Discolored vinyl handset cords

[bingster]

Sometimes you see pink WE 500 telephones that have cords which have whitened over time.  Has anybody tried to do anything about that?  Is the condition something that's on the surface that can be scrubbed off with a mild abrasive cleaner, or is it a deep fading of the vinyl?

[Dennis Markham]

Bingster, my experience has been that they've faded deep within the vinyl.  I would love to find a way to bring the color back on the line cords and handset cords.

[bingster]

Thanks, Dennis.  That helps me with my purchasing decision for today.

[Dan/Panther]

I have tried several methods of coloring white handset cords to make pink.
Hot water with food color, fabric dye, only one method so far has worked.
I took a pan and poured a small can of red Dye-Kem into it. Placed the whitewire into the Dye-Kem. Let it set for a few minutes. I then removed the wire from the Dye-Kem, and rinsed it off  in a clean pan of Dye-Kem solvent. The results was a very nice pink color.
I'm waiting to see if the chemicals make the cord brittle. I plan to soak with "Son of a Gun", or "Armoral".
I'll report back with a photo if it works.
The picture below is a test on phone company line wire. It's not completely even colored but shows potential.
D/P

[Dan]

Brilliant Dan! I missed out on a couple NOS pink cords on ebay. My pink is perfect, but with the faded cord syndrome.

Where do you buy this Dye-Kem and solvent , how big was the can ?

Buy the way, I heard from an auto restorer that there was a HUGE difference between Armoral  and Son of a Gun. He said Armoral will make leather and plastic brittle over time, while Son of a Gun will not. He only uses SOAG on his  pricey collector cars interiors.

I am going to try your cord treatment too.

[Dan/Panther]

I had a couple cans for years, you can search google for it and buy on line.
Get a large can of dye and solvent. Enough to submerge the cord, then after a few moments rinse in the solvent.
Experiment on scrap wire first.

SOAG seems better.
D/P