I just bought a 10 button touch tone phone on eBay..... a beautiful aqua blue.
I don't know if the people I got it from sanded it or what.... but the finish on the case and the handset is really dull.
this is a 1966 500 set.
what can I use to bring back the shine ?
I have had NO luck with any polishes I have tried.
what will make it nice and shiny again ?
thanks for your help.
Novus II.
Here it is in one eBay listing. Lot of suppliers on line or from local plastic stores, stores that sell plastic things.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Novus-Plastic-Polish-2-64oz-/380924350800
Search the forum for novus and you will get many hits as to how to use it and what it does.
Another alternative (if you don't want to wait for Novus to be delivered) is Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. To this day, I have not even used Novus, I find Meguiar's is just about the same, and is almost half the price. I get mine from the auto care section at Walmart.
Quote from: TelePlay on November 02, 2016, 05:23:09 PM
Novus II.
Here it is in one eBay listing. Lot of suppliers on line or from local plastic stores, stores that sell plastic things.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Novus-Plastic-Polish-2-64oz-/380924350800
Search the forum for novus and you will get many hits as to how to use it and what it does.
Thanks but that is way more than I need.... does it come in a smaller size... and is it available in stores ?
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on November 02, 2016, 08:14:07 PM
Another alternative (if you don't want to wait for Novus to be delivered) is Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. To this day, I have not even used Novus, I find Meguiar's is just about the same, and is almost half the price. I get mine from the auto care section at Walmart.
This looks like a better idea to me.... I would rather get it at walmart. I hope it's not some hugh size though.... I only have one phone I want to use this on.
at least for now. lol
thanks alot.
Quote from: LoveOldPhones on November 02, 2016, 08:17:08 PM
Thanks but that is way more than I need.... does it come in a smaller size... and is it available in stores ?
It comes in 2oz bottles. Check out your local motor cycle dealership, company that sells plexiglass, hardware stores, boat stores, etc. Any place that sells something that has plastic or plexiglass on their products.
You can never have enough but here is that the small bottles sell for on eBay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Novus-plastic-polish-2-2oz-bottle-/391491152210
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on November 02, 2016, 08:14:07 PM
Another alternative (if you don't want to wait for Novus to be delivered) is Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. To this day, I have not even used Novus, I find Meguiar's is just about the same, and is almost half the price. I get mine from the auto care section at Walmart.
Thanks for that Christian...I'm running low on Novis 2.... I'll try your suggestion
It is a larger bottle, but they also sell the same product in much smaller bottles for headlight restoration and scratch removal. There are other companies that make products for those same purposes; anything along those lines should work, and they all are sold at Walmart.
Be careful; many products are marketed as 'polish', like Nu Finish, but it's just a wax. If the instructions basically tell you to just 'wipe on, wipe off', avoid it for what you want to do.
You might want to get the bigger bottle. It's surprising how much polish you end up using on one phone!
GREAT ! thanks everyone.... I will get both and see which one works better. Like I said... I need it for one phone.
Quote from: LoveOldPhones on November 02, 2016, 08:50:18 PM
GREAT ! thanks everyone.... I will get both and see which one works better. Like I said... I need it for one phone.
Yeah, I've heard that before... "one phone"
Then you get telephoneitis.....
I've just been using my Peek metal polish for plastics, used it for a nice, well, nicer (still got scratches in it), finish on my Pioneer PL-400 turntable lid, with a few more polishes I'm sure I'd get it nice and scratch-free... :)
Doesn't seem to do well on soft plastic, that or the phone I tried had suffered mould or solvent splashes in its lifetime (it's a black 500, so only noticeable up close), but for the most part, hard plastics come up nicely so long as the scratches are superficial and not gouges... :)
Quote from: Pourme on November 02, 2016, 09:09:41 PM
Yeah, I've heard that before... "one phone"
Then you get telephoneitis.....
