Review: Flitz Liquid Fiberglass & Paint Restorer vs. Novus 2

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Ken (The Mirrored Pinball guy) sells Flitz Fiberglass & Paint Restorer on
his web site and makes the following claim:

"This is the new Flitz Fiberglass/Paint Restorer. I find it BETTER than
Wildcat or Novus # 2 for initial cleaning of a playfield. Clean your
playfield with this product, follow it up with either Wildcat or a good
paste wax and you will have a super playfield. This product is superior for
deep cleaning swirl marks and cleaning the lighter colors on your playfield.
$12.50 plus $4 shipping. Retail is $15 each. Sorry Sold Out"

I bought a bottle of the stuff directly from Flitz ($15.99 + S/H) to try it
out. I recently bought a set of old, unrestored pins that included a 1959
Gottlieb Queen of Hearts. After cleaning out the mouse nests (yech!), I did
an initial playfield cleaning using the Flitz product, Novus 2, and a
combination of a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser ("ME" ) and Novus 2. The playfield
had heavy duty swirl marks that really detracted from the picture of the
queen and top hatted guy.

The first thing you notice about the Flitz product is that is costs three
times more than Novus 2!! The second thing you notice is that it is more
liquidty than Novus 2. I tried both Flitz and Novus 2 side by side on a
dirty, but not heavily swirled area of the playfield. Both worked fine and
I could not tell a difference between the two. I then tried them both on a
heavily swirled area. They both cleaned well, but did little to remove the
swirl marks.

I then used a ME wetted with rubbing alcohol on the swirl marks and it did
an excellent job of removing them. Since I was really trying to get rid of
the swirl marks, I keep at the ME for awhile but I stopped when I detected
the beginning of paint lost! The Magic Eraser works, but you need to be
careful with it! After you use a ME it will leave a white coating on the
playfield. You just clean that up with Novus 2 and everything is fine.

BOTTOM LINE: Flitz Fiberglass & Paint Restorer seems to work about the same
as Novus 2, but not clearly better. It therefore is hard to justify using
it since it costs 3 times more than Novus 2. To really clean a playfield
and eliminate swirl marks, nothing beats a Magic Eraser, but be careful with
it because it will eventually lift up paint (at least on an old playfield).
Note that the Flitz product is designed for clear coated finishes so it
might be a nice product for cleaning clear coated playfields. My clear
coated games are still quite clean, so it will be a while until I test it on
them.

QUESTION FOR THE GROUP: In the area between the pop bumpers on the Queen of
Diamonds there is a dried, thick yellowish substance that I assume is dried
mouse urine. I used a ME on a spot of it and it did eventually remove it,
but again it started to go at the paint. Does anyone have a suggestion of
how to remove the material without using a ME? Is there a solution I could
use to soften it up first without damaging the playfield?

-Danny

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Well, first you have to understand Ken's claims have a history of being
that of a snake oil salesman. Google would have provided that information.
The ball swirls you are trying to remove will never be simply "removed"
The swirl marks are cracks all the way through the paint down to the
substrate. Again, google would have been your friend here The best we
can hope for is to remove the ground in dirt from those cracks to reduce
the visibility of the swirls. The Magic Eraser has been a Godsend in
this respect. Nothing prior or since has been more effective at getting
that dirt out. This is mostly due to the mechanical suction the sponge
provides.

Nice review, Danny and thanks for doing ir for us! As for the buildup
you have left, try soaking with a citrus cleaner for a half hour and
then use the ME to get the rest out. Good luck!

--
Cliffy - CARGPB2
A passion for pinball!
http://www.passionforpinball.com


Danny wrote:
> Ken (The Mirrored Pinball guy) sells Flitz Fiberglass & Paint Restorer on
> his web site and makes the following claim:
>
> "This is the new Flitz Fiberglass/Paint Restorer. I find it BETTER than
> Wildcat or Novus # 2 for initial cleaning of a playfield. Clean your
> playfield with this product, follow it up with either Wildcat or a good
> paste wax and you will have a super playfield. This product is superior for
> deep cleaning swirl marks and cleaning the lighter colors on your playfield.
> $12.50 plus $4 shipping. Retail is $15 each. Sorry Sold Out"
>
> I bought a bottle of the stuff directly from Flitz ($15.99 + S/H) to try it
> out. I recently bought a set of old, unrestored pins that included a 1959
> Gottlieb Queen of Hearts. After cleaning out the mouse nests (yech!), I did
> an initial playfield cleaning using the Flitz product, Novus 2, and a
> combination of a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser ("ME" ) and Novus 2. The playfield
> had heavy duty swirl marks that really detracted from the picture of the
> queen and top hatted guy.
>
> The first thing you notice about the Flitz product is that is costs three
> times more than Novus 2!! The second thing you notice is that it is more
> liquidty than Novus 2. I tried both Flitz and Novus 2 side by side on a
> dirty, but not heavily swirled area of the playfield. Both worked fine and
> I could not tell a difference between the two. I then tried them both on a
> heavily swirled area. They both cleaned well, but did little to remove the
> swirl marks.
>
> I then used a ME wetted with rubbing alcohol on the swirl marks and it did
> an excellent job of removing them. Since I was really trying to get rid of
> the swirl marks, I keep at the ME for awhile but I stopped when I detected
> the beginning of paint lost! The Magic Eraser works, but you need to be
> careful with it! After you use a ME it will leave a white coating on the
> playfield. You just clean that up with Novus 2 and everything is fine.
>
> BOTTOM LINE: Flitz Fiberglass & Paint Restorer seems to work about the same
> as Novus 2, but not clearly better. It therefore is hard to justify using
> it since it costs 3 times more than Novus 2. To really clean a playfield
> and eliminate swirl marks, nothing beats a Magic Eraser, but be careful with
> it because it will eventually lift up paint (at least on an old playfield).
> Note that the Flitz product is designed for clear coated finishes so it
> might be a nice product for cleaning clear coated playfields. My clear
> coated games are still quite clean, so it will be a while until I test it on
> them.
>
> QUESTION FOR THE GROUP: In the area between the pop bumpers on the Queen of
> Diamonds there is a dried, thick yellowish substance that I assume is dried
> mouse urine. I used a ME on a spot of it and it did eventually remove it,
> but again it started to go at the paint. Does anyone have a suggestion of
> how to remove the material without using a ME? Is there a solution I could
> use to soften it up first without damaging the playfield?
>
> -Danny
>
>
>
>