Bingo Pinballs

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~ How to clean and properly care for your Playfield ~

Spiked

07-10-2005, 10:39 AM

Hi Danny. I am a Wedgehead by heart, but I just got my first Bingo and I want to make sure I treat her nice. I use Novus for the initial 1st cleaning on

my wedgeheads, then pure carnuba. I just got a United's Singapore that needs a cleaning and want to make sure Novus won't damage the PF.

I posted on RGP and got a mixed response. It seems that its OK to use lightly and do a test spot first. Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks in advance.

Advice

07-11-2005, 10:53 PM

Hi Danny, I do not like the new products, mostly because they contain modern chemicals and some abrasives. For example, even the Novus products
have some grit, to a varying degree. I use Johnson's Paste Wax. It contains some mild cleaners but is mostly wax. I have never(!) found

a paint or finish that it attacks, but as recommended, I strongly urge you to test your chemical of choice in a hidden
area to make sure it is not going to do bad things.

Tim Arnold, the keeper of the pinball flame in Las Vegas went to the store about a year ago to get some Johnson's Paste Wax and found
it missing. He checked with the management and they told him it was being discontinued. He immediately found another source and

bought up a huge supply. I heard about it and did the same. Come to find out, the graphics on the tin were being changed and

it is still available, and hopefully will be for some time.

I use it to wax the polished bright work on the game as well, and find it keeps it from dulling quite so rapidly.

”The Pre-War Pinball Group is a wonderful source for these kind of concerns – These really know the Dos & Do Nots”

Stay Tuned – I am just getting ready to do my Surf Club and it’s a wreck – I’ll post some before-and-after pictures. What I didn’t

tell Grant (Spiked) was that I first clean the field using cloth-baby-diapers and vinegar. Alcohol (I caught my buddy doing his with

vodka) is an absolute no-no, it quickly leeches through to the wood, dehydrates, and takes some pretty good life out of what little

is left of these old boys. Replacing the balls and all rubber is the next best thing you can do to the fields while you’re in there….

Windex - etc, are all man-made synthetics and equally as bad – You want to use as natural a product as possible – Innocuous!

Thanks Guys`

Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball

From: "Pat Shanahan" <pshana...@pappageorgehaymes.com>

Date: 22 May 2006 10:46:40 -0700

Local: Mon, May 22 2006 9:46 am

Subject: Re: Lacquer Removal from Playfield

I had a similar (almost identical) problem on my bingo. Someone applied a finish right over the old playfield dirt and after a few decades it was all yellowed and cracking. I tried everything imaginable to get it off but had no luck. One night I just thought screw it, I’m going to try every chemical we have in the house (really scientific, eh?), figuring i couldn't make it any worse than it already was.

What worked for me was my wife's nail polish remover, I wet a rag with it and scrubbed in little sections and it came right off. The paint below was perfect. Of course, with anything, rub too much and the paint will come off too.

Acetone is the main ingredient in the remover but for some reason acetone directly from the can didn't work nearly as well as polish remover.

Good luck!
Pat Shanahan
Chicago

Bingo-Style Pinballs,

Like any machine you want to keep working …Maintenance 1st

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