Dan Finnen

Writing, Photography, Misc

  • Blog
  • About
    • Dan’s Writing a Newsletter
    • Orvieto LLC
    • Being Hard of Hearing
    • Disclaimers
  • Photography
    • Photo Galleries
  • Writing
    • Chicago Writers Podcast
  • Contact

connect

  • Bluesky
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Powered by Genesis

How to Fix Sticky Rubber Grips on Old Cameras

October 7, 2024 By Dan Finnen

My Nikon N80 arrived from eBay so sticky it was unusable. After scrubbing the mineral oil off with paper towels, cleaning the residue, and letting it dry overnight it’s perfectly fine now. You may notice the rubber is a bit on the dull side, but I’ll take that over sticky any day of the week.

Sticky rubber. It’s one of the worst aspects of dealing with aging electronics. It’s why Dank Pods has to wear gloves when going on a lucky dip. And old photo gear has loads of rubber on it, all of it just waiting to turn into gross goo as it ages. It might feel completely random, too. While one ancient camera’s grip is fine, the one sitting in the closet being carefully preserved has seemingly turned to mush.

Plagued with this issue, I waded through the modern internet (see: old forum posts and endless AI slop) and came up with so, so many different solutions and no clear answers. However, after experimenting with different techniques, I’m relieved to say the issue is actually far simpler to deal with than I expected and completely curable. Just be ready to apply a little elbow grease.

This brand new camera is covered in rubber/plastic that hasn’t turned to goo… yet. Give it time.

WHAT CAUSES STICKY RUBBER CAMERA GRIPS?

Modern rubber is ‘vulcanized,’ which is a treatment that the rubber goes through to become the consumer product we all know and love. Over time, the chemicals added to the rubber begin to separate and collect on the surface. Often a layer of mineral oil collects and causes the sticky condition.

The process of rubber and oil separating is a continuous process that’s always happening, but regularly used rubber surfaces will easily shed that small amount of oil though the friction of regular handling. That’s why cameras in storage seem to fall prey to sticky rubber grips – nobody’s been handling those cameras. My rarely used remote for my speaker system developed sticky rubber syndrome while my regularly used TV remote didn’t at the same time.

It’s tempting to just chalk up sticky rubber as an unsolvable condition. In fact, there are many people on the internet who say this condition is incurable. But it’s not! It’s actually really easy to fix!

Even the esteemed Nikon F5 will develop sticky grips with time left in storage.

WHAT’S THE SOLUTION

You just need to scrub really hard. You can use any abrasive surface, a rag or even a paper towel. It’ll take way longer than you want it to, but eventually that mineral oil will wear off and the rubber will be good as new.

There are truly a million ways that people have figured out to do this, but at the end of the day, you need a rough cloth/towel of some kind and friction. Abrasive materials like a magic eraser (or sandpaper if you’re hardcore) can also speed up the process.

You can’t ‘clean’ off the oil with soap or caustic agents. The oil just needs to bind with something and be rubbed away. Paper towels and magic erasers work great as the oil will combine with the bits of towel/eraser that are shed. To help remove the debris caused by this process you can use rubbing alcohol or good ol’ fashioned water.

That’s it. I’ve saved countless sticky cameras using these techniques. Get out there and shoot that old camera!

If you enjoy this add-free article written by an actual person, using any of my affiliate links helps out a ton. Thanks!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky

Filed Under: Photography

Featured Projects

Photography YouTube Channel

The Chicago Writers Podcast

Dan’s Guide to Purchasing Polaroid Cameras

Super Gear Land YouTube Channel

Support this Site

When it comes to photography gear, partnering up with companies like KEH, Polaroid, Amazon, and eBay allows me to keep this site going without annoying banner ads. Using my affiliate links when buying anything costs you nothing and helps me out a ton. Thanks! Find cool stuff at Polaroid, KEH, and Amazon in each article.

Find it here

Recent Articles

  • Fuji Instax Instant Film Camera Buying Guide
  • Dan’s Guide to Buying New and Used Polaroid Cameras
  • Instax Square SQ1 and SQ40 Camera Guide

Recent Reviews

  • Polaroid Flip Instant Film Camera Review
  • Polaroid Now+ (Plus) Gen 3 Instant Camera Review
  • Boox Palma Android e-Reader Review
  • Nikon Z6 III Camera Review – From a Z6 I Owner’s Perspective
  • Fuji Instax Wide 400 Instant Film Camera Review

Recent Blog Posts

  • New: Polaroid Flip Reviews
  • New: Polaroid Now+ Gen 3 Reviews
  • New: Travel Gallery
  • Why I don’t review ‘hybrid’ ‘film’ ‘cameras’
  • New: Nikon Z6 III Review

Blog Archive

About Me

I’m a writer, photographer, co-owner of Polymyth, host of the Chicago Writers Podcast, Super Gear Land, and more. You can reach me at hello (at) danfinnen.com.

Legal

All content copyright 2011-2025 by Orvieto LLC. Please see disclaimers page for more information. This site uses affiliate links. If you use one of these links to purchase an item, this site may make a small commission. When sharing articles and photos from this site, please maintain credits and sources. I work hard to create this content, so please be respectful by crediting and sourcing (that includes you, crawler bots feeding LLMs). Thanks!

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.