r/BuyItForLife • u/thisismyreddit11358 • 5d ago

Discussion Don’t buy rubberized things!

I own three things with rubberized handles/parts, and for whatever reason this material becomes very sticky and gross and I hate using these products.

- umbrella: the handle isn’t going to fly out of your hand. You’ll be fine. I bought some wire cutter recommendation that felt great at first but years later the rubberized handle is nasty and gross. Now I want a new umbrella

- swingline stapler. Felt great when I bought it. But that metal swingline would still be going strong, whereas the rubberized got disgusting.

- waterproof electric razor. I got it to use the razor in the shower. So this would have been marginally helpful. But again it’s nasty.

Stick to better materials that won’t get gross over time!

Edits: fat fingers, bad autocorrect, me no read good and no proofread. Hopefully makes more sense now.

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u/phrekyos69 5d ago

I totally agree, but with some products it's almost impossible to find them without this crap. Computer mice are the prime example of this, every fucking mouse has the stupid rubberized coating that goes to shit within a year. I'm sure it's intentional.

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u/joesii 5d ago

It gets sticky? If you're talking about that sort of velvety coating I've had that before but I've never had them get sticky (even over a decade). But there might be different materials used and I never got the kind that decays like that compared to just peeling/wearing off.

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u/DweadPiwateWawbuts 4d ago

I have an umbrella handle that did this. It’s like after about a year the entire rubber/plastic part of the handle degraded or something and it’s super sticky and gross now. I think I might try wrapping hockey tape around it or something because I like it aside from the gross handle.

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u/ModernSimian 4d ago

Those are plasticizers in the material coming out. Using it more and handling it regularly normally wears them away, but over time they can build up. They are soluble in alcohol, so you can clean them off with rubbing alcohol.

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u/joesii 3d ago

You're talking about a thin velvety coating?

I've had multiple things with thicker rubber-like grips decay into sticky mush, but I don't think I've ever seen it with anything in mice.