Looking for best way to clean and polish Bakelite.

[Phil Nelson]

Originally Posted by Fisherdude

permanently dull the finish

Another caution: It's also possible to over-polish (or over-sand) the finish so that it can never be retrieved.

The shiny outer layer of Bakelite is quite thin. If you get carried away with sandpaper or other abrasives, you may grind down into the pulpy underlayer which no process or substance will polish.

I have a couple of Bakelite radios whose finish is so worn that they are unpolishable. The only remedy at that stage is to paint the cabinet.

If your finish is almost perfect, perhaps a coat of high-quality wax (like carnauba) would make it shiny enough for your taste. I'm not a big advocate of waxing Bakelite -- these cabinets were not waxed at the factory -- but some people do it all the time. And it's reversible, unlike the results of over-polishing.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html