1 of 1- NDW76
- Platen Punisher
Offline - From: Bangkok
- Registered: 18-8-2014
- Posts: 86
Anyone use toluene for cleaning typewriters?
I went to my local Mah and Pah hardware store looking for some white spirits to clean typewriters. The white spirits I have are expensive and can only be purchased at expensive department stores over here.
So I had the idea that I might be able to get the same stuff at the local hardware store. A bigger container for a cheaper price.
So the lady gave me a brown bottle that came complete with skull and cross bones. She said it was the same, but knowing Thai's disdain for safety I thought it dest to ask first.
This bottle only cost 30 baht, less than one usd, so if it is useless I haven't lost much.
Like the title says, it's Toluene 65%.
So does anyone use this for cleaning the mechanicals of Typewriters?
Pleased to meet you. Call me Nathan.
- beak
- Key Master
Offline
- From: Qld Australia
- Registered: 24-3-2013
- Posts: 912
Re: Anyone use toluene for cleaning typewriters?
I'm no industrial chemist, but I don't like the sound of it, because of its association with acetone, which is not nice for your health and can attack typewriter finishes as I have found to my cost. If your intent is to clean your typewriter - which parts are you trying to clean? - the internal mechanism or the outside casings?
If it's the outside, I should try simple soap and water (mild solution) or simply dishwashing liquid (again mild solution) and clean with barely damp rags. Use clean rags to dry everything afterwards.
If the inside mechanics is the problem, the tradition thing to use is meths (denatured alchohol) or a brand of de-greaser such as is used on car engines. Always use as little as possible and don't let the stuff run free over the surfaces - just use rags damp with the solvent. Good luck.
Sincerely,
beak.
- skywatcher
- Moderator
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- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 737
Re: Anyone use toluene for cleaning typewriters?
Hi NDW
Toluene works wonders for removing any and all dirt, crud and general muck from the type bars and segment as well as any residual oil or grease from unpainted metal mechanisms. This stuff also removes paint and dissolves many types of plastics like injection molded keys.
I don't know what it does to rubber platens or feed rolls, but I'd imagine it wouldn't be too kind to them. Toluene is generally used in paint shops as a final cleaning solution prior to painting, as it removes everything from the metal and dries completely with no residue. Hope this gives you something to work with,
Sky
We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
- NDW76
- Platen Punisher
Offline
- From: Bangkok
- Registered: 18-8-2014
- Posts: 86
Re: Anyone use toluene for cleaning typewriters?
The final cleaning has been done and the only thing left is to buy some feet and put it all together. I did use a little of the toluene, after reading about how to use it safely. Outside with a fan on.
For the shiny painted surfaces I used water and cotton buds. Then I disassembled every panel that would come off and polished and waxed.
Only the segment and internals had any contact with the toluene. Having said that I did get one little dribble on one of the outriggers for the extra long carriage and can testify that this would be great stuff to use if you wanted to strip ALL the paint off a machine.
If I use this again it will be carefully and sparingly.
Pleased to meet you. Call me Nathan.
- •
Thread Starter- TypewriterKing
- Inactive Account
Offline
- From: DeepInTheHeartO', Texas
- Registered: 17-2-2016
- Posts: 1,011
Re: Anyone use toluene for cleaning typewriters?
Toluene/toluol, aka Xylene/xylol, is some very powerful stuff. I would put that stuff down, and go get either some mineral spirits, charcoal starter, or if you really want a cheap cleaner that really works--diesel. Yes, diesel is ALOT safer than that cocktail with the toluene. By the way, interesting factoid: TNT stands for TriNotroToluene. And that stuff, if you don't properly vent it (you said you worked with it outside with the fan on--good), you'll get higher'n a kite.
Underwood--Speeds the World's Bidness
