Whats Best to Clean Vintage FX boards?

[dumbassbob]

I have a few Old MXR ,DOD,Vox ectAfter years of use I would like to clean all the goop off.Can I scrape the circuit paths with a razor blade? My old P-90 has black rot from the old foam.

[frank.clarke]

You can scrape with a razor blade, but it will do more harm than good. If it is covered in something awful, maybe some alcohol on a cloth first.

[Mark Hammer]

I've found that a bit of methyl hydrate (paint thinner) on the end of a cotton tipped swab (Q-tip) has been remarkabll helpful to me in making boards look brand spanking new. Great for getting flux off.

[R.G.]

Rubbing alcohol on an old toothbrush, soft cloth and Q tips.

Frankly, washing them with soap and water isn't all that bad an idea IF YOU IMMEDIATELY THEN GET THEM DRY. You can do that with the old lab-glassware trick of pouring alcohol over the wet board. Alcohol and water are soluble in all relative proportions, so any water that's there is sucked into the alcohol wash and carried away. The remaining alcohol on the board evaporates quickly.

There have been more than one repair house that used a kitchen dishwasher to get dust, dirt and bar funk off boards then dried them with compressed air.