HAHAHAHA ! well.... it is for one phone. I never have bought a phone that didn't have a nice high polish on it.... but this one I just got doesn't.... its very dull.
but... i know what you mean by that telephone disease. I have it..... just trying very hard not to be stupid about it. lol
Quote from: LoveOldPhones on November 02, 2016, 11:05:26 PM
HAHAHAHA ! well.... it is for one phone. I never have bought a phone that didn't have a nice high polish on it.... but this one I just got doesn't.... its very dull.
but... i know what you mean by that telephone disease. I have it..... just trying very hard not to be stupid about it. lol
We aren't stupid...we just selectively accumulate... ;D
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on November 02, 2016, 11:16:17 PM
We aren't stupid...we just selectively accumulate... ;D
well... in my case.... I could get REAL stupid about it. there are alot I see I would like to have. I don't have that many because I won't allow myself but there are still one or two I would LOVE to have. I guess I'll worry about that when they show up..... IF they show up.
but I am weak.... and if the ones I want can be had.... well.... I'll cave.
till then.... I am trying not to be too stupid about about this telephone disease. LOL
Quote from: LoveOldPhones on November 03, 2016, 02:16:32 AM
well... in my case.... I could get REAL stupid about it. there are alot I see I would like to have. I don't have that many because I won't allow myself but there are still one or two I would LOVE to have. I guess I'll worry about that when they show up..... IF they show up.
but I am weak.... and if the ones I want can be had.... well.... I'll cave.
till then.... I am trying not to be too stupid about about this telephone disease. LOL
I feel the same way....as I sit here, at my desk...not my phone room.....with 23 (
polished) phones (i just counted them) close enough I could spit on them...(but I won't)
I use T-Cut (sold as a car body color restorer) or 'Brasso' (which I suspect is a very similar composition) to polish plastic phone cases. It's very slightly abrasive, but not much. If the scratches are deep I sand them out first using progressively finer grades of paper, then the polish.
I tried Brasso on plastic once, but it was vastly too abrasive for me. Definitely use car polish instead.
Bought some Meguires today. Any time I can buy something local instead of ordering online I'm all for it. Initial tests look good!
Thanks Christian!
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on November 03, 2016, 08:29:58 PM
I tried Brasso on plastic once, but it was vastly too abrasive for me. Definitely use car polish instead.
Really depends on what you want to polish. Brasso works well on Bakelite and Pot Metal, other metals and some original black painted surfaces, BB or Japaned.
Would never use Brasso on either ABS or soft plastic, but, then, I'd never use Novus on Bakelite.
Wonder if anyone has ever graded polishes the same way sand paper is graded, by cutting power or grit? That would be useful, along with watching or listing the other "strong" ingredients so as to not end up with dissolved plastics.
I may be wrong but I would think most members into polishing have tried everything and settle on something they feel comfortable with using. In other words, that's how I got to about 20 different polishing products on my dungeon shelf.
Quote from: Pourme on November 03, 2016, 08:39:34 PM
Bought some Meguires today. Any time I can buy something local instead of ordering online I'm all for it. Initial tests look good!
Thanks Christian!
Hey, no problem!
Quote from: TelePlay on November 03, 2016, 08:53:11 PMWonder if anyone has ever graded polishes the same way sand paper is graded, by cutting power or grit?
Like, Novus 1, Novus 2, Novus 3, etc.? ;D
3 for heavy scratches, 2 for shine, 1 for finish... :)
Quote from: twocvbloke on November 03, 2016, 09:05:43 PM
Like, Novus 1, Novus 2, Novus 3, etc.? ;D
3 for heavy scratches, 2 for shine, 1 for finish... :)
I think he means the same grit standard that sandpaper makers use (2000 grit, 800 grit, etc).
Whyle we are on the subject. My original order of Novis contained Novis 1, 2, and 3. I have had success with 2 & 3, but I have yet to have any success at all using Novis 1. I have tried spraying it on the plastic and on the cloth. It always seems to dull the finish, not increase the gloss.
Does anyone have positive results? If so how do you use it?
Quote from: Pourme on November 04, 2016, 09:21:58 AM
Whyle we are on the subject. My original order of Novis contained Novis 1, 2, and 3. I have had success with 2 & 3, but I have yet to have any success at all using Novis 1. I have tried spraying it on the plastic and on the cloth. It always seems to dull the finish, not increase the gloss.
Does anyone have positive results? If so how do you use it?
Novus 1 is not really a polishing product like 2 or 3, but used as a final finish to cleanse and shine, and to maintain the surface.
