Spent a whole day on a stuck shutter curtain from an old Pentax K1000

A customer brought in a K1000 with a shutter that wouldn't fire at all. I figured it was a simple gear or spring issue, but it turned out a tiny piece of old foam light seal had turned to sticky goo and jammed the first curtain's track. Cleaning that gunk out without damaging the thin curtain material was a nightmare. Has anyone else found a good solvent for that specific kind of old foam mess?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_thomas16h ago

Honestly that sounds like a real pain. Try using a tiny bit of lighter fluid on a cotton swab. It cuts through that old sticky foam without hurting the curtain fabric.

the_christopher5h ago

My buddy Mark had the EXACT same problem with his car's headliner. He spent a whole weekend trying every cleaner under the sun. Finally, his dad told him to use a dab of lighter fluid on a rag, just like you said. Mark was totally freaked out about it, but it worked like magic. The old glue just wiped right off and the fabric was perfectly fine. He still talks about how wild it is that it works so well.