It amazes me how filthy a phone can get (landline). And it seems that
all of them are white these days. Maybe there was a good reason the old
rotary phones were originally black. The problem is how to clean them.
They cant be submerged in water. Wiping with a damp cloth with plain
Water dont seem to do much. So far the best I've found is to use
rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. But its' hard to get into all the
tiny spaces between the numerical buttons, and such. And impossible to
clean in the "grille" where the 'speaker phone', speaker is. Even those
coiled cords can get quite nasty, but those can be submerged as long as
they are allowed to dry well before being used again.

Does anyone know any better ways to clean them?

Other electronics have the same problem. Computer keyboards are the
worst. Things like a police scanner are another tough one, with all
their buttons.

Any suggestions or tips?

Windex

Dave M.

On 1/21/2014 12:50 PM, wrote:
It amazes me how filthy a phone can get (landline). And it seems that
all of them are white these days. Maybe there was a good reason the old
rotary phones were originally black. The problem is how to clean them.
They cant be submerged in water. Wiping with a damp cloth with plain
Water dont seem to do much. So far the best I've found is to use
rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. But its' hard to get into all the
tiny spaces between the numerical buttons, and such. And impossible to
clean in the "grille" where the 'speaker phone', speaker is. Even those
coiled cords can get quite nasty, but those can be submerged as long as
they are allowed to dry well before being used again.

Does anyone know any better ways to clean them?

Other electronics have the same problem. Computer keyboards are the
worst. Things like a police scanner are another tough one, with all
their buttons.

Any suggestions or tips?


WD-40. I worked in a shop that had a bright yellow
counter top. I over sprayed something with WD, and
it both cleaned and shined. Might work on your
equipment.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 1/21/2014 12:50 PM, wrote:
It amazes me how filthy a phone can get (landline). And it seems
that all of them are white these days. Maybe there was a good
reason the old rotary phones were originally black. The problem is
how to clean them. They cant be submerged in water. Wiping with a
damp cloth with plain Water dont seem to do much. So far the best
I've found is to use rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. But its'
hard to get into all the tiny spaces between the numerical buttons,
and such. And impossible to clean in the "grille" where the
'speaker phone', speaker is. Even those coiled cords can get quite
nasty, but those can be submerged as long as they are allowed to dry
well before being used again. Does anyone know any better ways to clean them?

Other electronics have the same problem. Computer keyboards are the
worst. Things like a police scanner are another tough one, with all
their buttons.

Any suggestions or tips?


WD-40. I worked in a shop that had a bright yellow
counter top. I over sprayed something with WD, and
it both cleaned and shined. Might work on your
equipment.

You've got to be kidding!

wrote:
It amazes me how filthy a phone can get (landline). And it seems that
all of them are white these days. Maybe there was a good reason the
old rotary phones were originally black. The problem is how to clean
them. They cant be submerged in water. Wiping with a damp cloth with
plain Water dont seem to do much. So far the best I've found is to
use rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. But its' hard to get into all
the tiny spaces between the numerical buttons, and such. And
impossible to clean in the "grille" where the 'speaker phone',
speaker is. Even those coiled cords can get quite nasty, but those
can be submerged as long as they are allowed to dry well before being
used again.

Does anyone know any better ways to clean them?

Other electronics have the same problem. Computer keyboards are the
worst. Things like a police scanner are another tough one, with all
their buttons.

Any suggestions or tips?

Many such devices can be taken apart for cleaning.

On Tue, 21 Jan 2014 11:50:09 -0600, wrote:

It amazes me how filthy a phone can get (landline). And it seems that
all of them are white these days. Maybe there was a good reason the old
rotary phones were originally black. The problem is how to clean them.
They cant be submerged in water. Wiping with a damp cloth with plain
Water dont seem to do much. So far the best I've found is to use
rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. But its' hard to get into all the
tiny spaces between the numerical buttons, and such. And impossible to
clean in the "grille" where the 'speaker phone', speaker is. Even those
coiled cords can get quite nasty, but those can be submerged as long as
they are allowed to dry well before being used again.

Phone cords can be washed in the dishwasher, with the dishes. They look
great afterwards.

Lots of things besides dishes can be washed in the dishwasher.

Does anyone know any better ways to clean them?

Other electronics have the same problem. Computer keyboards are the
worst.

