GPO 8756 Chemical Strip - Before/After Pics

[FABphones]

I bought this 'Ivory' 8756 well over 10 years ago. It was this same colour when I bought it but I never got around to doing anything about it. Since making my new phone display unit this 'tan' phone has stood out like a sore thumb (I collect Black, Ivory, Grey).

Thanks to the chemical sanding thread on this site I have found a technique that I am happy with to remove the discolouration and restore the original colour. First tried out on one of my S63's, for this phone I adapted as follows:

Step 1: CLEAN the phone thoroughly (this one looked clean to begin with but it wasnt clean enough)
Step 2: Briskly rub small areas at a time with Acetone. Moving to a clean (lint free) cloth area regulalrly
Step 3: Briskly rub as above with Acetone/Meths mixture (75% / 25%)
Step 4: T-Cut in the same way - small areas, clean cloth
Step 5: Polish well with Polishing Paste #5

I did this by hand as I forgot I bought myself a polishing tool, ah well, next time... 
No longer will the kids look at the phones and ask why have I got a yellow one when I don't collect yellow. 

Photos below, before, during:

[FABphones]

And here are before and after pics side by side after final polish:

[kleenax]

And here are before and after pics side by side after final polish:

Great job!  Did you also clean the (original) handset cord, or replace it with new?

[FABphones]

Thanks, yes I forgot to mention the handset cord. I kept the original as it is in good condition. It just got a good rub over with anti-bac wipes, and twisted back into shape where it had previously been looped back on itself.

Mr F (ex-BT) says next time I need to add more elbow grease to my T-Cut.  Charming!   

[HarrySmith]

Nice! Great job on it, looks like new!

[twocvbloke]

Nice job there, looks like new...

Mr F (ex-BT) says next time I need to add more elbow grease to my T-Cut.  Charming!   

You just need to tell him to lead by example, see how many phones you can get him to polish up before he realises he's being used as slave labour... 

[Hotline]

That looks like a great restoration job, well done!

[andy1702]

Looks like the acetone treatment worked quite well. There's definitely a knack to the buffing and you seem to have got it. Did you use just acetone or did you cut it with anything? I use acetoen neat at first, but that leaves a rough surface. So i then go over it again with an acetone and methylated spirit mix, which is a bit more gentle and brings back the smooth surface. It can leave a bit of a bloom though, but the T-cut soon shifts that.