You have to use a high quality polishing cloth for No. 1 and use little pressure. If the cloth is too course and not soft enough, it will scratch the plastic.
Although the effect isn't dramatic, it does provide an extra gloss on particularly the softer surfaces of the colored 302 sets, for example, but only if they are well polished already.
Some time ago I checked out Novus 1 and as unbeldi says, it is just a surface cleaner. It is basically 1-5% by weight max isopropyl alcohol in distilled water according to its MSDS data shee (https://www.riogrande.com/Content/Novus-Plastic-Polish-1-MSDS-pdf)t. I make my own. I see it as a liquid which removes the carriers in Novus 2 left on the surface when done polishing. Also works good to get finger prints and dirt off of a CD. It's a mild cleaner and that's it.
so while we are on the subject .... are any of these products good for getting the yellow out ? lol
I have an old princess turquoise touch tone that I got for practically nothing but some very yellowed areas.
The phone works great but looks like hell. lol
i was gonna get started with some sand paper.... but is there any products that will chemically get the yellow out ?
i actually tried straight bleach on a cotton swab to see what would happen.... LOL.. NOTHING happened !
maybe a compound will take it off.
just thought i would ask.... I know there is a whole section here on that.... just wondered what the latest successes were.
at least there is always sand paper.
Thanks
Quote from: LoveOldPhones on November 04, 2016, 01:03:43 PM
so while we are on the subject .... are any of these products good for getting the yellow out ? lol
I have an old princess turquoise touch tone that I got for practically nothing but some very yellowed areas.
The phone works great but looks like hell. lol
i was gonna get started with some sand paper.... but is there any products that will chemically get the yellow out ?
i actually tried straight bleach on a cotton swab to see what would happen.... LOL.. NOTHING happened !
maybe a compound will take it off.
just thought i would ask.... I know there is a whole section here on that.... just wondered what the latest successes were.
at least there is always sand paper.
Thanks
Oh, this forum is filled with such recipes and examples.
Only for example, read here: http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10094.msg107351#msg107351
Your idea about bleach already went in the right direction, but the second component of that is 'time', it takes a while. The yellowing is not *on* the surface, but goes just a few molecular layers deep, enough that it takes some time to let the plastic soak properly.
Quote from: unbeldi on November 04, 2016, 01:14:33 PM
Oh, this forum is filled with such recipes and examples.
Only for example, read here: http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10094.msg107351#msg107351
Your idea about bleach already went in the right direction, but the second component of that is 'time', it takes a while. The yellowing is not *on* the surface, but goes just a few molecular layers deep, enough that it takes some time to let the plastic soak properly.
you know... I thought bleach was SOOO strong that it would take the yellow off right away. lol I was surprised that nothing happened.
I guess it will thru soaking though.
I'm going to start with sandpaper to get things going.... so I am off to home depot now.
Quote from: LoveOldPhones on November 04, 2016, 01:50:57 PM
you know... I thought bleach was SOOO strong that it would take the yellow off right away. lol I was surprised that nothing happened.
I guess it will thru soaking though.
I'm going to start with sandpaper to get things going.... so I am off to home depot now.
You don't use the bleach concentrated. I mix standard Clorox about 1:3 with water. I believe it was described in that post.
But it has to be strong nevertheless. If you look up the Retro-Brite (or Bright?) method, they use even stronger oxidants, concentrated H
2O
2.
Quote from: unbeldi on November 04, 2016, 05:21:02 PM
You don't use the bleach concentrated. I mix standard Clorox about 1:3 with water. I believe it was described in that post.
But it has to be strong nevertheless. If you look up the Retro-Brite (or Bright?) method, they use even stronger oxidants, concentrated H2O2.
yes I know you don't use bleach concentrated. I wanted to see what happen when I did it though... so I put some on a q tip and rubbed a spot under the
cap of the handset where it was yellowed. and like I said.... nothing happened. I thought it would eat up that one spot but it did nothing.
i rinsed it off and that was all i did.
i was curious.
anyway.... I never did get to home depot to get sandpaper. so I am doing it today.
I realize this is going a bit off topic but it is related and there is just so much stuff already on the forum about many different ways to restore a phone with respect to color changes and polishing.
