Catalin
can be cleaned and polished without fear of damage like Bakelite.
You can wash and clean it with any good household cleaner such as
ammonia, "409" etc. After it is clean & dry you can sand and polish
Catalin as you would a fine piece of hardwood as Catalin consist of
the same material all the way through. I would not recommend sanding
it unless it is badly scratched and scuffed unless you plan on
spending a great deal of time with it. If you do take on this task
you must have the proper sanding materials on hand such as the
"Micro-Mesh" sanding system. With wood you only have to go down to
about 600 grit but with Catalin that's about where you would start
and end with 6000 grit or higher.
After cleaning and (if necessary
sanding) , I use a polish called
"Blue Magic"
it's a metal polish and you can usually find it in auto parts stores
or I can supply it if you can't find it locally
The original "Alabaster" (marbleized
white) Catalin color will have oxidized to "Butterscotch" or yellow
in color, so if you sand and polish enough you will bring back this
original color but it will not stay, it will revert back to
"Butterscotch" in time. Some of the other colors will have also
iodized as well, for example a green color may actually be blue once
cleaned and polished or blue may oxidized to green. I once had a
dark yellow case that became lavender after cleaning and polishing.
Bakelite
is another matter, Catalin is a thermoset resin that is cold poured
into moulds and baked at a low temperature and hand finished when
cured. Bakelite although it consists of the same raw materials but
has a filler of sawdust, asbestos or other fibrous material. When
manufactured, it is heated and injected into steel molds at high
temperature and great pressure. This process results in the high
gloss finish that collects on the outer surface of the Bakelite
case. This finish however is very thin and can be dissolved with
alkali and ammoniated cleaners. It can also be rubbed away with
polishing, so care must be taken to preserve the finish as once it
is gone it cannot be restored to it's original gloss. If the case is
waxy and greasy you can clean it with paint thinner or cigarette
lighter fluid. DON'T USE ALCOHOL!
I first clean Bakelite with a non
alkali, non ammoniated cleaner like "Earth Wise" dishwashing liquid,
it's a biodegradable with no alkali's or ammonia. After it is
cleaned I use a product called
"Magnolia Glayzit" is a polish originally designed to polish
Bakelite telephones, I can also supply this product.
|
