Scruffy Plug Sockets?

Spender£

Although i don't have any electrical problems i have been searching for ways to make my existing paint and scratch covered plug sockets look better and cleaner, i found some screwless face plates but i'm pretty sure they still need wiring in, i would replace them myself but my electrical knowledge ends after wiring a plug. 
Anyone know if any covers are available that could go over the top or failing that what would a sparky charge to replace these with new face plates?

tacpot12

You can clean your existing sockets. A flat-bladed screwdriver makes a good scrapper to remove paint, and bamboo skewers are the great for getting into the nooks and crannies like the switch recess and the screw holes. Turn the power off to the sockets at the fuseboard/consumer until and you can then use a plastic scouring pad to remove the dirt and paint. Wipe dry with a old towel and you will have saved quite a bit. 

An electrician will charge a minimum of £60 (closer to £120 in London) to come to your house for an hour, and will do 10-12 sockets an hour providing they can get to the sockets easily - you would have to move anything that is in front of a socket for them to work at that sort of speed. If they have to more your stuff out of the way, the speed drops to 3-4 an hour.

FreeBear

That looks like quite an old socket - If it was installed any time before say 1980, the screws could be 4BA. Modern sockets (back boxes to be precise) use M3.5 screws which are ever so slightly smaller. If the electrician retains the old screws, it shouldn't be a problem.

As for cleaning them up, a sponge with a squirt or two of Cilt Bang works wonders - Do turn off the power first though.