I was wondering if anyone has any techniques/methods for cleaning out or restoring fire alarms to make them look as new as possible?
As of right now, about 90% of my collection is sitting in bins. We’re getting a house renovation in a couple months time, and soon enough my room is going to be redone. My collection is going to be put on display on a wall in my room, so I would definitely like to touch up/clean all of my alarms so they look brand new.
For cleaning dirt and stains, I usually just use a paper towel and water for surfaces, and a Q-Tip for getting into tight spaces. If a stain is persistent, I may move to dish soap, but I like to keep any sort of chemical cleaner off of the alarms. The only exception is the time when I used an aluminum cleaner to clear some gunk off of a Gamewell M69 station. It didn’t harm the station, but the results were fairly poor and it definitely didn’t help. Baby oil also helps to remove any label/sticker adhesive or tape marks.
In terms of paint defects or signs of age, I usually make no attempt at restoration and leave everything as it is. A patina on the surface gives old alarms character, and nothing beats the original paint. Once again I’ve made several exceptions. The first was for a Faraday 5410 horn that was so badly corroded the mechanism could not longer operate. For that horn, I disassembled and sandblasted all of the parts, being sure to protect the label. Directly afterwards, I coated the metal with a Lanolin-based rust/corrosion inhibitor, as the bare metal will rust quickly due to the humidity in the air. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to match the paint color I want, so the device is still in this condition, albeit reassembled. The second item was the back-plate of a Faraday 2000 bell that was heavily rusted. This was more for practical/safety reasons rather than cosmetic (you can hardly see the plate when it is mounted) because the plate had several surprisingly sharp edges that made handling difficult. The sandblasting and painting process helped to smooth these edges, and remove any rust hazards as well.
So if you are just looking for a “clean” appearance, water or mild detergent along with a wipe or Q-Tips should do the trick. If you are looking for a true “as-new” restoration for heavily damaged devices, sandblasting and staring from scratch with new paint is the way to go.
To add to what Nick said, if you’re looking to reverse the effects of plastic yellowing on white devices what I did with my RSS is submerge it in hydrogen peroxide in direct sunlight and leave it there for a couple of hours.
The color on the strobe body where the FIRE lettering is is the same color the rest of the signal was before I treated it. This was an after picture; I never took a before picture.
Automotive detailing products can also be quite useful if you’re looking to enhance the appearance of your alarms once they’ve been cleaned. Armor All is decent for plastic or metal devices with a textured finish. For metal devices with a smooth painted finish (especially bells), car polish or scratch remover can bring dull paint to a shine and reduce the appearance of minor surface scratches.
Before using a new product on an alarm, I would definitely recommend trying it out on a small, inconspicuous area since not all devices react the same way to a certain product. However, I’ve never had any issues with Armor All or auto polish, so those shouldn’t be too risky. I also avoid touching labels or any other minor features (such as painted lettering) while cleaning my alarms since those areas tend to be quite fragile.
Thank you all for your input! I will keep you all updated on how the transition goes, looking forward to it!
