I picked up a badly faded white '64 WECO 500 set a while back and I was wondering if anyone had an actual tested process of bleaching phone parts with chlorine bleach.
I have searched the forum, but found no real useful information on the topic. I would try the peroxide method but have yet to find the required materials in any of the local stores.
-Andrew
There are actually many posts in this forum that deal with that subject matter.
See for example here for a restoration of an ivory set using Clorox bleach.
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10094.msg107351#msg107351
Oh wow... I guess I didn't search the right key words.
Thanks
The search function only seems to search from the directory you are currently in, and down the chain from there. I almost always start my searches at the root (top) of the directory chain "Classic Rotary Phones Forum", and yes, that topic has been discussed a lot. :)
The Peroxide hair bleach I use is available at Sally's beauty supply which is a nationwide chain. I use "Salon Care" brand. I prefer the crème type as it stays in place better.
Quote from: Phonesrfun on November 11, 2014, 04:34:38 PM
The search function only seems to search from the directory you are currently in, and down the chain from there. I almost always start my searches at the root (top) of the directory chain "Classic Rotary Phones Forum", . . .
Just did a test of the search function. Place a very unique string of characters, "wwxxyyzz," in one of my posts and went to several other boards, child boards and topics under those boards (not in the board in which the string was placed) to start the search. The search found this string each and every time I tried so I'd say the search function searches the entire forum regardless of where the search is begun.
The "advanced" search functions do give one the ability to search any one or a combination of boards and child boards to narrow down a search for a common term. If you go into the advanced section of the search, you will notice that all of the forum boards come up checked. That seems to be the default search as discovered in my test above.
One thing that still puzzles me is that sometimes a search is limited to 30 hits and other times I get pages of hits. Haven't figured that one out yet.
Quote from: TelePlay on November 12, 2014, 09:51:18 PM
Quote from: Phonesrfun on November 11, 2014, 04:34:38 PM
The search function only seems to search from the directory you are currently in, and down the chain from there. I almost always start my searches at the root (top) of the directory chain "Classic Rotary Phones Forum", . . .
Just did a test of the search function. Place a very unique string of characters, "wwxxyyzz," in one of my posts and went to several other boards, child boards and topics under those boards (not in the board in which the string was placed) to start the search. The search found this string each and every time I tried so I'd say the search function searches the entire forum regardless of where the search is begun.
The "advanced" search functions do give one the ability to search any one or a combination of boards and child boards to narrow down a search for a common term. If you go into the advanced section of the search, you will notice that all of the forum boards come up checked. That seems to be the default search as discovered in my test above.
One thing that still puzzles me is that sometimes a search is limited to 30 hits and other times I get pages of hits. Haven't figured that one out yet.
I think it's a similar reason as when the posting with too many pictures attached often crashes, or never completes.
The PHP subsystem may have its php.ini misconfigured for the size of the forum. The database tuning should probably be checked too.
Is bleaching ABS housings a no no? I've not found any mention of that and have only seen postings about bleaching the soft plastic. I took a severely discolored Ivory 500 housing from 1979 and dipped it in a strong bleach solution overnight to have it come out blotchy. The bottom of the housing around the edges is back to original color while there's still cow patches of yellow over the plastic.
This was my first attempt at restoring color and I wanna get this right before I go to work on my pink 1967 1500.
You can use the Retrobright process on most yellowed plastics, just have to be careful with some colours as it could end up taking the colour away with it too...
Straight bleach will just ruin things though, as bleach just pretty much only does two things, turns stains white (they never actually go away) and discolours dyes...
Quote from: GusHerb on January 12, 2015, 06:54:46 PM
Is bleaching ABS housings a no no? I've not found any mention of that and have only seen postings about bleaching the soft plastic. I took a severely discolored Ivory 500 housing from 1979 and dipped it in a strong bleach solution overnight to have it come out blotchy. The bottom of the housing around the edges is back to original color while there's still cow patches of yellow over the plastic.
