How to clean wrinkled-painted finishes ?

[De Soto Frank]

I have a variety of older articles that were factory-painted with "wrinkle-paint", among them, various Atwater-Kent metal-cabinet radios and horn speakers, electric fans, and the interior metal parts of my Victrola VV 2-55 Orthophonic portable.


One of the unfortunate qualities of wrinkle-paint is that it tends to trap dust and dirt in its texture.

Does anyone have any effective methods for removing the dust and dirt w/o harming the paint itself ?


(Let's assume the paint in question is "sound", and not flaking or peeling. )


Thanks !

[Brad]

I have never had luck cleaning such a surface. With a soft scrub brush you can get into all those little crevices, but when you wipe the surface clean those crevices just trap some of the dirty cleaner. I have come to the belief that you need to employ something proactive like ultrasonic or high pressure (relative term) spray rinse.

You may try contacting a few larger museums and ask to speak to their restoration experts. They may be tricks out there us mere collectors haven't learned yet.

[estott]

You might try blowing the moisture off the surface with compressed air

[phonogfp]

Well, this may or may not be relevant, but about 10 years ago I found a 1966 Fender Bassman amp very much like the one I played through when I was in a band during college. It was in nice shape, but the black Tolex covering had decades of grime on it. (For those of you not familiar with this Tolex, it has a faux grain sort of like a pebbly leather.) I cleaned the Tolex with various products without getting all the gunk out of the crevices, nooks, crannies, etc. Then I tried Armor-All; the stuff you use on tires, dashboards, etc. The result after light scrubbing with a soft brush was a consistent, clean appearance which has stayed that way for a decade.

You might want to try it on a small unseen area. I don't think it could harm sound paint.

George P.

[JerryVan]

I clean the surface with a brush & Fantastik. It sometimes looks dull afterward. I then a apply a light spray coating of clear enamel. I tbrings back depth and color. I know this sounds like a tacky approach but I believe it really does look good as long as you don't go overboard with the clear coat.

[howardpgh]

Brad,
Try dabbing the cleaner off rather than wiping it.