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what polish to use ?

Started by LoveOldPhones, November 02, 2016, 05:15:56 PM

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andy1702

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.
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WEBellSystemChristian

I tried Brasso on plastic once, but it was vastly too abrasive for me. Definitely use car polish instead.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

Pourme

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!
Benny

Panasonic 308/616 Magicjack service

TelePlay

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.

WEBellSystemChristian

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!
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

twocvbloke

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... :)

WEBellSystemChristian

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).
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

Pourme

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?
Benny

Panasonic 308/616 Magicjack service

unbeldi

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.

TelePlay

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 sheet. 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.

LoveOldPhones

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

unbeldi

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.

LoveOldPhones

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.

unbeldi

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 H2O2.

LoveOldPhones

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.