This was my first attempt at restoring color and I wanna get this right before I go to work on my pink 1967 1500.
Did you carefully scrub & clean the plastic first?
Blotchiness is a sign of having dirt, oils, fingerprints, etc. on the surface.
The type of plastic should not matter really. I think people here only bother with these techniques because Tenite phones are considered valuable, more collectible.
I don't know what you mean with "strong" solution, but on these delicate old colors one should always dilute the oxidants. For chlorine bleach I dilute approx. 50:50 to 30:70 bleach:water.
Quote from: twocvbloke on January 12, 2015, 07:04:30 PM
You can use the Retrobright process on most yellowed plastics, just have to be careful with some colours as it could end up taking the colour away with it too...
Straight bleach will just ruin things though, as bleach just pretty much only does two things, turns stains white (they never actually go away) and discolours dyes...
?
I have to disagree. It does the same in terms of chemistry as the peroxide treatments.
If there are "stains", peroxide does the exactly the same to them as does bleach, it destroys the pigments only, it does not remove the substances from the plastic.
Time for some bedtime reading then:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=37808
Where the Retrobright process came to fruition.... :)
I have found the Peroxide treatment works best on White & Ivory phones. I use a product made for hair, SalonCare crème formula either 20 or 40. That is the percentage of peroxide used. The crème sticks better, I have found getting an even application and even exposure to UV light is paramount to getting a uniform appearance. This product is available at Sally's Beauty Supply, stores nationwide and online. Good Luck!
Quote from: unbeldi on January 12, 2015, 07:14:47 PM
Quote from: GusHerb on January 12, 2015, 06:54:46 PM
Is bleaching ABS housings a no no? I've not found any mention of that and have only seen postings about bleaching the soft plastic. I took a severely discolored Ivory 500 housing from 1979 and dipped it in a strong bleach solution overnight to have it come out blotchy. The bottom of the housing around the edges is back to original color while there's still cow patches of yellow over the plastic.
This was my first attempt at restoring color and I wanna get this right before I go to work on my pink 1967 1500.
Did you carefully scrub & clean the plastic first?
Blotchiness is a sign of having dirt, oils, fingerprints, etc. on the surface.
The type of plastic should not matter really. I think people here only bother with these techniques because Tenite phones are considered valuable, more collectible.
I don't know what you mean with "strong" solution, but on these delicate old colors one should always dilute the oxidants. For chlorine bleach I dilute approx. 50:50 to 30:70 bleach:water.
I scrubbed it the first time around, and again the next time around. The blotchiness is in an odd pattern that doesn't really indicate that there was dirt on the housing, I'll have to post a picture. Interestingly, when I bleached it the first time the top 1/2" of the handset cradle stuck out of the solution so it didn't get bleached, the second time I used a deeper bowl and let it soak again 5 hours and that staining on the top of the cradle bleached right out while the rest of the housing that is "blotchy" remained that way and didn't bleach any further.
I really didn't go terribly strong with the bleach, about 20:80 - 30:70 bleach/water.
Quote from: GusHerb on January 13, 2015, 12:46:19 AM
Quote from: unbeldi on January 12, 2015, 07:14:47 PM
Quote from: GusHerb on January 12, 2015, 06:54:46 PM
Is bleaching ABS housings a no no? I've not found any mention of that and have only seen postings about bleaching the soft plastic. I took a severely discolored Ivory 500 housing from 1979 and dipped it in a strong bleach solution overnight to have it come out blotchy. The bottom of the housing around the edges is back to original color while there's still cow patches of yellow over the plastic.
This was my first attempt at restoring color and I wanna get this right before I go to work on my pink 1967 1500.
Did you carefully scrub & clean the plastic first?
Blotchiness is a sign of having dirt, oils, fingerprints, etc. on the surface.
The type of plastic should not matter really. I think people here only bother with these techniques because Tenite phones are considered valuable, more collectible.
