Nikon F100, what is up with the sticky leather!!

250swb said:

You are very patient and had working. But using white spirit takes about five minutes because while white spirit and IPA are both solvents white spirit doesn't evaporate as quickly so by the time you get back to where you started it has had time to work and further dissolve the goo. I know IPA is a sexy thing because of all it's uses in general camera cleaning, but right up there on the paint shelf in the garage is something better.

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We are talking mineral turpentine, right?
I’d never let that anywhere near a camera. At least not in the doses used to clean a whole body.

It wicks like crazy and as you say doesn’t evaporate fast.
And the fumes are heavy and invasive. Not only for you, but also for the super complex system of the camera.
Who knows what lubricants, plastics and electronics can be long or short term affected?

Take the time. It’s not a race. Listen to a podcast or an album while you do it.

Helge said:

We are talking mineral turpentine, right?
I’d never let that anywhere near a camera. At least not in the doses used to clean a whole body.

It wicks like crazy and as you say doesn’t evaporate fast.
And the fumes are heavy and invasive. Not only for you, but also for the super complex system of the camera.
Who knows what lubricants, plastics and electronics can be long or short term affected?

Take the time. It’s not a race. Listen to a podcast or an album while you do it.

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Yeah, I didn't intend for you to think you slosh on white spirit or soak anything in it, and especially all over the camera, given the rear door can be unclipped on it's own. As for the fumes, well I guess you never did any DIY, but like naplam 'it smells of victory', to paraphrase Robert Duvall.

250swb said:

Yeah, I didn't intend for you to think you slosh on white spirit or soak anything in it, and especially all over the camera, given the rear door can be unclipped on it's own. As for the fumes, well I guess you never did any DIY, but like naplam 'it smells of victory', to paraphrase Robert Duvall.

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One very good “life hack” is to put some 303 Aerospace Protectant on a clean rack when you are satisfied that everything is gone and seal off the surface that way.

It will protect to a degree against UV and oxygen affecting the remaining “rubber”.

303 is unique in its lack of substances that will, over time break down rubber and plastic.

BMbikerider said:

What causes it? I put it down to facial moisture and grease transferred from you skin when you hold the camera up to look through the viewfinder. Everyone has it, facial grease I mean.

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It is absolutely NOT this.

It is simply a byproduct of the substance itself. The phenomenon is called Plasticizer Migration. Plasticizer is the additive in the molded plastic coating -- a chemical other than the PVC -- that gets in between the chemical bonds of the vinyl. It has the job of keeping the grip soft rather than rigid and slippery like the other molded plastic bits. Migration is just that, the added chemical moves out of its original mix over time, becoming exposed on the surface. This is a huge issue in materials science in general, books have been written on it with regard to vinyl flooring becoming sticky.

The reason camera leatherette made of vinyl doesn't do the same is that it is from the same technology as vinyl roofs on cars, or seats. Well proven, and not really that sticky. But in the case of that era's Nikons, it results in the weird sticky surface because they wanted to mold the grip and the plastic all as one and wanted the grip to feel extra grippy. New technology for Nikon in the era, and they didn't plan well for folks like us using consumer level cameras 30 years later.

Alcohol simply removes the plasticizer chemical. Handling seems to help, too, and I'm not going to guess why, but that is the opposite of skin oils being the issue. Sticky backs happen on cameras sitting on a shelf all the time.

Its funny how some products start to go off after a "short" time.
I have seen doors de-laminate, paint peels off of (some) cars, the paste in Elytic Caps have failed miserably way before their time, etc etc etc.

On the flip, i have the original battery in my 2006 Ford Explorer key-less entry gizmo.

Reply to Moose22's comment No 56 as above.

I stand corrected, but I find it odd that the two places that stickiness seems to occur. On the back where the face touches the camera back and as I found on my F80 a small area where my fingers of my right hand hold the camera body and no where else. Human sweat and excreted oils are known to be slightly acidic and can damage other plastic items in regular contact with skin.
For instance my partner has to have metallic arms on her spectacles otherwise the plastic ones tend to go sticky.

I have also found a way which seems will stop it happening again. There is a car body polish sold in UK called 'Simonize'. It is a hard wax with a slight smell of white spirit. After wiping the back with alcohol, a good rub with this wax and then polished off almost immediately (it leaves no white residue) seems to do the trick. I did both my F80 and F100 a while back and the surface is still quite good

Human skin chemistry is definitely... interesting. And I'm sure affects some of these things differently than others.

Not quite the same, but an old friend who played bass with me had acid hands. He'd touch my guitars and the strings would go dead when I'd use the same strings for weeks longer. Our skin chemistry was quite different, and fundamentally incompatible. You know if you can find differences in chemistry, and think about how touching chrome or nickle steel parts can rot them, it is also going to possibly affect the chemical nature of the grip material.

Your Simonize trick, and/or Helge's Aerospace Protectant 303 both sound like wonderful life hacks for this stuff. Next time I run across a sticky I'm going to try it.