Thread: restoring yellow scales

Hi
Im got some scales thats gotten yellow, my question is if i can clean them in some way or if I just should use micromesh and polish them until the yellow discoloration is gone?
here is some pictures, thx for the help (in an other post a helpful member here told me its faux ivory and not real)
/Carl

Hi Calle,

It really depends on the type of plastic used for the ivorene scales. Usually it is a form of cellulose nitrate ('celluloid') with a casein pigment added to it. This makes it a bit problematic to clean. The weakest areas of discoloration can be removed by abrasive methods such as a cutting metal cleaner or a t-cut paint product. To add more abrasiveness it can be rubbed in with a green scrubbie or finest grade steel wool, or you can try micromesh like you mentioned, followed by something like Maas to restore the shine. However, you will often find that as the scale gets more polished, the stain becomes more pronounced again. I have sanded away quite a depth of ivorene until it looked bone white, only to watch in dismay as the stain magically reappeared with every polishing step! Not as much as before, but still noticeable.

Bleaching doesn't really seem to work, but if the ivorene has had a flame retardant like bromine incorporated using 20 to 30 vol strength hydrogen peroxide works. You really want to unpin the blades though, as you make the peroxide up with oxy-clene and immerse the scales for a couple of hours, then subject the scales to sunlight or a UV lamp until they whiten. What happens in this case is that the discoloration is the bromine salts that have come to the surface and formed a layer, and the peroxide/oxy-clene mixture acts like a solvent rather than a bleach to remove it.

Other treatments that sometimes (rarely!) work are lemon juice, vinegar, mayonnaise - all rubbed in with a cloth. There are a few proprietary cleaners like 'Ivorene' used by piano restorers and GPO Polish No 3 that used to be used on bakelite telephones, but they have very limited success rates.

Regards,
Neil

Thank you for the answer. I will try the micromesh and hope for the best, if its getting to yellow again I maybe try your hydrogen peroxide method but I think its nice to have a razor with its original pins if possible.
/Carl

Originally Posted by Calle

Thank you for the answer. I will try the micromesh and hope for the best, if its getting to yellow again I maybe try your hydrogen peroxide method but I think its nice to have a razor with its original pins if possible.
/Carl

If you do try the peroxide method and do not want to unpin, you could use a thickener of some sort (cooked starch paste, wallpaper glue or similar) in order to stop the solution dripping off and/or drying, then you would not have to submerge the scales.

Probably best to start with the least invasive method first, as you have rightly chosen!

Regards,
Neil