Instead of bleach for some colors, I use the hair salon developer (peroxide) at the 30 vol strength.
Just did a '59 pink 500 shell this morning. Cleaned with soapy water, dried, put it into a plastic bag with about 2/3 of developer, smooshed it around the housing and put it into the sun. about 10 minutes a side re-smooshing the peroxide on the plastic each time I rotated the housing 90 degrees. Washed off the peroxide it the housing looks NOS.
Went from a salmon red to orange to a light pink in one treatment. This before and after photo taken in poor light does not show the change well. Took the housing out into bright indirect sun light and it looks marvelous. Just saying, it's an alternative to lightening some dark colors.
When doing the bleach method, after few hours in the sun, do you remove the housing from the mixture overnight & put it back in the next sunlight, or just it in the mixture overnight?
Quote from: Pourme on November 05, 2016, 06:07:22 PM
When doing the bleach method, after few hours in the sun, do you remove the housing from the mixture overnight & put it back in the next sunlight, or just it in the mixture overnight?
If you mean chlorine bleach as in Clorox, there is no sun light involved that I know of. A large bucket of bleach water would be hard to expose to sun light. You just leave the plastic part in for the period of time needed to lighten the plastic (check it every half hour or so and leave it in until happy with the results, rinse it off and dry.
If you mean peroxide to "bleach" or lighten plastic, you put the already cleaned and sanded (defects removed) into a 2 gallon zip lock bag and add the peroxide. Move the wet insides of the bag all over the phone to make sure the developer covers the phone. Then place the bag in direct sunlight rotating the bag every 10 minutes and when rotating, move the wet insides all over the phone to make sure their are no hot spots or dry spots (to prevent mottling of the color). Put the phone down in direct sun light 90 degrees from its previous position for 10 minutes and then repeat this step. Do this as long as it takes to get the color lightening you want. No need to over do it but if you take it out too soon, you have to do this a second time.
When it is the color you want, take it out of the bag, rinse it off with soapy water, rinse off the soap and dry. Then polish it as needed.
It has been discussed and experimented with in other topics. Peroxide without sunlight (UV rays) does not work very well, if at all. Some time ago, I put two handset caps in a small bag and let it sit in room light, not direct sun light. Nothing happened over 6 hours. I then put the bag in sun light and I remember seeing bubbles forming which was the UV sun light breaking down the peroxide into water and ozone gas which somehow chemically "bleaches" the plastic, lightens it. This is, IIRC, the consensus of all that was posted on the peroxide treatment. Retrobrite is a similar peroxide process but it was found that stabilized hair salon developer (peroxide) worked about the same. Stabilized developer is made so that the peroxide does not break down on its own as soon as the bottle is open. If you buy hydrogen peroxide at a drug store, as soon as you open it the whole bottle starts to break down to water and ozone, ozone which escapes and can be smelled with opening the bottle leaving ozone flavored water. The salon developer I used today was first opened in February 2015 and it was still fine.
The Clairol Pure White Developer 30 Volume has a shelf life of 3 years. Volume refers to the percentage of peroxide in the creme solution. You find 20, 30 and 40 volume developers and they are increasing concentrations of peroxide. 20vol is 6% peroxide, 30 vol is 9% peroxide and 40 vol is 12%. This comes from a hair salon site. They explain it with respect to lightening hair, or in other words, the Volume number to them describes how many 'levels' of lightening that will be achieved with the developer: 20vol is around 2 levels of lightness; 30vol is around 3-4 levels of lightness; and 40vol is around 6 levels of lightness.
So, I chose 30, not too hot, not too cold but just right. Since you can see the phone in the developer each time you smoosh it around the phone using the clear bag, you can see the color change each 10 minutes. So, rather than waste my money on 20 which might be too weak or buy 40 and find out it works to fast leaving mottled surface color, I went with 30 which seems to work just fine for me.
So, that's the story of hair salon developer that I researched over many topics and replies before trying it for myself. It may or may not work for you. This is not an endorsement. It is just a description of what I do, what it does for me and what I use to get the job done. All of this is posted in part all over this board:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?board=23.0
You can buy hair developer creme at any Sally Beauty Salon store (don't need a license to buy their stuff - there may be other such stores in your area - Sally is the one in my area that lets anyone buy anything).
