sad. I always replace them 🙂
Probably made of the same cheap rubber as the rubberized grips on mice and stuff. I got a secondhand mouse once whose surface had turned sticky, and just 50% rubbing alcohol was enough to "activate" it and turn it the rest of the way into liquid. The good news is that it turned out to be a very thin coating, and it was _so_ goopy that I was able to wipe it all right off, leaving what could have passed for just a normal plastic mouse if it weren't so smooth. And the side grips and wheel, which are also rubber, have held up just fine; they must be silicone or something.
iBM stuff cost more than a new car. They could afford nice plastics.
@@GigsVT I agree. But from what Compaq charged you would expect better quality cables as well. MSRP on a high-end Deskpro 386/25 like the one I have was 25.000USD and the cables on those keyboards evaporate as well...
More aesthetic refurb work please. You’ve commented about how this isn’t your forte, but now that you’re full time there’s a lot of material for you to mine in that area.
When I made ABS juice/slurry for 3D printing bed adhesion, I found that ABS doesn't disintegrate instantly in acetone, it takes a bit of time and a good bit of agitation. Testing by Stefan from CNC Kitchen revealed that gluing ABS with this stuff can result in a fairly strong bond, but not as strong as the plastic itself, the strength of the polymer can be compromised by the acetone. So you don't want to spill any on plastic electronic bits, but at the same time it probably wouldn't kill the plastic if it's just a drop or two. It will happily dissolve or soften many polymers, especially acrylics, and that's also why it's great for fusing 2 acrylic sheets together.
The bottle that nail polish remover comes in is probably polypropylene, the same stuff used for gallon milk jugs. Very stable stuff, and as far as I know, impervious to acetone. There's been talk of polypropylene for 3D printing, and as far as I'm aware, it is a royal pain in the butt to print, even worse than nylon or polycarbonate, and it's because there aren't very many good print surfaces for it other than certain brands of packing tape.
There's also limonene, which has a way stronger (but nicer) smell than acetone, and which can mess with styrene-based polymers (and probably other plastics) by softening them. I remember reading on forums that you can use it to dissolve high-impact polystyrene support material for ABS prints, and when I tested it, I ended up with a softened ABS print that smelled like orange oil with some softened HIPS stuck on. Not quite as dramatic as acetone. Limonene is probably best for dissolving acrylic adhesives like the double-sided tapes used to stick iPad screens into their frames, and it should be cleaned off immediately with isopropanol.
You should look for wet wipes with citrus oil. They typically come with a dry wipe to remove oil afterwards. Does wonders for all kinds of plastics.
just be careful limonene can dissolve some plastics
I absolutely ❤the 5170 Keyboard! I have been using it since 1996 when I started in IT, until the summer holiday of 2012 when my colleagues put it in the trash during my summer break. The double Click-Clack is really loud and sound like twice the typing speed. Bit like Two stroke Detroit Diesel that I also ❤❤❤:-)
It's the platiciser migrating from the PVC into the other plastics making them soft.
I wonder how Goo Gone would affect the cord?
In the 3D Printing world we use Acetone Vapors to smooth ABS printed parts.
I've got an Amiga 1000 in the box that needs this treatment. The keyboard cable with the RJ-11 connectors did the same thing with the styrene foam.
With the Commodore drives don't wrap the cables around the case. If left long enough it will melt into the case as well. So it's not just Styrofoam.
The acetone bottle is likely high density polyethylene or polypropylene. You might try lighter fluid on an inconspicuous area, or WD-40. Even DeOxit might have a beneficial effect. Whatever you do, don't try Brakekleen. You could also try using an Armor All wipe to restore the shiny appearance once the cleaning is done.
It looks like you were actually having fun here, and a little fun in the work is a good thing.
Try either your favorite 303 protectant or Meguiar's Quick Detailer (an automotive product, in case you're unfamiliar) to restore the sheen on the cable.
IPA and a micro-fiber cloth worked for me. Put it on the cloth and ran it back and forth along an old Vader 2600 whose cord had some styrofoam residue. Yes, it takes a little elbow grease, but it works fine.
