Why do certain types of thermoplastics or rubber (i.e. used for soft buttons of a tv remote or the insulation of cheap headphone cables) turn sticky or even gooey after they haven’t been used in a long while?
In: 41
I think it’s a combination of oils from your hand and oxidation.
If you ever have the chance to dig around in an old toolbox, smell the handles of screwdrivers. If any of them smell like vomit, it’s partly made with butyl rubber that’s degraded into butyric acid which is one chemical that gives vomit its unpleasant smell.
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