==============================================
EDIT: Added 5/24/17 for posterity:Quote
QUESTION,
"Do you use the 30% liquid peroxide or the 30% cream peroxide?? I got a bottle of 40% cream this week and I don't know if I need to go back and get 30% liquid or if the 40% cream can be thinned and diluted??
"The Clairol Pure White Developer 30 Volume has a shelf life of 3 years. Volume refers to the percentage of peroxide in the creme solution. You find 20, 30 and 40 volume developers and they are increasing concentrations of peroxide."
That's what I bought a couple of years ago so I some unopened bottles that have a year left on the shelf life. I bought two 40s and two 30s. I don't use it enough to be "familiar" with enough with exactly which to use and for how long but what I have done is use 30 right out of the bottle in a 2 gallon zip lock bag. I put the housing in the bag, pour in a quarter cup of developer, zip the bag closed with most of the air out of it and then smoosh the developer all around the housing. Put it in sun light and re-smoosh and rotate it in the sun every 5 to 10 minutes (to prevent hot spots and over exposure to any one side). Be careful not to have the ears on a 500 in the sun all of the time since that leads to overexposure of the tips and over color changing them.
When each side is looks good, I pull it out and rinse it off. If it needs more, it goes back into the bag with a bit more fresh developer and repeat the process. It needs sun light. I tried it in room light and the peroxide did not do anything.
The following is from this reply of mine: http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=17038.msg175932#msg175932
"The Clairol Pure White Developer 30 Volume has a shelf life of 3 years. Volume refers to the percentage of peroxide in the creme solution. You find 20, 30 and 40 volume developers and they are increasing concentrations of peroxide.
20vol is 6% peroxide, 30 vol is 9% peroxide and 40 vol is 12%. This comes from a hair salon site. They explain it with respect to lightening hair, or in other words, the Volume number to them describes how many 'levels' of lightening that will be achieved with the developer: 20vol is around 2 levels of lightness; 30vol is around 3-4 levels of lightness; and 40vol is around 6 levels of lightness.
So, I chose 30, not too hot, not too cold but just right. Since you can see the phone in the developer each time you smoosh it around the phone using the clear bag, you can see the color change each 10 minutes. So, rather than waste my money on 20 which might be too weak or buy 40 and find out it works to fast leaving mottled surface color, I went with 30 which seems to work just fine for me.
So, that's the story of hair salon developer that I researched over many topics and replies before trying it for myself. It may or may not work for you. This is not an endorsement. It is just a description of what I do, what it does for me and what I use to get the job done. All of this is posted in part all over this board:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?board=23.0
You can buy hair developer creme at any Sally Beauty Salon store (don't need a license to buy their stuff - there may be other such stores in your area - Sally is the one in my area that lets anyone buy anything)."
And, finally, I suppose if the shelf life was nearing it's end, putting the "old" developer in a glass bowl and adding liquid peroxide to it and mixing it thoroughly before dumping it into the bag would work fine (see last paragraph). The salon developer is a creme made to be a cream and to keep the peroxide from breaking down. Putting the correct amount of liquid peroxide into the "old" cream to add 2% peroxide to the "old" creme should work just fine. The whole point about the creme is having the peroxide in a vehicle which sticks to the plastic, to not run off as a liquid would do. I suppose one could make a pint of thick water using corn starch and then add the liquid peroxide just before use and get the same result but I haven't tried that so don't know what the corn starch would do the the peroxide. I suppose, putting a drop of liquid on a small pile of peroxide would show if it reacts and kills the peroxide. If the liquid only wet the starch, that would work.
As for thinner, water would work, and corn starch thickened water would work better. To get Vol 40 which is 12% peroxide down to Vol 2 which is 6%, it would take a quarter cup of developer and a quarter cup of water. Plain water may thin the creme too much. You can take 40 down to 30 by mixing a quarter cup with and 1/8 cup of water and that should not dilute the 40 too much.