I so wish that function keys had stayed on the left as they are in the IBM Model F layout. They're so much more ergonomic that way, easy to press quickly and accurately without looking. As it is, I'm still having to use a keyboard from 1991, the Northgate OmniKey Ultra2, to get that layout (with F11 F12 above the F1 F2 row, separated by a gap).
As for the residue, I'm pretty sure I've had something like this on at least two of my cords. I don't remember how I cleaned them or if it could have been from polystyrene. I do wish you had investigated more what was causing that matte effect when you used the acetone... preferably on a cord you didn't care about, to figure out how safe it really is to use acetone on a cord like that of the Model F keyboard.
acetone is used when you want to couple pvc pipes together. So I would not use it with the cord as it might cause some damage. I have found that using hot water, a little soap and a washcloth works well when trying to remove styrofoam.
I use contact cleaner spray with a little rub, as that works without really dissolving the cable or removing the plasticisers too much, which are there to keep the cable flexible. Then a bit of automotive plastic silicone conditioner (gummi pfledge… yes that’s spelled about right) just to get it cleaned and protected.
I use acetone on a lot of things, but I suggest you try plexiclean then treat it with 303 afterwards. Olive oil has some interesting cleaning properties as well. Coleco Adam computers use phone style cables.
Softening agents in black pvc do react with the polystyrene foam (essentially a glue) turning it back into the glue agent. I defer from using acetone… as it will react with most plastics except polypropylene. My go to solution is either Methyl-ethyl-ketone or white spirit. Any petroleum based solution will dissolve the polystyrene but not the plastic. So WD40 or brake-kleen will do the job!
Most of those plastic bottles that are chemically resistant will be made of high density polyethylene, hdpe2 usually. Most big rotomolded containers are made of this as well.
Acetone is almost like what’s used in pvc cleaner and I’d definitely expect it to melt vinyl stuff.
I’d have tried to use a citrus based cleaner like googone or maybe citristrip, these often have lubricating-like effect on old dried out plastic versus ipa which can dry things out and crack paint and such. I suspect you’d have even better results. I just restored a coil cord in a vintage lamp this way.
I'm curious how something like WD40 would work. I don't know that I'd test it on something like that, but maybe on a junk cord that you don't care about first just in case. I use it for cleaning my tools a lot and it seems to clean nearly everything I use really well. Idk just a thought.
You can pretty much clean anything with WD40...it doesnt hurt much. I spray my entire bikes down, painted parts, rubber, pvc, etc. to over winter them without rusting. It is easy to wipe off in the spring. It also smells nice lol
WD40 is great for this and removing stuck on labels and adhesives. I usually apply and let it sit for a few minutes and things just wipe away.
Just make sure to wipe it off thoroughly, as WD-40 will turn tacky over time.
Acetone and scraps of styrofoam makes an awesome glue!
Mineral turpentine works fine and its cheaper and it removes any sticky residue. It's my go to for cleaning cables. Put some on a cloth and gently rub it on the cable.
Awesome cleaner from the dollar store and magic erasers. That's how I clean all old cords. Probably would work for this as well.
Yeah, magic eraser is a micro abrasive and works wonders.
That tantalum capacitor from the previous video has survived.
polythene plastic bag is good for wrapping PVC wire when storing in polystyrene. It is the chemical elastomers in the PVC which leaches out and reacts with ABS/PS and as they do, the PVC loses some of its flexibility.
I always refer to a chemical compatibility chart to work out whether it's safe to use a solvent on a plastic. If you google a chart for PVC, it rates the compatibility with acetone as "D-Severe Effect", whereas isopropyl alcohol is listed as "A-Excellent". However as you saw the main effect is just making the surface dull, since you're not leaving it on for very long and cleaning off any residue with IPA afterwards. It would definitely be worse if you left it on, or even spraying it on can be worse than wiping it on with a cotton swab or cloth.
The bottle that the acetone comes in is probably polypropylene, which has excellent compatibility with most common solvents.
