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White Coating Plastic Degradation


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#1 Spaceknight

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Posted 13 January 2018 - 08:57 PM

So I was rearranging kaiju corner to make room for new arrivals and noticed one of my Godzillas is ill. The softer plastic parts of the figure (head, arms, spines, feet and tip of tail) are covered with a whitish coating. The coating can be wiped off but if I remember from past cases of this ailment on other toys, the coating just comes back again. Does anyone know if there is a climatic cause (too dry, etc.) for this or is it just inevitable degradation of the plastic and there's no way to prevent it....?

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#2 tennunb

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Posted 14 January 2018 - 02:36 AM

Would be interested to know the answer myself. I always thought it was a mixture of dust and water causing the build up. Although I do clean my figures about 4 times a year I still get the build up to
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#3 Draznar

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Posted 14 January 2018 - 09:46 AM

If it's anything like the Transformers Robot Heroes line, I believe it is impossible to get rid of and is a sign of degradation.

I may not be remembering that correctly though.


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#4 Beastformers

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Posted 15 January 2018 - 08:31 AM

Is it real plastic or more a rubbery plastic like material? I´m not familiar with this line of toys but amongst the Battle Beasts we´ve something similar with the Battle Beasts coming from Greece the so called Greek Battle Beasts (GBB). In some case these also seem to have a deposit of a white substance, it´s not with all of them but I think fellow collectors with larger amounts of GBB will agree this does occur every once in a while. Although on my end it has never been a reoccurring thing because the moment I receive ¨new¨ Beasts which have this white substance over them I always clean them straight away with a bit of lukewarm water and a bit of hand-soap on a toothbrush or something and since than it, in most cases, hasn´t come back. I´m pretty sure it´s a combination of used material and external influences. Of course Black is an annoying base color on which you´ll instantly see a whitish substance but as you might know the GBB are quite colorful and it´s appeared on all of them only the black ones it is more obvious. 

 

Do you know anything about the period it takes before it comes back after you´ve cleaned it and if you think about that is there a possible relation between the different seasons?

 

And even though it might sounds strange are you by accident living near the coastal zones of the US? On all of the other BB, except the Spanish ones, I´ve never seen this kind of deposit on the figures so there might be a relation to their locations of origin being relatively close to a warmer sea climate resulting in the fact that the ¨sea breeze¨ might bring in and leave some other substance on the figs over time once they dry up again. It might be bullsh#t but I´m pretty sure it´s an external influence causing this and that´s the only reason I can think of at the moment.

 

I´m not sure if it´s the same issue we´re dealing but for me the lukewarm water with hand soap with a toothbrush always did the job and I try to keep external influences (direct sunlight,etc.) out and away from my collection as much as possible so that might be the reason there´s no built up on the cleaned up figures anymore.... 

 

Would be interesting to hear your thought to see if we can figure out where it comes from.


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#5 Spaceknight

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Posted 15 January 2018 - 04:38 PM

If it's anything like the Transformers Robot Heroes line, I believe it is impossible to get rid of and is a sign of degradation.
I may not be remembering that correctly though.

  

The TF Robot Heroes is definitely where I've seen this before. I remember cleaning the white stuff off only to see it come back later.

Is it real plastic or more a rubbery plastic like material?... Do you know anything about the period it takes before it comes back after you´ve cleaned it and if you think about that is there a possible relation between the different seasons?... And even though it might sounds strange are you by accident living near the coastal zones of the US?


It is more rubbery plastic (on this Godzilla and on the TF Robot Heroes figures). I don't remember how long it took for the white coating to return, just that it did. I haven't given the Godzilla pictured a cleaning as of yet since I'm pretty sure it's pointless. Maybe I'll clean it up over the weekend and see how long it takes for the coating to reappear. I don't live near the coast so that can't be the cause for whatever this is.
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#6 Beastformers

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Posted 17 January 2018 - 03:23 AM

Hmm it´s just a shot in the dark but considering all the other figs being out there in the same display/conditions I´d exclude the humidity-dust option because in that case it should also show on the other figs, right?

 

Been looking a bit more into it and it might also be related to something inside the material that acts in a certain way at certain temperatures, this might be interesting even though it´s about another toy line: http://forums.yojoe....ead.php?t=30110

One of the comments there which might explain it;

 


A lot of tupperware-type containers contain pvc's and cpvc's. These are added to add life to the containers, it makes them more resistant to degradation from sunlight. Cpvc's are not a health hazard, but both have weird reactions with a lot of other plastics, especially softer materials like polypropeleynes - and many toys are made with these.

 

In other words the white residue might be the (dried up) result of ¨plastic sweating¨ caused by storage/display under wrong conditions.

 

Had a look at my GBB and found a figure that still has a little bit of this white deposit on it, I´m quite a perfectionist so there´s not a whole lot on it and the picture might also not capture it completely but it´s mainly found between the seams and the relief on the figure.

 

Attached File  IMG_20180117_115308_001.jpg   96.21K   0 downloadsAttached File  IMG_20180117_115353_892.jpg   105.83K   0 downloadsAttached File  IMG_20180117_115452_126.jpg   139.61K   0 downloads

 


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#7 Mangler

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Posted 17 January 2018 - 11:30 AM

Armor All?
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#8 bigazzhead

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Posted 18 January 2018 - 08:19 AM

Armor All?

Yeah I second it. I used dollar store brand armor all on my ecto 1 ghost from the RGB line. Soaked it overnight, and most of the powder goop is gone, how ever I think the color might have changed some. there was a contact point where the figure was touching the side of the cup, so that area didn't really soak.  And now that point seems to be a tad darker. 


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#9 Mangler

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Posted 18 January 2018 - 07:59 PM

[quote name="bigazzhead" post="694009" timestamp="1516292372"]

I used dollar store brand armor all on my ecto 1 ghost from the RGB line.

Does it slime everything it touches now? I kinda thought it might leave a greasy stain on the shelf.

Edited by Mangler, 18 January 2018 - 08:04 PM.

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#10 bigazzhead

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Posted 21 January 2018 - 06:31 AM

Hes in bag somewhere I will have to wrap him in paper for a bit and see if he stains it.
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#11 Spaceknight

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Posted 25 February 2018 - 02:38 PM

Just found another item. It's a piece from the Fisher-Price Imaginext line, a mech-type vehicle. I was surprised to see the hands/claws were completely covered in the white residue (and just the hands/claws, nowhere else on the toy had the problem). Because it was smooth plastic, I was able to simply wipe off quite a bit of the residue. I put it back in the same location it's been living and we'll see how long it takes for the residue to come back.

I've been contemplating the environmental conditions.... My man-cave is in the basement but we do run dehumidifiers down there most of the year, especially throughout the much more humid summer months. And the temp doesn't vary dramatically.

I guess this is just yet another form of plastic degradation I'll have to learn to live with. I've come to terms with several different plastic ailments in my old Kenner Star Wars line, what's one more?
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