Solvents for removing very old masking tape from front panels?

I believe the GooGone uses acetone. ?Be very careful of using acetone around plexiglas (perspex). I believe it will dissolve the plastic quite?easily (though I may be thinking of MEK). I can't speak from experience with respect to masking tape, but I removed a large area of sticky residue (likely left by some sort of tape or adhesive overlay) from a PDP/8 front panel simply by rolling it up mechanically with my fingers. ?It was tedious, and I got a few blisters from doing it, however. ? Little specks remaining can be cleaned up by dabbing with the adhesive side of cellophane packing tape. The paint on the 8/E front panel (at least the one I was working with -- don't assume they are all the same!) is somewhat soluble in IPA, but applied very sparingly, it cleaned up the panel nicely and removed some dullness without apparent damage, though doubtless taking off a bit of paint on the surface. ? If you do this, however, be *very* careful, as the black paint on the back is highly soluble, to the extent that you can feel the tackiness with your fingers if slightly moist with IPA. BTW, the PDP8 panels are covered with a urethane (?) clear-coat layer that absorbs water and takes on a milky cast. I suspect there is no harm in dusting a panel with a slighly damp cloth, but scrubbing the panel with soap and water (or, heaven forfend, soaking it) is not a good idea, despite the fact that water and mild soap are so frequently recommended as the safest way to clean plastics. ? For this reason I used *anhydrous* (technical grade) IPA for the cleaning exercise mentioned above, and would recommend steering clear of the drugstore stuff, which is anywhere from 10% to 30% water. --Bill ________________________________ From: dwight elvey <dkelvey at hotmail.com> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Sent: Friday, July 12, 2013 5:23 PM Subject: RE: Solvents for removing very old masking tape from front panels? I use googone. Do test it on a location that doesn't show first. It slowly cuts plastic but I've found it is useful to remove old oxidized surfaces and polish it. It uses orange oil and acetone as far as I know. Dwight