Wood cleaning of nicotine
 

Got a mahogany cabinet coated in nicotine and want to thoroughly clean it. Searched online and didn't find much. The mahogany is stained and with a photo finish on the doors. Windex worked in an area but i didn't do to much with it. Also, I believe the cabinet also has Bakelite parts(cabinet 1953) Might be plastic, same thing, they need cleaned. Any suggestions?

I use white Goop hand cleaner and a toothbrush. You'll see it just lift the stains away. Works amazingly well.

Both of my parents smoked non-filtered Camels. All through the years, there was never a nicotine buildup on the TV or furniture.
I guess, all that nastyness went in your lungs instead. :sigh:

Makes me think of what Burgess Meredith said about that in one of the Grumpy Old Men movies: "I'm ninety-five years old, what do I care?"

Hopefully that doesn't ruffle any feathers, I just think that character is one of the best in those movies. He rules as the Penguin too.

My solution to unpleasant smoke smell in electronics: Turn it on and smoke my pipe tobacco nearby to give it a peasant smoke smell. :smoke:

I've got to remember that one. :scratch2: Another benefit of smoking a pipe is that almost no one will bother you for cigs.

I don't smoke but where the set came from they did. One nasty money wasting habit.....I'll try the white goop method. I know that stuff eats dirt and grease off my hands when they're covered after working on a truck.

I had a couple of sets like that. I used easy off oven spray, applying to a rag then applying. I had a rca 721ts that was nearly black on the top, with a little buffing it took it all completely off with a high gloss finish. I was thinking of stripping it before I tried that.

http://images.zepcommercial.com/prod...r-ZU505128.png
Zep Fast 505 is my magic bullet for tobacco tar.
I work part time at a cigar shop, and we smoke inside. A lot. Imagine the size of an average cigar compared to a cigarette. Imagine 5-20 people smoking said cigars in an inclosed 900sq. Ft. space (with excellent air filtration, of my own personal design. Getting my coworkers and my cheapskate boss to remember to turn it on is another story, ugh) for 5-12 hours a day, Seven days a week. This is my reality. I know tar. Fast 505 works. I use it to clean everything from UAS Smokeeter air purifier collection cells to painted walls, to furniture, light fixtures, and interior woodwork. It MELTS tobacco tar on contact. You can get it at Home Depot. It smells like Lemon and isn't noxious or toxic. All you need to do is spray it on the nicotine coated surface, wait 30 seconds to a minute, and wipe it off. To be safe, Try it on a small, inconspicuous area first to make sure it doesn't react with the finish. I haven't had any problem with finished wood surfaces, personally. Just don't leave it on too long and you'll be fine.

http://www.zepcommercial.com/product...-and-Degreaser

Oven cleaner is extremely corrosive, and contains lye. It attacks Aluminum and Steel with a vengeance. I could only imagine what it does to wood finishes. I had to throw out a set of aluminum smokeeter collection cells because my boss repeatedly cleaned them with Easy-off and corroded them to all hell.

Available in Canada too, I've got to try that.

A little off-topic, but Goop works well on plastic insulated wiring, too. De-gunks, reveals the insulation color, and doesn't dry it out. Discovered this on old car wiring, but works on old electronics as well. Stands to reason, since they use the same electrons. :)

Chip

I never took up smoking. People start smoking in high school, trying to look cool. I knew I was way to nerdy for smoking to do me any good in that area, so I never bothered. :D

Haha, sounds a lot like me. Same goes for drinking. That's one advantage of never having been part of the "in" crowd.

Actually it's the TAR in the cigarette smoke that turns everything brown and stinky. Ammonia glass cleaner cuts it pretty well.

Speaking of starting smoking, put me down at about 2 to 3. My mother used to give me drags off her cigs when I was that young, and later I would "steal" cigs from her during the day, go out in the alley yard or garage and smoke away, with my buddy from across the alley. Mom knew and did nothing about it. My father despised it. Mom had to stop about 3 or 4 in the afternoon to get the house relatively cleared out by the time he would get home. I quit when I was 21, in 1972, after as lifetime growing up in a house full of stratified layers of cig smoke through the house. gag.

Any one tried this on older rubber insulated wire?