In hind sight, I'd go with 30 since 40 may be a "too fast acting" creme and harder to control the results. I don't have any liquid peroxide in the house or I'd try it with corn starch to see if it reacts. As you may know, if you cook, to thicken water with corn starch, you mix the corn starch with cold water and then heat it to a boil. When at boiling you can add more cold water with corn starch in it to thicken the hot stuff or plain water to thin it. Keep in mind the boiled corn starch will get thicken when cooled. If peroxide can be mixed in starch water, I'd shoot for a starched water that is about the consistency of the cream. Liquid peroxide is 3% and you can not heat it without destroying the peroxide. So, even Vol 20 has twice the peroxide as the liquid unless the creme is really degraded, adding liquid to one of the cremes would only reduce the percentage of peroxide. However, using 3% liquid to dilute Vol 40 down would work to get it to Vol 30. So, 1/3 cup of liquid plus 2/3 cup of Vol 40 would give you a thinner creme at 9%, Vol 30. If you used water, that ratio would take it down to Vol 20 or 6% but the water could be thickened with starch (is starch does not react with peroxide).
Doing research as I write to answer my questions as they come to mind. Found this at a hair salon stylist site: "Gel color and thin bleach users should try using pure white cornstarch to thicken up their mixes 1 tablespoon at a time for foil applications, it guarantees zero foil travel." so corn starch would work. I put a quarter sized spot of 30 VOL in a glass bowl and added about 1/8 teaspoon of Argo Corn Starch. Got no fizzing reaction so it seems the peroxide was not degraded. I did notice the starch thickened the creme. So, adding water to dilute and starch to thicken (may not need to be boiled - dilute the Vol 40 to Vol 30 and then add starch until the creme is what you want). I got to try that next time I have a colored housing to process.
So, 3/4 cup of Vol 40 mixed with 1/4 cup of water (or 3/8 cup Vol 40 mixed with 1/8 cup of water for a half cup of mixed solution) and corn starch added to get a desired thickness would give you a workable Vol 30, right? If it was old Vol 40, you could use liquid 3% peroxide but not knowing how degraded the Vol 40 was, all you could say is the mixture would be less than Vol 40.
Hope than answers your question.
Late night chemistry. Some of what I wrote at the end may contradict earlier thoughts so the later stuff should be more correct. I'm going to add this to the linked reply so I don't have to re-invent the wheel next time I need to know this."
Quote from: Pourme on November 05, 2016, 06:07:22 PM
When doing the bleach method, after few hours in the sun, do you remove the housing from the mixture overnight & put it back in the next sunlight, or just it in the mixture overnight?
I've always bleached plastics in the sun in a dishpan and it works much better in the sun, or that's been my experience. Yes, take the plastics out of the bleach overnight. I rinse them with plain water and then dry them with a towel. Summer sun works better too. It's almost too late for doing it now in NC.
I soaked it in a bleach mixture today for a few hours, no effect. I could use the peroxide John described, above tomorrow.
Quote from: jsowers on November 05, 2016, 10:18:47 PM
I've always bleached plastics in the sun in a dishpan and it works much better in the sun, or that's been my experience. Yes, take the plastics out of the bleach overnight. I rinse them with plain water and then dry them with a towel. Summer sun works better too. It's almost too late for doing it now in NC.
Makes sense. It's the UV rays working with the chlorine that affects the molecules on the surface and near surface of the plastic. There was a discussion of this somewhere on the forum. Plastic color is due to absorption of certain wavelengths. Those that are not absorbed by the plastic are reflected and that is the color you see. Over time, a darkening plastic would be absorbing more of the spectrum or different parts if the color was also changing. Peroxide or bleach affect the molecular structure of the plastic to, in this case, reflect more light (all light is white, no light is black - that's why black gets hot in the sun faster than white).
One can also sand off that top, damaged layer and get the same effect, with a lot more work.
Never thought of a dish pan (a pail came to mine), but that means you have to do it from what, 10 am to 2 pm to get the high sun into the pan? If so, that would be the time during which the sun's help would be the highest. I know bleach has worked for many, just settled on peroxide. Your sun in NC now is about as hot as it gets in mid summer up north here.
I have some of the peroxide you mentioned but it is "40"... should I not use it?...We have a Sally's I could get 30, easily
BTW John,
I used you method on the handset cord today!
That is genius! The cord came out like new..
