Cleaning a 500 phone.

[AET]

Hi guys, I bought two more 500-style phones today.  I was wondering what is best for polishing these things up? 

[Dan]

I always take the handset caps and the housing and throw it in the dishwasher. I don't do this with the little plastic ring that fits around the dial (it shrinks). I always also pop off the fingerwheel (if plastic )and throw that in too. The handset piece that holds the plungers in can be unscrewed and thrown too, along with the plungers. If you have an old tenite plastic one with the little orange dates on the housing and the inside of the caps, use caution because I get paranoid the dates will wash off. I put a little piece of scotch tape over the dates first. Sometimes the tape comes off, but I have never had a date wash off this way.

I never let the plastic parts go through the dry cycle, I take them out wet and towel them off. I use good ole' turtle wax next. If the phone still has scratches, I use a little Novus 2 or auto rubbing compound too.

Fot the cords, a little fantastic or 409 works great to get the grime off.

For the feet--if leather, a little soap (mild dish or ivory) dipped on a qtip rubbed in and washed off gets the dirt off the leather nicely. If plastic feet, the 409 works well.

If you want to go nuts and get the brass bells nice, simichrome or brasso polish works well. There also maybe brass cord holders that get brilliant once you rub with this . The nut that holds on the finger wheel is also brass usually and cleans up nicely (even though you can't see it).

The picassa pictures on this site under this link

http://picasaweb.google.com/Amelyenator ( dead link 03-09-21 )

are amazing.This guy knows how to make his phones look like show cars! I don't have that much time, my phones end up  like good "drivers."

[AET]

Wow, this was a world of help.  I will have to do this with the next ones I buy.  I was in a rush, (lady friend calling) so I put a coat of turtle wax on each one (I'm a car guy, what can I say) and they shined up very nicely. Luckily, these phones are all fairly clean.