I don't know what you mean with "strong" solution, but on these delicate old colors one should always dilute the oxidants. For chlorine bleach I dilute approx. 50:50 to 30:70 bleach:water.
I scrubbed it the first time around, and again the next time around. The blotchiness is in an odd pattern that doesn't really indicate that there was dirt on the housing, I'll have to post a picture. Interestingly, when I bleached it the first time the top 1/2" of the handset cradle stuck out of the solution so it didn't get bleached, the second time I used a deeper bowl and let it soak again 5 hours and that staining on the top of the cradle bleached right out while the rest of the housing that is "blotchy" remained that way and didn't bleach any further.
I really didn't go terribly strong with the bleach, about 20:80 - 30:70 bleach/water.
I have seen plastics that developed "odd" looking patterns of different color intensity on the surface. IIRC, somewhere on this forum someone may have observed something similar. The patterns can be quite regularly repeating in general terms. I believe them related to surface stresses. It is well known that material stress can have certain symmetry and that stress manifests itself in optical properties. I think these kinds of patterns disappear with sanding, therefore they are only surface phenomena.
When I have used bleach, usually I don't have an entire housing submerged either, some portion is usually sticking out and it's easy to follow progress by looking at the boundary and flip the piece every so often to even out the difference. The solution should also be stirred periodically as concentration gradients can build up.
Here's some pics. As you can see it bleached well along the bottom. What you said makes sense though.
I think I would have continued bleaching, but judging by pictures is hard.
Seems odd that there are a couple of streaks that look they bleached better, almost as if a stream of liquid ran down there.
Bleaching with Chlorox is definitely not as potent as peroxide, it does take longer.
This phone (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10094.msg107351#msg107351) took at least 20 hours in the solution.
Quote from: unbeldi on January 13, 2015, 01:53:43 PM
I think I would have continued bleaching, but judging by pictures is hard.
Seems odd that there are a couple of streaks that look they bleached better, almost as if a stream of liquid ran down there.
Bleaching with Chlorox is definitely not as potent as peroxide, it does take longer.
This phone (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10094.msg107351#msg107351) took at least 20 hours in the solution.
Hmm perhaps I should try sticking it in again, but all in all that housing spent about a total of 15 hours soaking. I would've expected to see even results by that point. Interestingly enough where those lighter lines are the outline of the ribs on the inside of the housing .
Quote from: unbeldi on November 11, 2014, 04:15:03 PM
There are actually many posts in this forum that deal with that subject matter.
See for example here for a restoration of an ivory set using Clorox bleach.
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10094.msg107351#msg107351 (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10094.msg107351#msg107351)
Here's another using the retrobrite process.
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=1146.0 (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=1146.0)
What you show in your pictures looks like what I got before I started using the creme formula. I figured it was from uneven application and exposure. Follow Unbeldi's advice, turn frequently and keep the solution mixed. That should yield better results.
Quote from: GusHerb on January 12, 2015, 06:54:46 PM
Is bleaching ABS housings a no no? I've not found any mention of that and have only seen postings about bleaching the soft plastic. I took a severely discolored Ivory 500 housing from 1979 and dipped it in a strong bleach solution overnight to have it come out blotchy. The bottom of the housing around the edges is back to original color while there's still cow patches of yellow over the plastic.
This was my first attempt at restoring color and I wanna get this right before I go to work on my pink 1967 1500.
Two different things here. Chemical restoration of yellowed white phones is a different method and process from restoring colored phones. White phones may take several applications to restore them to white. I used the retrobrite process with success, but it took 4 applications.
Bleaching colored phones has not worked well. Forum member Phonesrfun tried bleaching on a blue phone without success (I can't find the thread, it's here somewhere). Instead, see this thread (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=4658.0) about a product called White Magic that worked well restoring a turquoise AE90. I have not yet used it on a colored phone, but it worked well when I tried it on a white receiver cap. Problem is it's not found in the US, only in Canada.