Warning - TSW Shave Brush Cleaner and Vintage Butterscotch Brushes

Mark1966

Mark1966

Canberra dwelling Happy Clapping Bean Counter
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I've previously been an advocate for the TSW Shaving Brush Cleaner. I've used it before without any issues.

I know that the instructions indicate "Try not to immerse the handle"...

My6SI2Bl.jpg


... but it is hard not to let some part of the handle be in the water while soaking.

I washed my rotation of vintage butterscotch brushes today and found that the cleaner had impacted the butterscotch handles. You can hopefully see what I mean on the pics below -

qx5TYb1l.jpg


8Z0Y91hl.jpg


I had similar results on some of the other brushes but managed to scrub them until the mottling came off. The Simpson brushes were the worst affected (Rooney and Culmak less so) and even in the other Simpson brushes where I've managed to scrub them and make it less noticeable you can still see the difference faintly.

I've contacted Con and suggested that he add a warning NOT to use this cleaner on vintage butterscotch brushes. I don't want anybody else to suggest the same fate I have.

In the meantime - take head folks!

I'm devastated, I don't want this to happen to others.
 
Nanook said:
I'd be devastated as well. That's a terrible outcome.
Click to expand...

Yep, why I don't want anybody else to have the same issue.

It may resolve over time if the oxidation of the catalin evens it up - but it might not either.

@SpeedyPC - not the time mate
 
Mark1966 said:
I've previously been an advocate for the TSW Shaving Brush Cleaner. I've used it before without any issues.

I know that the instructions indicate "Try not to immerse the handle"...

My6SI2Bl.jpg


... but it is hard not to let some part of the handle be in the water while soaking.

I washed my rotation of vintage butterscotch brushes today and found that the cleaner had impacted the butterscotch handles. You can hopefully see what I mean on the pics below -

qx5TYb1l.jpg


8Z0Y91hl.jpg


I had similar results on some of the other brushes but managed to scrub them until the mottling came off. The Simpson brushes were the worst affected (Rooney and Culmak less so) and even in the other Simpson brushes where I've managed to scrub them and make it less noticeable you can still see the difference faintly.

I've contacted Con and suggested that he add a warning NOT to use this cleaner on vintage butterscotch brushes. I don't want anybody else to suggest the same fate I have.

In the meantime - take head folks!

I'm devastated, I don't want this to happen to others.
Click to expand...
I'm so sorry - really hope they recover 🤞🤞🤞
 
Condolences mate and my sympathies. I had a similarly devastating moment but not to this scale and extent, when I boiled "at my own risk" two butterscotch handles to remove the knots.
The Simpson AS2A has all but recovered after a couple of years and the Rooney is well on it's way to recovery.
Rooney soon after I boiled it to remove the old knot. Even a bit of silicone in the bottom of the pan would have prevented this because muggings here let it sit on the base metal.
5pK7qJC.jpg

The Rooney today.
sn8QPs4.jpg

Ring around base of Rooney has almost disappeared.
The only possible remedy I found was exposing to sunlight to speed up the oxidation process but I did not actively pursue this and just stored and used as normal.
Here's hoping they do have a full recovery after a few years (y)
 
Last edited:
An old trick that some woodworkers use is to rub the item on their nose and give it a buff with a soft cloth. I'm not saying it's guaranteed to work in this case (and if you give it a go, try an inconspicuous area first) but it's usually harmless.
 
Happich Simichrome polish is the preferred method of both testing and polishing Catalin or Bakelite by antique collectors and dealers. I have used it on older Bakelite shaving razor cases and it works wonders to bring the surface back to new. It works exceedingly well on plastics, metal, etc. I would not use it on sterling silver plated surfaces; for sterling silver I use Blitz Silver Care Polish. Using Simichrome on your razors will make them gleam. I keep tubes of Simichrome around the house and garage as it can be used on so many things.
 

Care of your Bakelite jewellery​

Store your jewellery away from light and sources of heat. Bakelite may darken or yellow if exposed to light all the time. It can be displayed behind glass or kept in a wooden box. Plastic containers should not be used for storing any early plastics as it can cause crazing. Try not to get perfume on your plastic jewellery as it may dull the finish.

You can polish all your plastics except celluloid with turtle wax or simichrome polish.

Dull pieces which have lost their finish can be brought back to a lovely shine with simichrome polish, which you can buy here.

www.decolish.com

Bakelite Test - How to Identify Early Plastics

Bakelite Test - how do you know if your piece is Bakelite or some other plastic? A guide to testing your early plastic jewellery.
www.decolish.com
 
Hi @Mark1966 I am sure you have been trawling the internet looking for a solution since the tragedy happened.
This lady has done some thorough testing and comparisons and you can see the results with cutlery handles over 3 parts.
Finally deciding on a melamine sponge (magic eraser) and canola oil.
Problem with polishing that I considered is that it might lighten the handle, but better to have a uniformly coloured handle that will darken again with time than a mottled handle.
dishsisters.com

How I ruined–and revived– my Bakelite flatware handles, part 3

I promised a couple more Bakelite cleaning solutions for Part 3, but I decided to stop at just one more. All the other suggestions I found involved some sort of polishing compound–Mothers Pow…
dishsisters.com dishsisters.com
Good luck and let us know what action you decide upon and how it turns out.
 
Thanks for the comments and advice all. I have got some Meguiar's PlastX and had thought of polishing them, but as @Holiday said that does tend to lighten them. The mottling being around the label is a problem too.

I'm probably going to leave it till next weekend, and am pretty much resigned to looking some of the depth of colour to make the handles at least an even colour, expecting that over time, probably a LOT of time, the colour will come back.
 
TIL there are dedicated shave brush cleaners.
That’s a darn shame mark, I’ll check back on the drinking thread to see how your chosen method of dealing with this
 
Thanks for the warning @Mark1966 and hoping you manage to recover the after effects as much as possible 🙏
 
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