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Ask HN: What's the name of that rubber coating crap, do you like it?

by gabrielblack on 6/1/22, 11:00 PM with 4 comments

Hi, I don't throw away electronic equipment, I like to keep my old hardware in working condition to repurpose it for my projects. I got my old Nexus5 back from my storage room to repurpose it as SDR and, despite having stored it properly, with desiccant salt bags, in box, surrounded by two layers of pluriball, the rubber coat of the phone now is a nasty, sticky crap. I wasted time to completely remove that disgusting stuff using isopropyl alcohol, not having the proper solvent. This is a problem of a lot of electronic products , having that treatment with the only purpose, I guess, to obtain a better "look and feel" or to implement some kind of induced obsolescence reducing devices in perfect working condition a trap for flies. If you ask me, I'm sick and tired that my stuff literally decompose like corpses in my closets because someone think that nasty shit is cool. Youtube is full of peoples with the same problem, so I think it's time to say "enough". Anyway, what's the name of that stuff?

  • by ggm on 6/1/22, 11:26 PM

    Its called "soft touch" plastic. Have a google search. To me, its almost like a crossover between suede and velvet. Very odd feel. I have a book about the design of the apollo era moon suits which is coated in a version of this over kaptan: the book dust jacket is both indestructible, and feels very sexy-odd. I almost can't pick the book up!

    Half the hand weights at my pilates gym are coated this way. Some people prefer them, feel more "grippy" but harder to clean afterward than the shiny ones.

    the problem you identify is the behaviour of the "plasticiser", perhaps (I am a non chemist but as I understand it) a specific component of the plastics design process, which takes a long chain polymer and makes it flexible rather than rigid. Its a physical mixture as much as a stable reaction outcome: its reversible in temperature and UV exposure achievable in ordinary life. Rigid plastics (urea formaldehyde?) degrade to a powdery surface over rigid form and become brittle. Soft plastics degrade by re-liquifying. Some nylon-like fabrics (Tents, rucksack straps) turn to dust.

    In some cases, this thing comes out of "solution" and you get a really repellent outcome: The feet of a 1980s era modem I had, were soft plastic pads glued onto a steel chassis and they re-liquified into a black tarry mess.

    My son's baby shoes, the first pair, the ones we kept, in a box, high in the linen cupboard? heat degraded the plasticiser and the soles turned back into little balls of plastic in a goopy blue honey-sticky mess.

  • by eternityforest on 6/2/22, 10:23 AM

    I don't care at all what the actual enclosure looks or feels like on most things, if I buy a gadget I'm almost always buying a case at the same time, and putting it on immediately.

    My idea of good look and feel for a device is launching with some nice case colors and patterns that fit well.

    Fussing with the plastic of the actual device is just wasteful, everyone has different preferences, far better to design from the start for a good fit with cases.

    For things not typically used with cases, like power tools, my #1 favorite material for tech is glass reinforced nylon. It's very light, grippy with no nasty stickiness, doesn't take fingerprints, and had no disturbing bendiness, or any gloss that makes it look obviously out of place.

    If it's meant to be held for a long time, I appreciate a proper rubber grip, but almost nothing needs that, and things that do need real silicone or TPE, in patterns, preferably with some airflow.

  • by slater on 6/1/22, 11:28 PM

  • by rdubs333 on 6/1/22, 11:42 PM

    huh?