Exterior cleaning question

[rrent]

what is the best way to clean the face of vintage electronics? Is there a safe product to clean the face (while not being concerned about cleaning the lettering, right, off of it)? A style of cleaning? What do professionals use?

 

[MannyE]

Start with a damp cotton cloth.

A damp cotton cloth removes 95% of all grime.

If you want to clean the knobs, pull them off and use a soft toothbrush with some mild soap. Same for the face, if after you've gone over it with only water it's still dirty, up he ante to a little mild soap with very light pressure. That gets 99% of all grime in my experience.

 

[Frank Sol]

as Manny said... easy does it

use a lot of Q-Tips

diluted simple green works

 

[MannyE]

Yes! Thanks for the reminder. Simple Green is a safe and powerful cleaner.

 

[Ds2000]

Non ammoniated glass cleaner is a pretty good bet.

 

[justin_r_23]

I just used a “magic eraser” (with water/diluted dish soap from a spray bottle) on the aluminum face plate of a Concept 2.5 and it did really well! Went gently and managed not to take the silk screening off.

 

[MannyE]

I just used a “magic eraser” (with water/diluted dish soap from a spray bottle) on the aluminum face plate of a Concept 2.5 and it did really well! Went gently and managed not to take the silk screening off.

I generally find that water and a terrycloth cleans 90% of dirt without harming the silk screening. Even on record album covers! A Magic Eraser would scare me, but it's good to know it worked. Did you work up to the Magic Eraser, or did you just go in with that first?

 

[justin_r_23]

Kind of worked up to it. My first passes were with vinegar-based Windex and moist 90% alcohol wipes, but I was still left with tar residue. The magic eraser really did the trick and came away pretty brown.

 

[Fairlane]

These work great. Cuts through tobacco haze easily.

 

[Westy56]

I suck at the electrical refurbs but shine with cosmetics.

The first step is to blow off dust followed by a damp towel to blot off the residual.
The whole intent is not to cause scratches from the abrasive dirt particles..
Once you get rid of the grit and dust you can safely use whatever product works best with your finish.

 

[sanford12]

Goop hand cleaner eats through tobacco residue with just a cotton cloth and won't bother the lettering a bit. The non pumice version of course.

 

[tarior]

I use ammonia water. Works great, doesn't remove silkscreened lettering. If I get one (face plate) that is super grimy, I take it to the kitchen sink, hose it down with ammonia water, then wash it with soft sponge and rinse it with water. Comes out squeaky clean and sparkling. Knobs go in the ultrasound tank.