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After about four years of being stored (in a sewing basket, in a clothes closet), I got out my crochet hooks again last week, trying to find the right size to lend to someone. To my surprise, a few of them (three knitpro waves ones, and a black one I don't know the brand name of) that had some kind of 'soft' handle, had gone all sticky. And I mean really sticky, they feel like the sticky side of packing tape.

The sewing basket the hooks were stored in showed no traces of anything sticky at all, and the 20-something other crochet hooks (without ergonomic handles or with hard plastic handles) in the same compartment also showed no traces of anything sticky. So I think I've ruled out something sticky getting into the sewing basket and onto the hooks. I'm really thinking it must've been something about these particular handles that turned them sticky.

The stickiness doesn't wash off. I tried rising with hot water first (usually that's all that's needed here to get rid of anything sticky), but nothing. Then I tried soaking in hot water for a while, but it only seemed to get worse? Or perhaps that was because some dust came off, leaving an even more sticky surface). Then I tried adding soap + using a brush, and it still didn't come off. I also tried using a microfiber scrub pad, but still, the stickiness remained. I'd like to save these hooks and make them usable again, and ideally also prevent them from 'going bad' again.

So I'm wondering, what could've made these hooks go all sticky, and how can I clean them up to make them usable again?

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  • This scenario is similar to the on here: Are Faber-Castell pencils meant to be oily? The solution seems to be the same, in any case. Commented yesterday
  • @Joachim I don't know? Oily is not how I would describe the current feel of my hooks, as oily to me means it feels slippery or greasy, not the kind of sticky like packing tape (really, I can 'touch' a hook and shake my hand, and it won't fall off). English isn't my native language though, so if oily and sticky really are the same, this might indeed be duplicate. Commented yesterday
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    Good point, it was how I interpreted that question, but not necessarily what the OP meant, no. But it was intended as a possible dupe, just to link the questions as they are both about what I guess are deteriorating grip materials. Commented yesterday
  • For what it's worth, I'd say "sticky" is a better description than "oily" for how this effect normally feels. But different additives to the plastic may feel different Commented 22 hours ago

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There are a number of products on the market with "rubberized" grips, covering aspects of life from power tools and instruments to ordinary kitchen implements and as you've found, crochet hooks. I have a digital multimeter which was coated with the stuff. Great for grip, not so great for advancing years.

High concentration alcohol, often called IPA or rubbing alcohol tends to remove the sticky aspect of the material. One can also use products such as Goo-Gone™ but that leaves its own residue, requiring IPA to complete the task.

Depending on the construction of the item, you'll have no cushioning effect remaining, or only a slight amount once the stickiness is gone. It's likely that once you remove the current stickiness, it will not return. That's been my experience with the digital multimeter and one other instrument, after about four years.

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    My experience is that not every cushioned plastic/rubber grip will do this, but you can't really tell which ones will; I assume it depends on the chemistry of the plastic. Very old Apple laptop power cords had this problem with the white rubber insulation; new ones don't (for many years now), but they otherwise feel the same. Commented yesterday
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    Note: IPA is not "high concentration" exactly -- it's isopropyl alcohol (different from ethanol / ethyl alcohol for drinking), and when sold as rubbing alcohol it's usually between 70% and 90% (anything in there works fine for cleaning.) Here's an existing answer from retrocomputing, with advice for a similar situation with plastic/rubber computer parts: retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/questions/24069/… Commented yesterday

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