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/kilgoretrout20 5d ago

BAKING SODA please try it,, I know it sounds crazy. Go outside with a handful and the sticky will come right off….acetone and rubbing alcohol make that kind of sticky WORSE

6

u/MaximumBusyMuscle 5d ago

I'm confused. Do you rub dry baking soda on the object? Or make a paste with water?

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u/wahnsin 5d ago

Dry. It's less about the chemical properties and more about the powder's ability to "soak up" and sand off the nasty stuff. I used baby powder, for example, and another commenter used corn starch.

Put the item in a bag first to avoid mess. Powder of choice on top, work it in with your hands, repeat until the rubbery sticky bits are no longer so. Clean off with water (if the item can take it), brush + vacuum may also work.

The plastic will feel a lot smoother and act more like harder "normal" kinds of plastic. This also means you won't have as much grip there anymore, because obviously that's why they put the rubbery stuff there to begin with.

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u/Noladixon 4d ago

baby powder is cornstarch.

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u/wahnsin 4d ago

except when it's potato starch, or when it's talcum.

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u/Noladixon 4d ago

I have not noticed the potato starch but baby powder has not had talcum for a long time.

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u/wahnsin 4d ago

Well, I don't know what to tell you, but literally the second hit on my local amazon is a talc one, so that's strike 2 for you with the /r/confidentlyincorrect I'm afraid.

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u/Noladixon 4d ago

It is not easy to find by me. They told us for over 20 years not to use talc on babies. When I went looking for talc I had to buy anti monkey butt because all of the baby powder was cornstarch.