Quote from: Pourme on November 05, 2016, 11:52:05 PM
BTW John,
I used you method on the handset cord today!
That is genius! The cord came out like new..
Wow, that's great, but keep in mind that it was Dan/Panther who came up with the idea, ingredients and formula. I'm still waiting for my red dyekem to arrive, by next week end, and I should be ready to do the cord by then.
What did you use to hold the red liquid, how much formula did you make?
===========================
As for 40vol, you can use if but keep an eye on it, smoosh it more often (every 5 minutes) and rotate it after smooshing. Or, you could dilute it with distilled water with 3 parts 40vol to 1 part water (that would drop the 12% to 9%) or 3/4 cup of 40vol and 1/4 cup water. Mix it outside the bag just before putting it into the bag.
Never used 40vol, IIRC most members used 20Vol. I found 30vol works great. So, in a 2 gallon zip lock freezer bag, place the clean housing, mix the developer, dump it in, seal the bag, smoosh it all over the housing and put it in the sun. Re-smoosh and turn every 10 minutes. At least, that's the procedure I used.
===========================
I realize this topic has taken several forks but everything is related and so intertwined that there is no way to split out the polish vs the chemical treatment so it will stay as is. I think it's a good tutorial, a summation, of what's been posted years ago for newer members. The large topic of wet paper sanding (of defects or to eliminate color changes), chemical sanding, chemical polishing, polishing with various polishing products and adjusting the color of the plastic by bleach or peroxide or Retrobrite are all tools that are part of the same step of telephone restoration, rejuvenating the housing and handset condition and color.
Quote from: TelePlay on November 06, 2016, 01:34:41 AM
Wow, that's great, but keep in mind that it was Dan/Panther who came up with the idea, ingredients and formula. I'm still waiting for my red dyekem to arrive, by next week end, and I should be ready to do the cord by then.
What did you use to hold the red liquid, how much formula did you make?
===========================
As for 40vol, you can use if but keep an eye on it, smoosh it more often (every 5 minutes) and rotate it after smooshing. Or, you could dilute it with distilled water with 3 parts 40vol to 1 part water (that would drop the 12% to 9%) or 3/4 cup of 40vol and 1/4 cup water. Mix it outside the bag just before putting it into the bag.
Never used 40vol, IIRC most members used 20Vol. I found 30vol works great. So, in a 2 gallon zip lock freezer bag, place the clean housing, mix the developer, dump it in, seal the bag, smoosh it all over the housing and put it in the sun. Re-smoosh and turn every 10 minutes. At least, that's the procedure I used.
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I realize this topic has taken several forks but everything is related and so intertwined that there is no way to split out the polish vs the chemical treatment so it will stay as is. I think it's a good tutorial, a summation, of what's been posted years ago for newer members. The large topic of wet paper sanding (of defects or to eliminate color changes), chemical sanding, chemical polishing, polishing with various polishing products and adjusting the color of the plastic by bleach or peroxide or Retrobrite are all tools that are part of the same step of telephone restoration, rejuvenating the housing and handset condition and color.
First, my apologies to Dan/Panther. My mistake. This is a truly amazing process! I visited a local flea market yesterday looking for possibly a few glass soup bowls to use, as I didn't want to reuse them for anything else. I came across a set of three stainless steel bowls for $2, perfect! Having already purchased the ingredients I began. I put a cheap tarp on my lower gravel driveway. I divided the thinner in half and added a teaspoon of red layout fluid and stirred. I added the handset cord and mixed it around periodically to ensure evenness as I checked for color. It took about 20 minutes to get the color right, as compared to the ends of the cord that were protected from the fade.
The only other ingredient I would add would be the two jiggers of rum and 12 oz of my favorite soft drink over ice.
I couldn't help but smile even laugh out loud at the results. (Could have been the rum?)
As I was cleaning up, I had a idea. What if I put a white Modular plug cord in this mixture? Could I create a pink line cord? Long story short, The vinyl sheathing is less porous and I left it in overnight and got a lighter results, but pink never the less.
I will use my 40% and add water as you suggest on the plastics, today. I'll report back. There are scratches on the body, someone scrapped stickers off at some point, so I will have to do some sanding. I don't want to have to sand every crevice to balance the color.