You have some of that wire that has not rotted and shorted out it's set!?!?

Virtually every rubber wire I've seen was dried and cracked or getting there....I pretty much reflexively replace it now.

Agree - replace any rubber wire that is cracked. If glazed (can't clean gunk, but it is still flexible), use Rubber Re-nu from Rawn. When I was in the Calibration Lab, we used the stuff by the quart to keep expensive cable assemblies clean and flexible. We're talking cables that were immersed in water/oil, fuel and other contaminants on the flight line, so they got gunked up. Rubber Re-nu, if it is still the same formula, STINKS, so use it sparingly and outside if possible. I get a headache if I even smell anything close to that smell.

We also used it to revitalize/deglaze rubber on phono idler tires. Makes them last - we replaced very few idlers on BSR, V-M, Garrard and Collaro changers, thanks to a little bottle of the stuff.

Cheers,

When I can, I'll try the zep. Now what can I use to re-humidify the wood first? Its been in outdoor storage for 3 years and the stain dried out and now shows scratches that weren't there before. I actually wish there was someone in the Houston area that could "recondition" the cabinet. I'm currently between places so I have nothing setup or a way to do anything but would like this taken care of asap to prevent more damage. But good news is, even though she's been in outdoor storage for 3 years and moved extensively, she still works great and CRT is still bright, just needs readjusted. Wish Bob was either here or I was in Chicago, lol. He does great work with wood.

Please try the Zep. It puts ammonia based cleaners to shame, while still being gentle. Once again, test it on a small space before you use it. At the worst, could potentially remove some ink chassis stamps. This risk is greatly reduced if you dilute it with water 2:1, but It's effectiveness on tar will be greatly reduced.

As far as dried out wood, Well, I guess my cigar knowledge may apply here too. I'd Stick the cabinet in a closet or other small enclosed space with a portable ultrasonic humidifier set on it's lowest setting. You can pick one up for under $60 on Amazon. US Humidifiers spray a cool visible fog and are really easy to control. Ultrasonic Humidifiers are way more efficient than their paper wick counterparts. Unlike the common paper wick humidifier, they don't have a soggy paper wick sitting in a tank of stagnant water to spew mold and bacteria spores everywhere, and they control humidity output much more precisely. Add a capful of Humidifier Bacteriostat to each gallon of water you use.

Right now, its in a climate controlled industrial storage unit with things all around. Im hoping the a/c will moisturize the wood.

Air Conditioning, like all forms of refrigeration, dehumidifies the refrigerated air. That's why we use it. It makes the interior air cooler and dryer. It's the same reason I always have to tell people not to keep their Cigars in the Refrigerator (a bad myth that has been perpetuated for over 60 years...)

Not this place, there is some humidity in the air. I think the cool moist air after a while will help.

You bet! I used it yesterday on two CRT HV connectors that were truly abysmally black with big bumps of blackness. It worked perfectly.

Some 1939 age rubber wire is OK. The radio for my TRK12 had it all cracked and needing replacement.
This radio has seen very extensive use.

The TV chassis, which had been used an an engineering test set and not used since
the change to the current channel setup, and came to me quite pristine in crates,
has nice rubber pliable wiring, except for the the blue color, which had to be replaced.
Only maybe 5% of the wiring was rubber, the rest cloth.

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but here's a trick from a friend in the Corvair community. Calamine lotion softens up old, brittle rubber like magic, but it takes time. I had an early 40's Zenith console radio with a wire loom to the magic eye tube that was brittle but intact. Taking his advice, I took a small brush and painted the wires with the lotion every day for a month. The dried insulation basically drank up the lotion and slowly became soft and pliable again.

At the shop we cleaned all repairs before they went home.
All we used was amonia & watter about 50-50. Cheap & easy.
You could wipe down a clean looking set & get a rag
full of brown mung.

73 Zeno:smoke:

When I got my 1973 Zenith Chromacolor, it was coated with tar. I always use Gojo hand crème on my antique radios, and Gojo did not fail me one bit. The Gojo demolished all the tar and left the TV looking almost new.

Yes, Goop works on rubber too.

Well, I got a minor in beer drinking :beerchug: when I majored in electrical engineering at Syracuse University (BSEE 1978) :D