"Problem With Old Rubber/Vinyl Roads" Topic

I recently pulled out a set of old rubber or vinyl roads that I purchased years ago for use in the playtest of a scenario I wish to run for friends. I began setting up a couple units on the table the day before yesterday. The figures are mounted on standard metal washers from the hardware store. About 10 figures were placed on the road. When I picked up a couple of the figures today I discovered 'moisture' on the roads under the washers. I'm not sure if it was some kind of oil bleeding from the road in reaction to the metal washer placed on it or what. Although the room is in the basement it is finished, air conditioned, and dehumidified. The figures on my gaming cloth were fine.
Has anyone experienced this or heard of it? Can anyone offer any solutions or has whatever material used to make the road reached it's "expiration date?" Here's a link to a couple photos of the road in question:

link

Just last week as I was cleaning up some old boxes in the basement I found one filled with those roads and rivers. They were sold by Pat Condray, perhaps the first commercially available roads and rivers. 20 years ago I think. I had packed them with paper towels between and they were still in pretty good shape. They were supposed to have oil in them, and there was some seepage on the paper towels. The roads are still quite flexible but delicate.

Maybe you could cover them with paper towels and leave them for a while.

Hi Bob. My roads and rivers had been stored between layers of old cotton bath towels. I hadn't noticed any oil stains on the towels when I took them out. However…my wife reminded me that those roads and rivers had been stored last year in a Pod for approximately eight months, including all of a typically hot and humid Maryland summer (for a renovation). I wonder if that has something to do with it. Otherwise, the material is just as flexible and colorfast as the day I bought it. My wife wondered if gently rubbing a little alcohol on the roads might 'dry' them out. I'm thinking I need a new set of roads and rivers.

Try sealing one with PVA – brush on a thin coat and it should stay flexible enough when dry. It might not work but – other than a few pence of glue – what have you to lose?

John T

Latex rubber will break down with age and high heat will cause the oil to seep out. Many old halloween masks I made in the late 70's and 80's bit the dust due to high temperatures during storage. Once the oil is gone they will begin to flake apart. It's good you still have them flexible.

You can use rubbing alcohol to remove some of the oils. That might take awy from the life of the rubber. What I normally did, when storing between shooting days was to add baby powder, or talcum powder. It absobs the oil and will keep them from sticking together. Plus you just rinse and pat dry when you are ready to use them.

All this is based on them being latex rubber. They may not be.

Just to be safe, buy some new roads. 😃

Matthew