Help! Was cleaning a Northern Electric 500 and this happened

[CanadianPhone]

Hi Everyone, I need some help. I do not have any experience with rotary phones.
I was cleaning a red rotary phone (my first time). I noticed very little flaking on the handset where it looked like a very thin top layer of plastic was coming off, revealing a brighter newer red underneath. I thought it was years of grease buildup. So I put the handset in some hotwater and dish soap, and then when I took it out, this happened: 



It looks like soap scum, but its not, its the very thin top layer of plastic, except this time it turned white. How do I fix this? You can see in some sections the white comes out with my finger nail, but most of it doesn't. Thanks

[TelePlay]

I've had that happen with other colors as well, including black. The water oxidizes something in the outer layer.

The white "bloom" should come off easily using Novus 3 and then Novus 2 plastic polish. At least it did for me.

I don't know why that happens. Each batch of plastic is different to get the right color and strength. One of the plastics components they used in that batch was chemically reactive to water.

It's a rare event, I've only seen it a few times, but it can be removed and once removed, keep it away from water.

[CanadianPhone]

Thank you! I will try that. Sanding is not required, correct?

[TelePlay]

Sanding is not required, correct?

It shouldn't be but only you with the item in hand will be able to make that call.

If the white residue is resistant to Novus 3, you could try wet sandpaper. Start with 2,000 and if that doesn't work, go down the grit scale,: 1,500, then 1,000, then 800.

You should see good sanding results on this white residue before getting to 800. Going below 800 will leave sanding marks that will take some effort to remove.

Whatever grit sandpaper you use, work your way back up to 2,000 and then use Novus 3 and then 2.

What ever sandpaper grit you end up using, then work your way back up to 2,000 and then use Novus 3 and Novus 2 to get rid of any sanding marks.


There is a lot of information on different sanding tips and techniques in this board:

https://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?board=24.0

[Kellogg Kitt]

White Bloom:

I have had this happen a few times, usually because I foolishly used strong ammonia, but also once or twice from merely immersing in water with dishwashing liquid.

For this problem, I concur with TelePlay on the use of Novus, although I have never had to resort to Novus 3.  A good scrub with Novus 2 followed by polishing with Novus 1 did the trick.  Don't be discouraged if it does not come off instantly.  Sometimes, a little bit of rubbing is necessary.

Flaking with similar (or different) color underneath:

In my example here, pink handset had a rough, chalky surface that started flaking off when I immersed it to clean it for the first time.  At first, the layer underneath looked brighter and newer (like yours), but more scrubbing then revealed that some of the plastic was not pink at all!

I scrubbed hard with a Scotchbrite (abrasive) pad and a microfiber cloth.  I scrubbed away the flaky layers, but stopped when I got to good paint.  The "good" layer was not readily flaking, but it would come off with hard scrubbing, so I stopped scrubbing there.  The hard scrubbing left some rough surfaces, which were smoothed out with Novus 2.

The handset appears to be part pink and part beige or uncolored plastic, with 2 or 3 coats of pink paint on top.  My 3 scratch mark inside the transmitter cup show that part of the handset is actually is pink plastic.

So, depending on what you have underneath, you might get a very good result by scrubbing away the dull, flaky layer, or you may get something unexpected.  Novus and/or sanding can help with surface troubles, but if the plastic itself is not even the right color, there is not much you can do about that.

[MMikeJBenN27]

I had a red Kellogg 354 that did that.  Used lots of Armor-All to fix it.

Mike

[TelePlay]

I forgot to say that I also ran into this problem restoring the color of a phone using my acetone method. After the discolored plastic was removed, the "white bloom" would appear as the acetone mixture evaporated.

Had a black housing that developed "white bloom" after letting it soak for a half hour in warm water and Simple Green soap.

The "white bloom" is a chemical reaction of something within the plastic itself to the liquid applied to the surface and can not be predicted, no two plastic formulation are really the same.


There is a related problem out there called "white mold" which develops over time if the phone is kept in a damp environment. The image attached is a good example of that (looks different than the "White bloom") and there are several topics on the forum which you can find by using the search function for "white mold". In this image, you see that only the bezel had been affected. The plastic formula of the bezel if in some way different than the housing and something in the bezel formulation was more susceptible to having "white mold" grow.

The image below was taken from this topic: 

https://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=4098.0

The "white bloom" is a chemical reaction, the "white mold" is a growth on the plastic.

[Western Bell]

Thank you! I will try that.

How's the work coming? What have you done and what were the results?

[CanadianPhone]

How's the work coming? What have you done and what were the results?

Happy to say I restored it and it looks new again! All I used was Novus 3 and then Novus 2. Couldn't be happier with the results!