Only done knock off model M external kB for Amiga and telephone/ POS terminals.
I use the 97% ISO like you did though I soak for 15 minutes first.
After wipe off I soak in white vinegar for 30 minutes then dump in bicarb soda & lightly scrub W/ a toothbrush on EMI safe brush.
Takes anywhere from 5-20 minutes to get most of it off.
Some stubborn spots / pock mark corrosion effects may remain.
Acetone is stored in HDPE containers, also whenever you clean with acetone or IPA wipe off the residue as soon as you can, this keeps the floating debris from lingering in the liquid solvent, as it evaporates from the surface it leaves behind everything it removed. Also for acetone this is especially the case as you are trying to remove the more quickly soluble styrofoam, and not melt at the obviously less-readily-soluble PVC cord. Acetone DOES dissolve PVC in 'high concentration' and is present in PVC pipe cements also.
Try some orange peel oil to get under and lift the residues, and then glycerine to replace the lost plasticizer on the whole cable.
Styrofoam aka expanded polystyrene, styrene being a name for phenylethene or vinyl benzene, ethene with one hydrogen replaced with a benzene ring. PVC, poly vinyl chloride: polymer of vinyl chloride aka chloroethene, ethene with one hydrogen replaced with a chlorine.
Acetone and IPA are chemical "siblings" if you like, acetone being the more oxidised form of IPA.
Chemistry is fun.
Interesting and useful, thanks. One thing though, solvents don't 'melt' things, they dissove them
I use Acetone or Cellulose thinners for cleaning cables and then go over them with a foam cleaner to bring the shine back
The nail polish bottle will be made out of polyethylene. Either HDPE or LDPE. Probably LDPE for cost savings.Most modern cars have HDPE gas tanks. Artificial joints also use HDPE as the gliding surface for the ball and socket interface.
yep the pvc leaches 'stuff' out that can melt into ABS and similar plastics, making a soft spongy, 'trench' in the plastic, and it stays soft n spongy... this stuff can also react with copper wires making a green sticky goo... see 'franlab' as she's done a video or 2 about it...
that plastic bottle may be polypropylene, its fairly chemical resistant
I use IPA to treat sticky rubber, it takes a few treatments for some of the gummiest stuff, but it often rehabilitates it.
Awe I feel cheated out of my normal quality time in your digital basement. 😉
I definitely enjoyed this “shuper short” video! It’s nice to see some old school experimentation, rather than an overproduced slideshow about what exactly is the chemical reason behind the behaviour.
I would take the precaution of not leaving the cord afterwards on the keyboard case as there maybe a chemical reaction at a later date .
I have seen several vintage calculators having that problem with the power cord reacting with the case
I was thinking Goo Gone as it is water soluble. It should soften the Styrofoam making it easier to remove and you can clean it with soap and water.
The problem is not the polystyrene, but actually the cable itself. The "juices" that keep it rubbery and flexible, start to seep out, and melt the other plastics that they are touching (ABS included!).
Always, ALWAYS pack the cable nicely into a little separate nylon bag, as to not touch anything else (the little IKEA zip-lock bags are ideal for this).
The Cable is Vinyl coated like on your "PLEATHER" Jacket, but not PVC as PVC is hard and used in plumbing and conduits. Acetone will damage Vinyl.
You are better off with something like Goo-Off or Goo Gone. There are oil based products used on old cars with Vinyl Tops you could you or "Leather Upholstery" cleaner that can clean this up.
Also you need to be careful as in mixing Acetone with Alcohol can create a dangerous reaction. For you it is ot an issue as you used the acetone, wiped it and then used the alcohol. But some might think to take a short cut and mix Acetone with Alcohol in a cup and use it as a mixture and that is here the danger begins. It is not as bad as Ammonia and Bleach but it is bad.
I would try some 0000 fine steel wool to abrade the styrofoam residue. That should leave the finish of the wire pretty much intact. Such wool is often used to polish metal, so it works at a very tiny level on surfaces. It may even make it shinier than before.
