Too hasty
As is one of my faults, I was once again a little too hasty:
Having removed off all the grime from the playfield I noticed that there were two particular parts on the playfield where the ball had created small grooves in the playfield which appered to be dirty. So I thought I’d clean them up with my Dremel equivalent and the “Polishing Kit Attachment Set”.
Having never done this before I was surpised how easy it was to “burn through” the “diamond plating” and the graphic right down to the bare wood of the playfield:
Cleaning the playfield down to the wood - brilliant!
So after this warning shot, I thought I now understood how to handle the Dremel – light pressure and constant movement. So I tried this on another spot on the playfield. It was certainly better, but I still managed to remove the diamond plate of the playfield!
More damage from the Dremel
After this disaster, I though I’d try something easier, so I turned my attention to the edges of the Mylar. I had already decided that I wasn’t going to remove the Mylar, but I did want to clean it up, as some grime had already forced itself under the edges of the Mylar causing ugly dirt streaks in the playfield:
Dirt under the edges of the Mylar causing ugly streaks
To clean this, I used some Isopropyl Alcohol and a cotton bud and gently rubbed the edge of the Mylar. Capillary action made the alcohol seep under the Mylar where the dirt was and actually drew it out:
Dirt removed from under the Mylar using isopropyl alcohol
Although the adhesive under the Mylar where the dirt had been was long gone (resulting in slightly lifted edges) I decided to leave the edges as they were. This will surely be a dirt trap for the future, but I can easily clean the grime out again at a later date. And if this gets too much, I could simply glue the edge down with Superglue. But not just yet (just in case I decide one day to actually remove the Mylar).