# How to remove mylar adhesive from pinball playfield **Source:** Cary Hardy **Type:** video **Published:** 2017-01-22 **Duration:** 5m 5s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaZeiuVvy7Y --- ## Analysis Cary Hardy provides a detailed tutorial on removing mylar adhesive from pinball playfield surfaces using flour, 91% isopropyl alcohol, and Magic Eraser sponges. The method involves isolating adhesive residue with flour, dissolving it with alcohol and gentle finger rubbing, then finishing with Magic Eraser to remove remaining residue. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] 91% isopropyl alcohol is required; lower concentrations will not work effectively — _Speaker directly states from personal experience that lower-grade isopropyl alcohol 'will not give you the results as the 91%' and 'just not work at all'_ - [HIGH] Flour serves as a substrate to help adhesive ball up instead of spreading, improving removal efficiency — _Speaker explains 'The flour gives the adhesive something to stick to. Instead of having to just clean clean and rub away a little bit of the adhesive at a time, the flour gives the adhesive something to stick to and just roll up into little bitty balls'_ - [HIGH] Fingertip friction is sufficient abrasion for adhesive removal; no abrasive tools needed — _Speaker states 'Your fingerprints should be enough abrasion to wear away because alcohol is a solvent'_ - [HIGH] Magic Eraser effectively removes remaining adhesive residue after alcohol treatment — _Speaker applies Magic Eraser after initial alcohol treatment and reports successful adhesive removal verification with flour test_ ### Notable Quotes > "The flour gives the adhesive something to stick to. Instead of having to just clean clean and rub away a little bit of the adhesive at a time, the flour gives the adhesive something to stick to and just roll up into little bitty balls." > — **Cary Hardy**, mid-tutorial > _Core explanation of why flour is used in the adhesive removal process_ > "if you try using a lower grade of the isopropyl alcohol it will not give you the results as the 91% meaning either it won't work as well or it's gonna you know just not work at all" > — **Cary Hardy**, alcohol selection section > _Critical specification about chemical concentration requirements for method effectiveness_ > "You don't need to use anything too abrasive. That's why I'm just using my finger. Your fingerprints should be enough abrasion to wear away because alcohol is a solvent." > — **Cary Hardy**, technique explanation > _Emphasizes minimal abrasion approach and explains mechanical vs chemical action in the process_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Cary Hardy | person | Content creator providing pinball maintenance tutorial; appears to be experienced pinball restorer | | Magic Eraser | product | Melamine foam cleaning sponge used in final stage of mylar adhesive removal from playfield | | 91% Isopropyl Alcohol | product | Chemical solvent used as primary adhesive removal agent; speaker specifies 91% concentration requirement | ### Topics - **Primary:** Mylar adhesive removal techniques, Playfield restoration and maintenance, Chemical solvents and cleaning materials, DIY pinball machine restoration ### Sentiment **Neutral** (0.5) — Instructional content with friendly tone but no emotional language; speaker is matter-of-fact and practical about the tedious nature of the task --- ## Transcript All right, congratulations, you have removed the mylar off of your playfield. Now comes the tedious part of removing the glue. You can see there's a section right here that is where mylar used to be. What you want to do, this is my method, you can do what you want. a little bit of flour spread it all out and you can see where the glue is at now definitely because that's where it's sticking now this is just regular cooking flour i'm not sure there's any kind of flour that might work better for all i know coconut flour might work better i don't know But this works, so I keep it. So now I've isolated where my glue is at. All right next up I use 91 isopropyl alcohol You can pick this up at your local retailer and then you just rub You don want to spread the alcohol over a giant area because you going to be rubbing on one little bitty area for a while. The flour gives the adhesive something to stick to. Instead of having to just clean clean and rub away a little bit of the adhesive at a time, the flour gives the adhesive something to stick to and just roll up into little bitty balls. Or a gooey gooey little mess like a slushie. then I'll move on a little further basically you'll start to feel the play field get a little smoother and smoother depending on the condition of your play field of course It starts feeling a little dry I put a little bit more down there You don need to use anything too abrasive. That's why I'm just using my finger. Your fingerprints should be enough abrasion to wear away because alcohol is a solvent. Now I want to say if you try using a lower grade of the isopropyl alcohol it will not give you the results as the 91% meaning either it won't work as well or it's gonna you know just not work at all. all right so I pretty much right there have got the harder layers of the glue removed it not as tacky but to make sure I get any other kind of little bitty mess on there I take a magic eraser I already used this that why it that color just put a little bit on my magic eraser and just kind of scrub around that area Where's that sticky adhesive glue was located. Once I believe I've got it all, then I'll go back over it with a dry portion of the sponge. That pretty much gets rid of the glue. Just to show you that it gets rid of it all, I'll use some flour again on here just so you can see that it's not going anywhere. I can just plop that away. And rinse and repeat on every area that has the sticky mylar adhesive glue. Good luck! _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 3852b076-250b-4d07-ab94-a66ee422880a*