The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I thought it would be interesting to take a little survey and see what people think is best for maintaining a phonograph! I.e. polish, wax, grease, oil - whatever you can think of for keeping a machine in good condition both appearance and mechanically. For polish - Old English, wax - Howard Restore-A-Finish Bees Wax, grease - petroleum jelly/graphite powder mix and oil - Singer Sewing Machine Oil. What do you use? -Nick

While a nice idea, it's a bit optimistic to say that certain polishes/oils/lubricants ALWAYS work better than someone else's...for example, what works well on a machine with a fabrikoid covering is not necessarily going to work as well on an original Circassian Walnut finish. I personally use Old English lemon oil, Noxon metal polish and a mixture of white lithium grease/Vaseline with sewing machine oil to keep my machines up and running at their best, but that's only because my machines are all veneered (pre-lacquer Victors), nickel-plated (not gold-plated, gunmetal finish, etc.) and use small single-spring motors where anything that "clumps up" would instantly stop their rotation.

Brandon. please explain what you use each product for and your method. Or, just come to my house and use them on my machines. After all, I have made nice, authentic, home-cooked Italian meals for you.

Marty Bufalini wrote:Brandon. please explain what you use each product for and your method. Or, just come to my house and use them on my machines. After all, I have made nice, authentic, home-cooked Italian meals for you.

How about I just bring some homemade limoncello instead?

Okay, but I'd still like to know how you use each product. Seriously.

I use three of the four products shown.

The mag polish is for metals, although that stuff is brutally strong and will help you get right through plating if you aren't careful.

The "New Life" stuff is just a born-again christian version of the non-abrasive Gojo, and you use it as the initial cleaner on dirty nicotined-up finished wood surfaces...you know the drill, slather it on, let it sit, paper-towel it off, lather rinse repeat til the towel wipes off clean. The jesus people who make and sell it by mail from Texas are very nice, but I've been unable to discern any difference or advantage from non-pumice Gojo, which is cheaper and locally available for most of us.

Howard's is a top coat for finished wood that gives you some shine after cleanup, and makes it smell nice. Antique dealers use it to spiff up stuff for sale but in my experience it goes dull after a while, probably after evaporation of some of the components.

I don't know the Renaissance product, but it looks like a wax or polish, for results more lasting than Howard's.

Personally, I don't do a lot of "maintenance" per se. When I get a new machine I clean it and lube it, and run through it to assure it runs and plays properly, but I allow it to show its age. All of that is dependent on personal preference of course...so nickel parts are usually (cleaned and) polished to an attractive shine, but I prefer brass horns and other bits to have patina rather than shine.

Don't use WD-40 except as a bedplate degreaser; it is not a lubricant. There are many nice synthetic machine oils offered these days, often with a handy needle-tip squeeze oiler, cheaply on ebay, like this for example (not mine):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Synthetic-Oil- ... 0#viTabs_0

As long as you keep the governor pads, shaft, and plate lubed, a clean motor should run well for years after the initial cleanup and tuneup.

1) Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish: for polishing metal, self explanatory. I've also used Flitz which works fine, but I find the consistency of Mother's easier to work with. Obviously, you should only use this on nickel plating. For gold, I simply use Windex (WITH ammonia). You can also use plain ammonia, but I think the Windex does a better job cleaning dirt, plus it smells better.

2) New Life: I will have to disagree with Peter on this one. Everyone I have suggested this to loves it and has not gone back to GoJo. New Life is made for wood, GoJo is made for skin. Yes, they are very similar, but New Life just works better on wood. It lifts more dirt, re-introduces some oils back to the wood, and is gentler on finishes. I don't know what their religious persuasions are, and frankly don't care. To use this stuff, you wipe it on, leave it for a few minutes, and wipe it off. Repeat until it comes off white. I like to do one panel or section at a time. When you are done, the finish will be tacky. This is normal. I always let the machine dry for at least a couple of weeks before proceeding with my next step.

3) Howard Feed-N-Wax: I like to apply this once the finish has re-set from the New Life treatment. Just 1 coat should be sufficient for most cases. After I let it sit for an hour or so, I wipe the excess off with clean cloths until it stops coming off. Again, I will let this dry for a few weeks before proceeding to the next step.

4) Renaissance Wax: This stuff was developed in the British Museum Research Laboratory and they coat just about everything with it from metal to wood to paintings. If it's good enough for priceless artifacts, it's good enough for my humble collection. Just apply a small amount to a clean soft cloth and do a light coat on 1 section of the machine, then using another clean soft cloth, buff it until it comes to a shine (it's a satin shine, not glossy). This will create a barrier and keep the wood from drying out and keep dirt out. Once you finish this, you'll only need to use a dry duster for years to come.

NOTE: if you have a badly alligatored mahogany finish, you will want to skip the wax, as it won't really improve it much, and may even highlight the cracks.

5) Oil: I use Hoppes No. 9 synthetic gun oil on fast spinning gears, bearings, governor, pads, etc. It doesn't break down or become gummy like other oils. I find myself oiling my machines less after switching to this. Avoid 3-in-1 at all costs, and don't even think about touching WD-40.

6) Grease: Currently I'm still using the same can of Lubrimatic high-temp wheel bearing grease (blue) that I've had for years. If I were in the market, I'd also consider Mobil 1 Synthetic (red). I use this on springs, slow-spinning gears, worm, ratchet pawl, etc.

Everything mentioned is available on Amazon if you can't find it locally, except new life which must be ordered from the manufacturer. They ship quickly, though.

"...Gojo is made for skin..." - made me laugh, because I never thought of it in quite that way, although it is of course true.

What's weird about that now, though, is the notion that we would intentionally coat our skin with a petroleum-based solvent. Kind of a holdover product from before the days of the high-tech superthin nitrile gloves we have now. Remember those ads for kitchen gloves that were "so flexible, you can pick up a dime?"

I have tubs of new life as well as gojo here, and will do a comparison experiment on a recently acquired cabinet.

Great info! One question: is there anything one can use to correct alligatoring?