I haven't done it yet, but I'm told computer keyboards can be washed in
the dishwasher. In their case, they should be upside down so little or
no water gets inside, and no soap should be used and I'm sure, no heat
during drying (Don't almost all DWs let you turn that off?)



Things like a police scanner are another tough one, with all
their buttons.

Any suggestions or tips?

On Tuesday, January 21, 2014 12:50:09 PM UTC-5, wrote:
It amazes me how filthy a phone can get (landline). And it seems that

all of them are white these days. Maybe there was a good reason the old

rotary phones were originally black. The problem is how to clean them.

They cant be submerged in water. Wiping with a damp cloth with plain

Water dont seem to do much. So far the best I've found is to use

rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. But its' hard to get into all the

tiny spaces between the numerical buttons, and such. And impossible to

clean in the "grille" where the 'speaker phone', speaker is. Even those

coiled cords can get quite nasty, but those can be submerged as long as

they are allowed to dry well before being used again.



Does anyone know any better ways to clean them?



Other electronics have the same problem. Computer keyboards are the

worst. Things like a police scanner are another tough one, with all

their buttons.



Any suggestions or tips?

You can pretty much wash any electronics in mild soap and water as long as you make sure the item is dry before to power it up again. I disassemble and then leave the cleaned parts on top of a floor vent for a day or two. Or point a fan at it.

wrote:
It amazes me how filthy a phone can get (landline). And it seems that
all of them are white these days. Maybe there was a good reason the old
rotary phones were originally black. The problem is how to clean them.
They cant be submerged in water. Wiping with a damp cloth with plain
Water dont seem to do much. So far the best I've found is to use
rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. But its' hard to get into all the
tiny spaces between the numerical buttons, and such. And impossible to
clean in the "grille" where the 'speaker phone', speaker is. Even those
coiled cords can get quite nasty, but those can be submerged as long as
they are allowed to dry well before being used again.

Does anyone know any better ways to clean them?

Other electronics have the same problem. Computer keyboards are the
worst. Things like a police scanner are another tough one, with all
their buttons.

Any suggestions or tips?


I had about 25 computer data entry users at my last job. These were not
geeks who did programming, but just entered data. They ate and drank at
the terminals and sometimes spilled stuff on the keyboards, usually
stuff that gets sticky when it dries, like coffee or soda. I would give
them a new or refurbished keyboard to use. I then took the messy
terminals to a sink and poured very warm plain water through them (no
WD-40 or other cleaners). :-)
I then hung the keyboards up by the cable to let them drain and dry for
a day or more. After they were dry I tested them. If they didn't work
after a few treatments they went in the trash
I used the ones that still worked to replace the next dirty keyboards.

I have about 6 keyboards from old computers at home and I do the same,
including spilling stuff on them from time to time, but in this case,
including beer.




--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

On Tue, 21 Jan 2014 10:50:09 -0700, wrote:

It amazes me how filthy a phone can get (landline). And it seems that
all of them are white these days. Maybe there was a good reason the old
rotary phones were originally black. The problem is how to clean them.
They cant be submerged in water. Wiping with a damp cloth with plain
Water dont seem to do much. So far the best I've found is to use
rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. But its' hard to get into all the
tiny spaces between the numerical buttons, and such. And impossible to
clean in the "grille" where the 'speaker phone', speaker is. Even those
coiled cords can get quite nasty, but those can be submerged as long as
they are allowed to dry well before being used again.

Does anyone know any better ways to clean them?

Other electronics have the same problem. Computer keyboards are the
worst. Things like a police scanner are another tough one, with all
their buttons.

Any suggestions or tips?


Wash your hands?

I know, I know, I couldn't help it. It's true that even if your hands are
clean, human flesh gets all over those things and forms a waxy, difficult
to remove pile up of gunk. A paper towel damp with Clorox will almost
instantly wipe off that gunk. To protect your fingers from the bleach,
just stick you hand into a quart sized freezer ziploc bag and hold the
towel with the bag. Why freezer and not a swandwich bag? Because the
sandwich bags are so thin the bleach will go THROUGH the plastic, fumes
accumulate in the bag, and the bleach will burn your flesh, literally
oxidize your flesh, which is the definition of burning.

For MY telephones, and mice, to prevent destroying the plastic housing; I
disassemble to bare plastic parts and then wash those parts in a sink of
dish detergent. Keyboards? I've been provided so many at clients'
locations that I simply used 409 on a paper towel that can get down in
between, but not really wet anything. Obviously, I didn't care if the 409
hurt their keyboards or not.

