Felt grips on tripod legs, stick stuffy and won't come off!

[gamezone07 23]

HI

 

I borrowed a very good tripod from a friend, when i went to take it back, i noticed there was some sort of sticky substance(no not that) on the felt grips on the tripod legs. So, two questions, given i have no idea what the substance is, and it seems to have ingrained itself into the felt, can i clean it off, i have tried a steam cleaner which didn't work, or can you replace the felt grips on the legs? they must get worn over time anyway.

 

update, its a pretty expensive one.

Edited August 19, 2017 by gamezone07

[mickey finn 12]

Depending on the diameter of the tubes you could try cycle shops, you can get black sponge foam tubing that usually fits over the handlebars.

This is the sort of stuff I was referring to.

Edited August 19, 2017 by mickey finn

[medusa 16]

Sticky Stuff Remover is fairly gentle on fabrics, so you could always try that:

 

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/8976/Sticky-Stuff-Glue-Residue-and-Oil-Remover-250ml

 

WD40 also removes glue residue, but I can't claim knowledge of whether it would leave the felt intact. Either of them could also leave an oily residue on the felt, which you could possibly wash off.

[steve68 66]

Lighter fuel might do it.

[mickey finn 12]

The sticky stuff remover that medusa linked to is pretty good stuff, I have used it before and it worked a treat, the stuff I used was from the Betterware catalogue.

For the replacement sleeves try Park Cameras, they do leg wraps but they are not cheap, in fact loads of photography places sell them in all sorts of colours, mind you they are not really essential things so the tripod might look fine without them once its cleaned.

[doom bringer 10]

I tried all sorts on sticky stuff left behind by camo tape on kit nothing worked but a bit of petrol on a rag removed it in seconds .. test a small area .

 

failing that tripod legcoats or leg wraps could be a option https://www.amazon.co.uk/OP-TECH-Tripod-Leg-Wraps/dp/B0001TST9O