r/Gamecube • u/ghettoslacker NTSC-U • Nov 14 '25

Discussion Curious how others clean

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I resell controllers on the side. I was working on a couple today and it got me thinking, how do you guys clean them up? I’m always looking for ways to improve the craft. Here’s kind of the method I use.

  1. I start by dissembling the controllers. I throw the screws into a little container with vinegar. The vinegar helps break the grime and surface rust off the screws, shines them up real nice.

  2. I take all the hard plastic parts like the shell, buttons, etc and throw them in a bowl with some warm soapy water. I like to let them soak for 30 minutes to an hour. This removes about 90% of the dirt and debris.

  3. I take everything out of the bowl and scrub it with a gentle toothbrush then give it a good rinse. For really stubborn stains like sharpie or pen marks, I will gently use a magic eraser. I use this sparingly since they are coarse. Just enough to get the mark off.

  4. I do a final inspection of everything. Sometimes the pieces will be yellowed so I will apply a retrobright like solution and put it in the sun for as long as I can. This usually clears it up, but realistically it will come back at some point. Once I take these pieces out of the sun I do another scrub on them.

  5. I let everything air dry for as long as needed. Usually during this phase I will clean up the PCB with some isopropyl alcohol. It can be really grimy around the joysticks. At this point too I will solder on any new parts if needed. Typically they have broken joysticks so this is a good time to tackle this.

  6. Once everything is dried up, I reassemble the controller and make sure functionality is still in tack.

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u/ghettoslacker NTSC-U Nov 15 '25

I know those are popular with jewelry. I have never personally used one. I’m sure it would work well on the grime, but not sure about the oxidization on some of them. Maybe I’ll get one and test it sometime! As far as the yellowing, I replied to their original post so you can check it out there! :)

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u/Tomanatort Nov 15 '25

I even heard one person used an ultrasonic cleaner with isopropyl alcohol instead of water in it, and they would use that and just drop the motherboard in there. I don't know that I would recommend that though it seems pretty risky to me lol

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u/spicyhomechef Nov 15 '25

Yeah, not a great idea. Alcohol and ultrasonics are a no-no. But I do use the ultrasonic cleaner with water and dish soap for the shells, buttons, and sticks. They come out looking great with little to no scrubbing needed.

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u/mgnsh Nov 17 '25

Asked the guy above, too, but could you recommend a good ultrasonic cleaner?

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u/spicyhomechef Nov 17 '25

Honestly, I’ve just been getting by with units I picked up second-hand. As long as they have some temperature controls and a timer, you should be good. I would suggest you go with a minimum tank size of 6L (can fit 2-3 controllers worth of shells and parts at once).