GPO 232 - Bakelite restoration advice needed

[Fennec]

Hello, forum members.

I have finished electrical restoration of a GPO 232 / 26 bellset combo. Works like a charm, however aesthetically it needs some help.

Flash amplifies the flaws, in normal light it is not as bad, but you get the idea. Bellset base, and especially handset have a dull, brownish apprentice  . Body however, did polish a bit better, and has a deeper color, closer to proper black. All three parts of the phone have received a light acetone cleaning, and I hand-rubbed with Brasso - not too vigorously...

Would you have any ideas on how to bring the bellset, and especially handset to their proper shiny black finish?

Advice/pointers would be appreciated.

[unbeldi]

The brownish tint is likeky from phenol alcohols that form on the surface from exposure to moisture.  When using a metal cleaner the brown stuff comes off fairly easily leaving your cleaning cloth yellow to brown.  Acetone might also get some of that off, but it also might form new alcohols. Fortunately acetone evaporates off very quickly.
I am not so sure that treatment with acetone is much help, but sure it will remove fatty or oily substances and such.
Often the brown deposits seem to be embedded into tiny surface pockets and are hard to get out.
I have just kept polishing them down.

I think an excellent polish for Bakelite, after thorough cleaning, is black shoe polish, not the liquid kind, but the paste type.  I use the KIWI brand with great success, and it seems to work better when it is dried out a bit to make it harder.  The deep black color of it does wonders for brownish even pocketed surfaces. Unfortunately, I don't think I have any pictures of that, but handsets that I thought were too far gone, looked amazingly nice after intense treatments.

Other's have used various kinds of waxes for polishing, I have a chunk that someone gave me which to me appears to be some kind of bee wax. It is yellow.