I've had excellent performance from a quaternary compound used to sanitize
patient examination rooms, [which means kills stuff but not people or
pets] made by Brulins in Indiana, called Unicide 256. You actually mix it
256:1 and the resulting diluted compound is equivalent to full strength
bleach in its killing power. The stuff is absolutely amazing, you can
polish metal with it, remove paint, do all kinds of things. Check at your
local janitorial supply they probably sell it. I usually buy it wholesale
directly from Brulins, from memory it's around $128+ for a case of four
gallon jugs. We go through it faster than I like, because I can't get wife
to mix more dilute than 10:1 or so! She soaks her jewelry in it, for
cleaning. Doesn't harm stones, metal, etc, actually polishes the metal to
where her rings look like they went through a jeweler's ultrasonic
cleaner. Oh, yeah, before saving any coins, I drop coins in a small tray
of the stuff. Shiney in no time. A penny goes from dull brown to mintlike
finish in around 30 seconds, too long and yecch!

Window Cleaners like Walmart Glass Cleaner, Windex, etc, although handy
and cheap and effective, are not usually a good idea, because the alcohol
in them can craze the surface and deteriorate the plastic badly over time.

On Tue, 21 Jan 2014 10:50:09 -0700, wrote:

...snip....
Does anyone know any better ways to clean them?

Other electronics have the same problem. Computer keyboards are the
worst. Things like a police scanner are another tough one, with all
their buttons.

Any suggestions or tips?



Wash your hands?

I know, I know, I couldn't help it. It's true that even if your hands are
clean, human flesh gets all over those things and forms a waxy, difficult
to remove pile up of gunk. A paper towel damp with Clorox will almost
instantly wipe off that gunk. To protect your fingers from the bleach,
just stick you hand into a quart sized freezer ziploc bag and hold the
towel with the bag. Why freezer and not a swandwich bag? Because the
sandwich bags are so thin the bleach will go THROUGH the plastic, fumes
accumulate in the bag, and the bleach will burn your flesh, literally
oxidize your flesh, which is the definition of burning.

For MY telephones, and mice, to prevent destroying the plastic housing; I
disassemble to bare plastic parts and then wash those parts in a sink of
dish detergent. Keyboards? I've been provided so many at clients'
locations that I simply used 409 on a paper towel that can get down in
between, but not really wet anything. Obviously, I didn't care if the 409
hurt their keyboards or not.

I've had excellent performance from a quaternary compound used to sanitize
patient examination rooms, [which means kills stuff but not people or
pets] made by Brulins in Indiana, called Unicide 256. You actually mix it
256:1 and the resulting diluted compound is equivalent to full strength
bleach in its killing power. The stuff is absolutely amazing, you can
polish metal with it, remove paint, do all kinds of things. Check at your
local janitorial supply they probably sell it. I usually buy it wholesale
directly from Brulins, from memory it's around $128+ for a case of four
gallon jugs. We go through it faster than I like, because I can't get wife
to mix more dilute than 10:1 or so! She soaks her jewelry in it, for
cleaning. Doesn't harm stones, metal, etc, actually polishes the metal to
where her rings look like they went through a jeweler's ultrasonic
cleaner. Oh, yeah, before saving any coins, I drop coins in a small tray
of the stuff. Shiney in no time. A penny goes from dull brown to mintlike
finish in around 30 seconds, too long and yecch!

Window Cleaners like Walmart Glass Cleaner, Windex, etc, although handy
and cheap and effective, are not usually a good idea, because the alcohol
in them can craze the surface and deteriorate the plastic badly over time.

On 1/21/2014 6:14 PM, RobertMacy wrote:

I've had excellent performance from a quaternary compound used to
sanitize patient examination rooms, [which means kills stuff but not
people or pets] made by Brulins in Indiana, called Unicide 256. You
actually mix it 256:1 and the resulting diluted compound is equivalent
to full strength bleach in its killing power. The stuff is absolutely
amazing, you can polish metal with it, remove paint, do all kinds of
things. Check at your local janitorial supply they probably sell it. I
usually buy it wholesale directly from Brulins, from memory it's around
$128+ for a case of four gallon jugs. We go through it faster than I
like, because I can't get wife to mix more dilute than 10:1 or so! She
soaks her jewelry in it, for cleaning. Doesn't harm stones, metal, etc,
actually polishes the metal to where her rings look like they went
through a jeweler's ultrasonic cleaner. Oh, yeah, before saving any
coins, I drop coins in a small tray of the stuff. Shiney in no time. A
penny goes from dull brown to mintlike finish in around 30 seconds, too
long and yecch!