There is a plasticizer added to the PVC which makes it more flexible and "rubbery." This chemical leeches out of nearly all plastics over time. It's a solvent, and attacks the styrene which causes the bonding. It actually does the same thing to styrene making it rubbery and more difficult to remove. Acetone is a highly volatile chemical. Using it sparingly, it will evaporate off assuming a warm ambient temperature before causing damage to PVC.
If you want to add some shine back to most plastics including ABS, use Boiled Linseed Oil. It is mildly solvent of most butyl plastics, and will leave a nice shine on dull or oxidized plastic. Be careful as BLO can spontaneously combust as it oxidizes and evaporates off of rags and towels.
Ran across the same issues, when restoring old Dumb Terminals & Teletypes, of the late 1970's & into the 1980's. IPA or the older IPA 'soaked' wipes, originally used for cleaning Tape Heads works good, with a little elbow grease. There is another cleaner, commonly used in the Telecom Industry, generically called DeGel or Gel Off Wipes, which works wonders at removing those stubborn sticky residues, however it is not friendly to all surfaces. Similar to acetone, use it very cautiously, with rubber gloves, & good ventilation. It will dry your hands out very quickly, so use gloves. Follow-up with Windex, & wipe clean with dry towels, to clean the surface of any oily residue.
those Commodore 1351 cables are a tan color if they are really grungy you can really see the dirt and gunk
For this I usually use mild dish soap and a toothbrush, warm water too. If I need to, Isopropyl with a toothbrush and coffee filter papers.
I love chunky, clicky keys!
You can try heating with a blow dryer to get the shiny finish to come back.
dont know if you have this in US, but in Denmark we have what is in danish is call "rense benzin" that will translate into i guess "cleaning petrol"
it is an type of benzin made for cleaning, it is very good cleaning stuff like this...
I can not finde it in english but in danish the search will be for "Borup rense benzin" where Borup is the company there makes.
You could try ethyl acetate (acetone free nail polish remover), it's a bit less aggressive than acetone.
Also WD40 works great. Greetings from Steven from the Netherlands
Great ❤
The plasticizer in the cord is what reacts (melts) with the computer cases and Styrofoam. A plasticizer is a substance that is added to a material to make it softer and more flexible, rr
Ok, I learned long ago on how to clean things like this, best way is (going to sound odd) you may want to try it, firstly, vasoline, a heavy quality grease/oil which actually will work slowly under the styrofoam between the ABS, example here would be to just work vasoline all over the cord to start with, and let it sit for a bit, then come back with a 5%~9% mix of acetone to alcohol (I used to pre mix bottles of it, 10 ml of acetone to 100 ml alcohol) and use that to remove everything, it will lift the vasoline and all the styro, which will often tend to leave a nice shiny finish (not greasy).
It is the PVC is the issue.
I have been using IPA
I have been coating leads in silicone polish / lubricant to stop the sticky leads coming back
D-Limonene. Pure, water-clear dextro-limonene (not the yellow/orange colored stuff). Great solvent. Literally dissolves styrenes. Doesn't hurt ABS or PVC but keep it away from anything with a #6 recycling triangle. It doesn't evaporate clean so you have to follow with soap and water or another solvent like IPA.
My ebike hub motor has some PVC covers for the axle nuts and they were both pushed into styrofoam packing and did the whole residue thing. Doesnt affect much but doesnt look nice. I will try cleaning it later. I tried scraping it off and it was giving me a hard time.
Would it help the cord to put some of that plastic protectant spay on it?
The last cable with polystyrene stuck to it that I had to deal with were the cables attached to my Speccy+ power supply, mostly just rubbed it down with 99% IPA on some paper towels, and it came off reasonably well, with some "mechanical action" (AKA using my thumbnail to scrape it) in places, I never used acetone owing to its ability to turn plastic into goo, and after I was done just gave the cables a good wipe with some antibacterial wipes to clean off the former-owner human slime... :P
Model F AT. :) The bane of poly foam. It's certainly more damaging when the PVC cuts into ABS plastic.
What about car trim restorer. I think I read/heard somewhere that Mother’s back to black has a little acetone in it .
