A way to clean the inside of a coiled handset cord

[TelePlay]

Usually I remove handset cords for cleaning, especially if they need to be recoiled. Sometimes handsets cords are coiled tight and/or don't need to be cleaned.

Was working on a 80 year old phone that had a fat coiled handset cord that was tightly coiled but very dirty inside the coils. Being hard wired on both ends and I did not want the remove the cord, I thought up a way to easily clean the inside of the coils without removing the cord from the phone.

First, I used a cue tip to determine which solvent would easily and quickly remove the thick, old crud (tried these solvents in their order of aggressiveness: soapy water, isopropyl alcohol, denatured alcohol, mineral spirits and finally lacquer thinner which was the only solvent that dissolved the crud and it worked great). Do not use a solvent such as acetone which may dissolve the cordage.

Next, needed a tool to clean the inside of the coil. After trying a few things, I came up with this.

Bought a .40-.45 caliber (0.4 to 0.45 inch diameter) gun cleaning brush and mop at Walmart for $3. The mop when dry is about 5/8" in diameter but compresses nicely to get into the 3/8" handset coils. The compression puts cleaning pressure on the inside of the coils.

Tossed the brass brush in the trash and put the cotton "mop" on the end of a gun cleaning rod. From the handset and, pushed to mop through the cord to the phone's housing.

Placed a piece of flat rubber sheeting (about 2" square) on the housing to protect it from any solvent splash.

Using an eye dropper/pipette, soaked the cotton mop with lacquer thinner. Slowly removed the mop (pulled it back toward the handset) while rotating inside the coils to scrub them with the solvent.

Added a bit more solvent every 5-6 inches to keep the mop wet (putting a "drip pan" under the cord keeps the solvent off of the workbench) until the mop was fully removed from the coiled handset.

Once removed, used a paper towel to dry the mop (removed solvent and crud from the mop).

With just one cleaning, the previously crudded up coil was quite clean. A second or even third cleaning could be fine for really stubborn crud or having a solvent that does not easily dissolves the crud (smoker's residue comes off with lacquer thinner).

Took about 10 minutes from start to finish. The long mop compressed inside the coil kept good continuous pressure on the inside coil, unlike a bristle type brush which has less surface contact and does not hold solvent. This method worked really well and avoided the need to remove the cord from the handset and phone base.

And, yes, this method could also be used to clean the inside of a coiled cord that has been removed from the phone and handset.

Note: The exterior of the coiled cord can be cleaned with a brush and cloth towel using whatever cleaning solvent needed. I would clean the exterior before doing the interior.

[jsowers]

I've always had good results with denatured alcohol and a paper towel. I always remove the cord from the phone and start cleaning in the middle so I can preserve the direction the cord is wound. I pull half the cord through the paper towel with denatured alcohol on it and the cord may kink, but I wind it back going the same direction as the other half after it's clean. Then I clean the other half the same way and wind it back. It doesn't take very long.

Denatured alcohol gets off paint spots really well and all the grime. I've cleaned many, many 1950s-era handset cords this way with no problems.

One other thing--make sure you put the cord back in the handset correctly so you don't have an "innie" or an "outie." The strain relief needs to look like how it came from the factory.

I sometimes put the same cords on a dowel and put them on my car dashboard on a paper towel in the sun to recoil them. That also works well for me. There are more complicated solutions, but I like the simple ones best.

[leejor]

I've put the newer, plastic ones (not rubber) in the dishwasher, top rack. Isopropanol (91%) works wonders getting off paint and other "major" gunk, then in with that nights dishes.
If it is loosing it's shape, loosely coil it around a metal or silicone straw before putting it in. Not too tight or the inside won't get cleaned.