So, why do you leave the full strength stuff around?


--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 1/21/2014 12:50 PM, wrote:
It amazes me how filthy a phone can get (landline). And it seems that
all of them are white these days. Maybe there was a good reason the old
rotary phones were originally black. The problem is how to clean them.
They cant be submerged in water. Wiping with a damp cloth with plain
Water dont seem to do much. So far the best I've found is to use
rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. But its' hard to get into all the
tiny spaces between the numerical buttons, and such. And impossible to
clean in the "grille" where the 'speaker phone', speaker is. Even those
coiled cords can get quite nasty, but those can be submerged as long as
they are allowed to dry well before being used again.

Does anyone know any better ways to clean them?

Other electronics have the same problem. Computer keyboards are the
worst. Things like a police scanner are another tough one, with all
their buttons.

Any suggestions or tips?


I sometimes use the alcohol swabs made for wiping down your skin before
an injection. Fairly cheap at a drug store.

On Tuesday, January 21, 2014 11:50:09 AM UTC-6, wrote:
It amazes me how filthy a phone can get (landline). And it seems that all of them are white these days. Maybe there was a good reason the old rotary phones were originally black. The problem is how to clean them. They cant be submerged in water. Wiping with a damp cloth with plain Water dont seem to do much. So far the best I've found is to use rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. But its' hard to get into all the tiny spaces between the numerical buttons, and such. And impossible to clean in the "grille" where the 'speaker phone', speaker is. Even those coiled cords can get quite nasty, but those can be submerged as long as they are allowed to dry well before being used again. Does anyone know any better ways to clean them? Other electronics have the same problem. Computer keyboards are the worst. Things like a police scanner are another tough one, with all their buttons. Any suggestions or tips?

Naptha and a used but clean toothbrush

On Tue, 21 Jan 2014 17:27:49 -0700, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

...snip...

So, why do you leave the full strength stuff around?

requires smaller storage?

Formula 409 does wonders on lots of stuff. A friend worked for a used computer outfit and they used 409 even to clean keyboards

wrote:
It amazes me how filthy a phone can get (landline). And it seems that
all of them are white these days. Maybe there was a good reason the old
rotary phones were originally black. The problem is how to clean them.
They cant be submerged in water. Wiping with a damp cloth with plain
Water dont seem to do much. So far the best I've found is to use
rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. But its' hard to get into all the
tiny spaces between the numerical buttons, and such. And impossible to
clean in the "grille" where the 'speaker phone', speaker is. Even those
coiled cords can get quite nasty, but those can be submerged as long as
they are allowed to dry well before being used again.

Does anyone know any better ways to clean them?

Other electronics have the same problem. Computer keyboards are the
worst. Things like a police scanner are another tough one, with all
their buttons.

Any suggestions or tips?

I use a cleaner like 409 or greased lightning, sprayed into rag or q tip.

Greg

"Bob F" wrote in message
...
Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 1/21/2014 12:50 PM, wrote:
It amazes me how filthy a phone can get (landline). And it seems
that all of them are white these days. Maybe there was a good
reason the old rotary phones were originally black. The problem is
how to clean them. They cant be submerged in water. Wiping with a
damp cloth with plain Water dont seem to do much. So far the best
I've found is to use rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. But its'
hard to get into all the tiny spaces between the numerical buttons,
and such. And impossible to clean in the "grille" where the
'speaker phone', speaker is. Even those coiled cords can get quite
nasty, but those can be submerged as long as they are allowed to dry
well before being used again. Does anyone know any better ways to clean
them?

Other electronics have the same problem. Computer keyboards are the
worst. Things like a police scanner are another tough one, with all
their buttons.

Any suggestions or tips?


WD-40. I worked in a shop that had a bright yellow
counter top. I over sprayed something with WD, and
it both cleaned and shined. Might work on your
equipment.

You've got to be kidding!

Yeah. It stinks! I just use some sort of wipes. Antibacterial if someone
is sick, otherwise baby wipes. Toothpick for the tiny places if needed.
But really our phones don't get all that icky.