BiggerIsBetter Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 I just completed a move and my dalite screen is in BAD shape. At the old place, the wife did a lot of indoor deep frying around 15 feet from the screen. I never thought anything of it. When I took the screen down it was very sticky. I thought this was odd but we were in an extreme hurry so I folded it gently and put it with my personal stuff to move. After being folded for a few day I tried to put it back on the frame. It was difficult to get apart and was clearly "sticking together." I think the oil accumulation was the main factor. After getting it on the frame, there was large areas that look like water spots. I tried to clean gently with a sponge and dish soap and water. It seemed to remove some of the oil. Then, I hooked up my projector and it looks terrible. Several large areas of water spot looking areas. It is still sticky to the touch. Then, I tried to clean a small area again using a wet paper towel and warmer water and a bit more pressure. When it dried the screen had lost some of shine and was less (but still) sticky. I'm not sure if I went too far with the pressure or not enough and did not get all the oil off. All that I have read says soap and water only. The screen is a da-mat (I think) and is around 5 years old. Any thoughts on how I might save this screen? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmdridq Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 Don't use paper towels, they can scratch. Use a soft cotton cloth or one of those soft lens cleaning pads. Sounds like you have a lot of crud on the surface. You'll just have to take it slow so you don't do any damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
007 Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 you need something to dissolve oil and water aint gonna do it. sady, the stuff that does also dissolves plastics however, i would try a degreeser like simple green or 409 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAS Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 This is the nature of thin vinyls and polys. Solvents = deterioration. A mild detergent and water is probably the best thing you can do. There are specialized spot cleaners for HT screens out there but I don't know how effective they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiggerIsBetter Posted November 15, 2005 Author Share Posted November 15, 2005 I called da-lite and the very helpful reps gave me some suggestions, THAT WORKED!!! The first option is simple green. Spray on full strength and gently wipe off in a vertical movement (no circles) with a clean non-abrasive cloth. Use as many clean cloths as necessary. Repeat, if necessary (I needed to). Though he stated it as optional, I then used a cloth with warm water in the same manner and dried gently with another clean cloth. I had to go over the entire screen 3 times with water in order to remove all of the simple green residue. The results, were fantastic. I really thought the screen was a through away and now it looks almost as good as new. Again, the soap and water that I tried first did very little.The next option, if this does not work would be denatured alcohol (I was surprised to hear that). I did not need to go past the simple green option so I can't comment on this.I mentioned orange cleaner, which he was strongly against using...dries it out.He mentioned that the likely cause was more humidity than oil. If you a screen that is sticky to the touch you may also have a problem brewing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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