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Old 24th Nov 2015, 1:20 pm   #1
Dickie
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Default Cleaning textured bakelite

I've started today restoring an Ekco M23 and stripped the cabinet for cleaning. It is in a filthy condition so I'd thought I would start with a quick wash down with well-diluted Flash. Inevitably it's covered in spots of white emulsion paint which are easy to remove from the shiny surfaces but not from the textured panels on the sides and top. So I went at them with a toothbrush. This worked OK but I noticed I was removing something brown-coloured as well. Alarm bells went off and I rinsed all the Flash off and started again with Fairy liquid. With the same result. Am I likely to be taking some of the surface off or is it just years of muck built up into the texture? Any other thoughts? Clearly I don't want to be soaking it for any length of time.
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Old 24th Nov 2015, 1:29 pm   #2
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Default Re: Cleaning textured bakelite

Yes, beware detergents, warm water and Bakelite. It IS something you're taking out of the surface.

When I did one of these, I used Greygate Polishing Paste No 5 (Baykobrite or however it's spelled) and a stiff nail brush with excellent results. This will remove grime as well as polish the Bakelite.

Finish with wax if the result is too dull (which it might be after a going over with Flash).

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Old 24th Nov 2015, 2:47 pm   #3
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Default Re: Cleaning textured bakelite

Thanks Nick, I guessed as much. I've got a nice new tube of "Paste Polishing No. 5" just waiting to be squeezed. It's a complicated cabinet, much more of a job than a routine DAC90.
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Old 24th Nov 2015, 5:01 pm   #4
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Default Re: Cleaning textured bakelite

Personally I think that the Flash etc is just removing years of brown polish and various other such products that have been applied over the past 80 years. Of course, that 'diagnosis' is purely based on your explanation. If I saw the effect myself and was able to 'wield that brush', it may lead me to think otherwise. But I've never experienced nor heard of Bakelite 'scrubbing off' like that. Bakelite is pretty stable stuff and although you can take off the surface polish with too vigorous an approach, you can just as easily polish it back on again - the smooth variant of course. No, I think it's years of gunge. Just my view. I would have used Servisol Foam Cleanser 30 and the toothbrush, that cleans just about anything, and rarely ruins anything - apart from weakly applied panel legends - as I know to my detriment..
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Old 24th Nov 2015, 5:11 pm   #5
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Default Re: Cleaning textured bakelite

Try an experiment on a scrap cabinet. Polish a section with GG No.5. Hopefully it will gleam. Then plunge it into hot soapy water for a few minutes and scrub it. The water will turn brown and the Bakelite will look dull and lifeless, even after drying and a re-polish with GG No. 5.

Well that's my experience from dealing with Bakelite clocks and radios when I was a teenager before I knew better.

I suspect you're right in many instances though. Not all Bakelite is the same, it would seem.

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Old 24th Nov 2015, 5:18 pm   #6
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Default Re: Cleaning textured bakelite

The brown stuff is probably tar from smoking, my black A22 shed quite a lot when cleaning.
 
Old 24th Nov 2015, 5:24 pm   #7
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Default Re: Cleaning textured bakelite

The trouble is that the brown stuff continues to come off indefinitely the more you scrub/soak, and the Bakelite seems to become pale and bleached-looking as the brown substance is liberated. The only "cure" then seems to be wood stain and coloured shoe polish.

I agree that cigarette tar does attach itself to radio cabinets though. I often clean woodies with foaming cleaner, and it fizzes and turns brown/yellow as it dissolves the gunge.

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Old 24th Nov 2015, 9:13 pm   #8
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Default Re: Cleaning textured bakelite

I have experienced this in the past too, the worst was a brown DAC90a that I shoved in the sink and scrubbed with Flash, the water went brown, and the more I scrubbed the more brown stuff came off! The cabinet once dried off looked something similar to a lump of dried mud... Took ages to get any sort of shine back on it, and it's a good few shades lighter than another brown DAC90a that I have.

These days I only wash out the insides of cabinets quickly with nothing more than handwash type soaps, and very little of it, and only if it really needs it. As for the outside of the cabinet, I use a selection of products, Greygate No.5, T-cut, Brasso/Silvo, and I've even used Liberon burnishing cream. Brasso I find quite good for textured cabinets, as it comes on it's own wadding so you don't make holes in your rags!

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Old 25th Nov 2015, 2:15 pm   #9
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Default Re: Cleaning textured bakelite

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lloyd 1985 View Post
...Brasso I find quite good for textured cabinets, as it comes on it's own wadding so you don't make holes in your rags!
Not quite true, to clarify, in its normal guise 'Brasso' is a liquid metal polish and is sold in that form, ie a liquid. There's also a 'Brasso metal polish wadding for brass etc - Duraglit' that is basically the old 'Duraglit' product (wadding soaked in Brasso) now sold under the Brasso brand name. The original Duraglit came in an orange tin, then the name was used in small letters at the bottom of the Brasso wadding tin, and now I don't think they use the Duraglit name on the tin at all. But it's still Duraglit to most people!
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Old 25th Nov 2015, 10:52 pm   #10
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Default Re: Cleaning textured bakelite

Thanks to all re polishing bakelite. I had a painted door handle and escuteon, and although hot water softened the paint to remove it, it also dulled the Bakelite finish.
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Old 26th Nov 2015, 11:35 am   #11
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Default Re: Cleaning textured bakelite

Well I have tried Nick's method in post #2 and it turned out a little more involved. The polishing paste when scrubbed well-in removed all the muck, paint, and polished it up, but I then found it impossible to remove the paste residue from the textured surface. No amount of buffing or dry brushing had any effect. Under an eyeglass the residue looked like a mixture of wax polish and sand in all the crevices. So I took a deep breath and treated it to a brushing with warm water and Fairy liquid. Warm water alone did nothing. This proved effective and when dry the surface was quite acceptable. A good application of shoe polish finished the job.

Next time I think I will try something with the abrasive and polishing qualities of polishing paste no.5 but without the wax content. Maybe T-cut. Hopefully that might be a bit easier to clean off without resorting to washing.
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Old 26th Nov 2015, 11:50 am   #12
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Default Re: Cleaning textured bakelite

Glad you got there in the end, Richard.

I had a different experience to you - mine came up nicely with nothing more than the Greygate polish and a nailbrush.

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Old 26th Nov 2015, 2:18 pm   #13
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Default Re: Cleaning textured bakelite

Perhaps nailbrushes ain't what they used to be
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Old 26th Nov 2015, 4:16 pm   #14
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Default Re: Cleaning textured bakelite

Have you tried Servisol Foam Cleanser 30? It'll pretty much clean anything without damaging it - weakly applied legends excepted. It's an exotic blend of alcohol and other agents that fizz and foam up on application, and 'chicken fat' is quickly removed using the missus' toothbrush (she won't know it goes back so clean..). Seriously, I swear by it having used it for decades. Even if it doesn't clean up perfect after one application, a second one will get it. But on the subject of cleaning really grotty Bakelite in general, I've found that it is inevitable to have to use some form of 'colourant' or dye after all the fag tar and chicken fat have been removed. This can be shoe polish or Scratch Cover Polish, followed by a good buffing using a silicon based polish such as Mr Sheen - not wax based ones - that are partly (wholly even) the cause of the problem in the first place.
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