sticky rubber grips on gamepad

[Tempest]

I have an old, expensive gamepad with rubber grips. The gamepad is at least 5 years old. It has been functioning fine and having the same consistent grip over the years. Recently, I've been playing Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 with the cheap but durable Logitech F310, which is well over 10 years old and all smooth plastic. I had to use the F310 to remap the keyboard controls to the gamepad because Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 lack native support for gamepads.

Today, I noticed an update to Atari Vault and played some DLC with the expensive gamepad. Unfortunately, the rubber grips are now a bit sticky. Apparently this is a relatively common problem, where rubber degenerates and becomes sticky over time. I thought maybe it was because I didn't use it in a few months. There are all sorts of ways to try to remove the stickiness ranging from baking soda to xylene, but this issue makes me want to just use cheap plastic controllers from now on.

The F310 is fine except it lacks rumble. I paid a lot of money for the gamepad with rubber grips. Such a bummer. I'll probably try to clean it and if it doesn't clean then I'll give up.

[AustrAlien2010]

You probably want to avoid those materials on gamepads. Maybe scrape it off? It's not needed.

[TabbyMan2]

Hi

There is a way to get rid of the stickyness.

You need:-
A bowl of warm water (or just do this in the bathroom)
A bar of soap
Half a cup of Biological washing powder
A nail brush (best use an old one that you don't mind ruining)

First of all I worked out this solution because I've a Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 and the handle had become sticky. Trying things like furniture polish/hand cream worked for a short time (though it did make it slippery) but a few days later went back to being sticky again.

Replacing the joystick wasn't an option, since second hand they are as much as what I paid for it new.

Since doing the procedure below it has remained sticky free for the past 5 years. BTW it can be used on anything that has a rubbery coating (like hairdryers) that have gone sticky.

1. OK, you need to remove the case from the innards. Electronics don't like water so if you can remove the casing all the better.

2. Dunk the casing in the warm water.

3. Rub the stickiness with the bar of soap. This won't have any effect on the cleaning but does show where the stickiness is and helps with the next step.

4. Coat the stickiness with some of the washing powder. The soap will help the granules to stick.

5. With the nails brush scrub the surface that's sticky. Give it a good scrub especially along the edges.

6. Rinse off and repeat. Rub again with the soap again it will show if any stickiness remains. If so then tip a bit more washing powder on to the required areas and scrub again.

7. Repeat until all the stickiness has been scrubbed off.

8. Rinse well and tap dry. Check for any residual stickiness. If all's well then tap dry further (a piece of kitchen towel is useful doing this) and leave in a warm cupboard overnight.

9. Next day check that it's completely dry. If so reassemble the unit.

You may find that the rubberised coating may be gone but so will the stickiness. I would personally prefer to still be able to use the unit then have to discard it.

Hope that helps

TabbyMan2

BTW If you find this useful don't hesitate to give me a mention.

[Tempest]

Thanks will keep in mind. So far so good, though. Last night I used it for a couple hours and it was like new, no sticky rubber. I'm storing it away from the window from now on.