OK, that worked, but they're the wrong way round obviously. You can see where the gold lettering washed off.

OK, here goes... before cleaning - 



and after initial cleaning - 



I have since partially dismantled the machine and cleaned it up a lot more, so will most likely summit more pics, either here and/or under restoration.

Thanks, I'll need to get organised with that. I'll post pictures soon, hopefully.

Thanks. No, there's no string but I bought some cotton twine today which will probably do. I'll have to fashion some way of connecting it. I believe it attaches to a screw under the platten. Platten comes off easily enough, so i can take a look later. The serial number was very hard to see as the machine is so worn. I did make out the following, though: 1 36 1 364 by using a magnifying light. The 'ones' are much more distinct and are actually just solid vertical bars compared to the much feinter other numbers. I wonder if it is a model 5 - how can I differentiate between, say, a model 3 and a model 5? They seem quite similar.

Just received my Olivetti Valentine in excellent condition, but being a cleaning obsessive I applied some 'trade wipes' to the plastic finish. These wipes are great for cleaning just about anything normally, but have produced a dull effect on the Valentine. Does anyone know of a plastic restorer that might bring back the original shine? Here's hoping! John.