Nicotined items - I never thought to ask!!!

Firefox1701

I've bought and sold a lot of these old telephones dating anywhere between the mid 1950s and early 1980s - if anyone wants any tips about either the cosmetics or the electronics, I'll be happy to help if I can. For starters, referring to the nicotine staining problem - obviously due to the sheer age of these phones, unless the phone in question has been kept in a very clean environment and regularly dusted and polished at that, it will inevitably show some signs of discolouration even without nicotine being a factor - just standing in the sunlight alone will discolour the lighter-coloured ones, especially the ivory and yellow colours. Far and away the best thing I've come across is Greygate Plastic Polish, which among other things is used for cleaning aircraft windscreens and is therefore pretty effective! You can buy this in 100ml bottles for less than a tenner ( as always, shop around on the internet ). It may still seem a little expensive for a 100ml bottle, but in my experience it will remove almost anything including nicotine staining - although be prepared to have to go over the phone several times and use a lot of elbow grease, especially if the staining is quite bad. Another alternative I've heard of people using successfully is Duraglit; I haven't tried this myself but I'm told it's also quite effective. I have to say, if you don't have any success with either of these, I don't know of anything else that will clean the phone effectively.

If anyone has anything else they want to know about these phones, please feel free to ask.

SUESMITH_2

we had a white phone and despite both me and husband being rabid non smokers it went yellow - this is due to the plasticisers they used in the plastic

to go back to the ebay issue, if its anything large and cant be washed like a sofa i always ask if it's from a non smoking home cos we just can't abide the smell and i just know it will be impossible to get rid of

soolin

Just a note to point out that this original thread dates back to 2005 before anyone tries to assist the OP.

Firefox1701

Hello,

I did realise that this was an old thread when I posted; however, I know that the problem with these phones being discoloured is an ongoing one, especially for someone who ( like some of the contributors above ) probably just buy one out of the blue rather than handling them on a regular basis, hence I thought I'd post a reply on the offchance that even if it's too late to be of help to the original poster, it might benefit anyone else who happens to come across it.

To reply to Sue Smith directly : as I mentioned in the previous post, you're right, a certain amount of discolouration is always going to be inevitable with these telephones, although it is mostly only surface-deep. Given that, though, the fact that you can buy a huge variety of phones from this era in what is effectively 'pristine' condition ( I own several myself ) demonstrates that they can be effectively cleaned up and restored, both cosmetically and electronically. Of course, this is only true up to a point - a phone that has been systematically abused throughout it's working life is probably beyond help - but I've come across many phones that have looked like they were beyond help and in fact ended up cleaning up quite well. I don't know whether you ever tried the Greygate polish, Sue, but I would recommend it, even for the kind of discolouration you mention - although if it's that bad, do be prepared to have to go over the whole phone several times in order to see results. However, as I mentioned before, if either Greygate or Duraglit don't work, then I can't think of anything else that would; and of course, beyond a certain point you have to ask yourself whether it's worth spending the money on polish or just investing it in a cleaner phone.

By the by, on that note - if anyone else is reading this five years after the original post!! - I would advise extreme caution when purchasing one of these phones, in the sense that it's possible to pay massively over the odds just by going to somewhere that is selling them in pristine condition. Just yesterday I came across a website that was advertising a standard, unremarkable 700 series telephone for over seventy pounds; admittedly it was in 'pristine' condition ( taking the ad at face value ) but then it's quite possible to pick up the exact same phone in the exact same condition for half that price or less, in the same condition. I know - I've done it, several times! When all is said and done, a telephone of that age can only be just so pristine - and I for one have never yet seen one that's seventy pounds'-worth of pristine, or at least not unless it's a very very unusual colour or style.

Just my observations - take them or leave them. As I say, I'll be happy to provide ( free, of course! ) advice for anyone who's either thinking of buying one of these phones or has a problem with one.