I think you should avoid the Alcohol! It will dry out the cord . As a collector and restorer of antique telephones I can tell you what I do. Get a 1 qt yogurt tub put some dishwashing liquid In it then fill with hot water and mix.nowbsoak the cord in there overnight . When possible I detach the cords and tape the ends to the outside of the tub. In the morning all I have to do is takes green dish scrubber sponge over it . I usually follow up after drying with a coating of armour all.
Mineral turpentine works really well for cleaning poly styrene remnants.
One item I have to highly recommend for cleaning polished items are cotton cloth diapers. Yes, that's exactly what your optometrist is using to clean your glasses.
Acetone will melt the styrofoam residue and left it in a "glue" form until you wipe it away with more acetone, so it's no shiny. 99% IPA not able to tackle the already melt styrofoam residue but can remove the existing original that stick on the cable.
A co z benzynką ekstrakcyjną? denaturatem? albo rozpuszczalnikiem nitro? zbyt agresyne?
Have you tried a combination of magic sponge and IPA?
Use some Citrol 266. I have a car detailing business and we use this on plastic and paint to remove any residue. Just don't leave it on for long as it may discolor the plastic
passing a wooden dowl down the curled section of cord allows you to work on it much more easily.
I use white spirit to clean cables, soak a rag and feed it through the soaked rag a few times, done.
I have had an issue with the curl cords on Kenwood 2-way radio microphone cables, they develop a white powder coating and then it tends to crumble into dust! Trying to get the right cables from Kenwood over to where I currently live is too costly. I need to find another source for these cords.
Wonder if a Dremel tool fitted with a buffing wheel on low speed would be faster than using a Qtip?
When I have to store my old computers or game consoles in styrofoam packaging, I always put the cables in small plastic bags to avoid these styrofoam spots on the cables.
You can restore the shine with a polish like crocs shine.
There are not a lot of solvents that attack polystyrene but not PVC. The two that might be relatively easily available are citric acid (which you'd have to dissolve in water) and fuel oil. "Fuel oil" is not particularly well-defined, though. I'd start with kerosene and then try diesel fuel.
Another thing to try would be D-limonene. It will soften polystyrene. I don't know how it affects PVC though.
The styrofoam and the plasticiser in the PVC do not get on well with each other. The general stickiness of the curly cord will also be due to the plasticiser coming out of the PVC given the age of the keyboard. The same issues can be seen with old PVC electrical cabling too. Search for green goo and electrical for some interesting pictures of what happens when the plasticiser and copper wire have a disagreement.
Another tip for retro computerists, is cleaning a printer platen. That rubberized plated in a dot matrix or daisy wheel printer can get messed up if the printer prints onto the platen without the paper being in there. If this happens, the platen can harden and also become very slippery, which can result in bad paper feeding, even with a tractor feed printer.
A little acetone on a cotton rage will clean that printer platen like nobody's business. Don't know if it helps recondition the rubber coating on the platen, but it didn't seem to hurt.
There is a product called Rubber Renue [sic] that is used for softening hardened rubber parts, such as the pucks in old record players that develop a dip, which can be heard as irregular playback speed. That might be something to look into for your platen.
From the world of model aircraft :- many NEW models are moulded from expanded polypropylene . This is the foamed version of what acetone (nail varnish remover) comes in. Nothing touches that! Its basically inert. A fantastic American company made BIG models out of styro foam (Byron Originals). We learned not to convert them to gas (petrol) power, they melted.
'styro foam', is expanded polystyrene. This is fine against alcohols, (see the 'ol' on the end), including IPA IsoPropanol (see the 'ol' on the end? Model aircraft fuel is Methanol.
What styro foam, polystyrene is is very not good at is gasoline. Melts it like its not there.
Your best option for 'gas' at his size is a drop of Zippo fluid.
So to be clear, 4 different solvents - Water, gas (petrol), acetone, IPA.
Hope this helps somebody.
PS Look at your wifes undies care label :- always test in an un-seen area!
I wonder if rectified spirit would work too.