Actually I am lucky (where I live) to have a fully working “bodega” (bar/pub) downstairs at home: fire place, snooker table, bar etc…
So I did not have to take it to the pub as the pub is home 
Are they “crunchy” feeling or are they just stiff and hard to move? Do they jump in volume or crackle when you move them while audio is running through it?
They’re a bit crunchy, they sound fine. I’ve taken it apart and got a lot of dust out of them so they move a lot better now.
If it’s really bad then you can clean them but you will have to re-grease them as well.
I start with Deoxit fader lube F5 (which is actually a cleaner more than lube). I cut the tip to a sharp angle so it fits in better.
Spray it in the fader and then move the fader back and forth 50+ times. This cleans the contact strips and washes some of the debris out of the fader.
This will also make the fader very rough feeling because all of the lubrication will get washed out as well. Though most of the old grease is probably full of dust and dirt since 1996.
Then you need fader grease
It’s best to do this with the front panel off the mixer. Squirt a long strip along the fader track and move it back forth. Some may squish out of the fader housing so it’s good to wipe it up. It’s okay to use a decent amount and just clean up the excess to make sure it’s nice and smooth feeling.
This will actually give the fader some resistance and make it not feel crunchy when it moves. The fader lube F5 cleaner will actually make the fader very rough and sticky so the grease is 100% needed after a cleaning.
If it’s acceptable now though maybe just buy these to have on hand for when it needs it.
Don’t fix it if it isn’t broken.
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Building off @Airyck, here’s another method: using a thick pipe cleaner, fold the end to make a little foot and soak it in isopropyl alcohol, then run it the length of the fader, on both sides of the wiper, until you can’t see any more grime from the top. Clip the end of the pipe cleaner off and make a new foot whenever there’s excess grime on it, at least once per fader. Don’t use excess pressure, you don’t want the core of the pipe cleaner to scratch the resistive elements of the potentiometer.
Fader lube does help if the sliders feel scratchy, but in most cases the smoothness of the slider has to do with where the wiper connects to the body of the slider. This can be remedy with a small amount of thick silicon lubricant (e.g. dow corning #7) placed directly where the wiper meets the slider body.
Important: DO NOT put the lubricant into the slider so it makes contact with the resistive elements, just on the top where the wiper is working mechanically. You don’t need very much, just work the slider back and forth a few times then remove the excess.
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That’s why the fader grease is nice in my opinion. You don’t have to be as precise or careful.
Your method is better in that you are actually precision targeting the issue directly. I would say this is the best way to go about it.
But most people are not patient enough nor do they have the confidence in their skills to do it.
The F5 and grease method is sloppier and messier (and probably not as good) but it’s a little safer for those who have no idea what they are doing 
That’s true, it is time consuming and requires a bit of precision.
I have to do it all the time for work so I guess I’m used to it 
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I think between us we cover all scenarios
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How do you record with the QU? I have the 24 and find that both the QU drive and computer recording come out with a very low volume.
short of de-soldering the sliders, dis-assembling them, cleaning out all the crud, lubing them, re-assembling, and re-soldering
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Haha 
Might as well replace them at that point.
if you can, absolutely. no idea if they’re still available or expensive though.
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do you use simultaneously RME and Pulse in the DAW?
You could always design a new PCB to accommodate a new equivalent fader footprint 
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Haha Might as well design a new mixer at that point.
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Ok so faders are nice and clean now and run reasonably well. I actually started using pipe cleaners before I saw your messages I did consider desoldering for a moment but I saw sense ha
Got to clean up everything else now, faders, top case, switches.
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Yes I do
I’ve got the GS1 reassembled and hooked up to my patchbay and motu828 now. I’ve not run any instruments through it yet, but I ran a quick A/B of the mixer vs ableton with a WIP project (using the tape returns as mix busses), and it sounds pretty good, quite different to the sum mix in ableton even with no EQ applies. I can drive the channels pretty hard and it doesn’t distort, and comes together quite nicely. I’ll run off some renders tomorrow if anyone’s interested.
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What would be the best way to use it as an external effect? What I’m thinkin now is CUE Out OT -> AH -> Mixer. Here however I’m not sure If I should use a stereo return or another channel. Also how do I connect it as an Aux? Could this happen in stereo? I have 2 Aux sends I’m not using but I’m not sure I can imagine it right.
I’m really looking hard at the Xair18 vs the QU-SB; Ideally I’d like a compact mixer that I can flip on for jamming with 4 or 5 synths and I want to then be able to record the synths mutli tracked in to logic without having to re cable everything. It seems like for $1k or under these are the only two options that fit the bill in terms of acting as a standalone mixer (w/app) and 10+ multitarck audio interface. For reference, I currently use a Mackie 1202 but to multitrack I unplug everything and go straight in to a focusrite scarlett 1820. Any thought on the XAir vs Qu-Sb in this use case? Or, to put it another way, any owners of either mixer have pros/cons relative to using it as an audio interface and multitracking?