Nothing to Envy, but, at Least It's Green!

[Jester]

Jorge,
If what I had on mine is Polane, it should work for you, too.  Be careful in the corners and around the nameplates--I was afraid alot of rubbing under the lift would wear off the "BELL SYSTEM..." badge, so I erred on the side of caution there.  To remove the paint over the lettering, I laid my soaked rag over it for a few seconds to dampen the paint, then scrubbed the area with a soft bristle toothbrush.  If nothing moved, I'd resoak I try again.  I got the majority of the paint out of the letters this way, then sanded the paint out of the open corners in the bottom of the block.  I still have some thin lines of stubborn paint left in the corners of the cradle, so I'm going to try jsowers' suggestion & see if denatured alcohol will remove it.  I thought of trying it before I thought of the lacquer thinner, but didn't think it would be potent enough.

[jsowers]

Denatured Alcohol may be a bit less potent than lacquer thinner, but just be forewarned that it does dissolve soft plastic. I've used it to hide small cracks without gluing them, but they don't "stay" very well. You do have to polish afterwards and you may have to sand a little. It does eat into the plastic. You might want to try it on something you don't mind damaging first. I would hate it if it made your phone look worse.

Denatured Alcohol is great on hard plastic, however. It removes lots of grime and paint spots.  It's also great to use on cords to get off grime. It doesn't leave any residue and normally I don't have to polish hard plastic once I use it. Just don't use it on a painted phone, unless you want to take off the paint.

I've also experienced differing potency of Denatured Alcohol. There is some that won't work very well. It seems diluted. I get mine at the local mom and pop hardware store--in a metal can with an orange label, but I forget the brand. We have a Tru Value hardware store in Lexington called Lanier's that's been in business since 1949 with the same family owning it. Mr. & Mrs. Lanier (Ardell and Edna) just retired last year at 90 and 92. Their children run it now. That store has everything.

[JorgeAmely]

Jonathan:

Just wanted to add to your observations about thinners and alcohols

Acetone is excellent for fixing cracks on ABS phones.

It is not very good on soft plastic though. Joints can be fixed with acetone, but it causes gases to be released from the soft plastic as it hardens and then you end up with gas bubbles in the joint.

Acetone can be used to fix broken Lucite finger wheels. I use a small syringe and a needle to dispense minute amounts into the cracks.

[jsowers]

Thanks, Jorge. I've never used any Acetone, but I've read about its use as a cleaner for old radio parts in old radio "hints and kinks" from years ago. I'll have to go see if Mom and Pop have it. Also, I liked your use of the signature line, so I did the same since my first name isn't spelled out in my username.