Hi All,

A few months ago in the dead of the cold weather, I went on an "urban prospecting" expedition inside an old building that was about to be demolished, and found a few old telephones. Nothing special, no neat key or PBX gear, just some old key phones and a nifty 500 in bright but dusty yellow. I am now in the process of cleaning and bringing the 500 back to life, (it works electronically and mechanically), and the place where I liberated it from was damp. Thankfully the base was not a rust bucket, but the cord near the wall end is stained with what I believe is mold. I scrubbed the cord in the dish washer and by hand, but cannot get the stains out of the vinyl covering. I hate to replace it as it is an original "fat" three wire with both ends intact and has the little closed eyelet on the telephone end to keep it from pulling out.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thank you much,

Joe H

Have you tried:

50% Bleach and 50% Water solution.

Baking Soda: Make a paste with baking soda by adding water. Apply it to the stained areas, and let it sit for a couple of hours, then clean with a moist cloth or sponge. Wash as normal and let dry.

Dawn Power Dissolver is designed to remove stains. Just soak in warm water and Dawn for at least 30 minutes to one hour. When the discoloration is gone, rinse and dry.

Lemon: Just rub with lemon juice and leave it in the sun for 1 or 2 days. A combination of the lemon and the sun’s UV light will remove discoloration, and it will also kill bacteria.

Hi Dean,

The 50% bleach did the trick! Now I have a nice restored and polished yellow 500 with the proper fat three wire cord. Now only lacking the yellow four prong plug! All in due time...

Best,

Joe

I knew one of those would do the trick. Thanks for the update.

We had a conversation some time ago about Retrobrite and yellowed plastics. Here is a link if you are interested
here