Buttons and joys: What shouldn't I clean?

[pointdablame]

I just finished ripping out the controls on my Tekken 3 machine.  They will be going into my soon-to-get-started bartop.  Problem is: they are a mess!!

Is there anything I shouldn't give a good cleaning to for fear of damage?  It seems obvious not to submerge the microswitches, but can I wipe them carefully with a damp rag?

Buttons: My guess is not to clean the buttons springs but the button and nut are fine to clean, no?

Joys:  Is there something I shouldn't clean.  The base is all plastic, so I can't see what would get hurt there, but should I not clean the shaft... can water get trapped between the metal shaft and plastic (resin?) bat top?

I'm pretty sure this is all obvious, but figured I'd ask anyway.  I can't see how cleaning the plastic parts can hurt any... the only thing I'm questioning is the Joystick shafts.  

Thanks!

[mattv]

Probably the key thing is not imerse the microswitches in water (and even that isn't the end of the world, most of the time they dry out OK)

Remember that most of this gear was designed to have some punk kid pour his super dooper XL soda down into the control panel, so the worst you can do to it with soapy water and a toothbrush will seem like a day at the beach by comparison.

Just make sure you dry off all the metal bits afterwards to prevent any rusting (and those are mostly galvanised or nickle plated too so really you don't even have to bother with that)

If you got really carried away you could probably put it through the dishwasher without any ill effects. But the toothbrush + soapy water is probably a better idea