Six or seven years ago I was dealing with a guy in Chicago called Jim Campbell and on one occasion was moaning about having a load of stems to clean when he suggested this stuff which he had been using for years. After several hours on the internet it soon became apparent that this stuff was only available in the US of A, after a quick haggle we did a trade. I recently found one source for this in the UK, the price for a 16oz bottle including delivery is $35.
When I first used it I was amazed, several hours of very careful sanding was replaced by a quick dip and polish!
Working With BW
Do not use on horn stems- they swell up and go all floppy!
Not recommended for Acrylic- some react badly.
Stems which have previously been bleached, you end up with a very badly pitted finish.
Metal fittings, polished aluminium tenons/stingers are ok for short periods (20mins) but any longer than that and either remove or cover them as they will oxidise unpredictably, dull alu corrodes quickly from the start. Steel fares much better but will corrode slowly.
Stem Inlays have a habit of falling out, more than once I've sieved for dots, for metal inlays add the above.
Every so often I come across really poor quality 'ebonite' which has an almost grainy appearance even when polished, using BW on these leaves a heavily pitted surface with zillions of little white/grey dots. One of the worst culprits for this is the Lorenzo Spitfire range.
Step 1
Pre clean the inside of the stem(s).
Tape up metal bits.
Place the stems in a glass container preferably with a lid then pour BW in until all stems are covered.
Place in cool dark place and go have a coffee or three.
Step 2
PUT GLOVES ON
Depending on the degree of oxidation and the quality of the material it takes from 20 mins to several hours for the BW to work, I once left a batch to soak for four days with no apparent deterioration.
Light oxidation can be wiped off with a cloth and some Barkeepers Friend after 20 mins or so and a quick polish does the job.
Medium Oxidation soak for 4 hours or so wipe with a cloth and then buff with white on a medium wheel.
Heavy Oxidation soak for 8 hours or so wipe and allow to dry, brown trip on a loose stitch (2 rows unpicked) then as per. If the stem requires a second treatment clean it with alcohol to remove all wax etc. Immediately in front of the button may require a touch of emery.
Get some and try it.
To those of you not involved in restoration the importance of a product like this may not seem apparent but to those of us to whom the loss of a logo or the softening of lines through sanding means lost money can be a little more fervent about it.
