Hi Arvin,It kind of depends on the condition of the material on your portable. I restored a Viva-Tonal last year that had been abused. The material had holes in it that were duct taped over and it was a challenge getting it back to presentable condition. If it just needs to be cleaned - no problem. Soap and water or spray on bathroom cleaner will get the grime off. If it has small tears or holes and is black in color, I found that liquid electrical tape (get it at Home Depot or Lowes in the electrical dept.) will fill and seal holes and tears and match pretty close to the original material. Mine was a problem, since it had padding under the covering and had large tears and cuts. For that, I cut off the material from the bottom and removed the padding leaving an inch or so around the edges, which I then glued down. I went to a fabric shop and got some similar material which I glued to some 3/16" plywood that I cut to the shape of the bottom of the case. Then, I screwed the mat erial covered plywood to the bottom and added some feet, which worked out pretty good. So, again, current condition is the key to what needs to be done to get it back to presentable. Some people may have been tempted to scrap mine, which looked really rough, but a little time and creativity brought it back to a state where it can be enjoyed and cosmetically it looks good. Being a Viva-Tonal makes it worth the time to restore it, since the sound quality is excellent...Curt
> Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2013 19:35:07 -0500 > From: aca...@spamcop.net > To: phono-l@oldcrank.org > Subject: [Phono-L] Advice Sought: cleaning, restoring, and preserving > portable phono case material > > Hi All, > > How would you go about cleaning, restoring/repairing, and preserving the > outer case material of a portable phonograph? I have just recently come by > a U.K. Portable Columbia Viva-Tonal. > > I've heard of using water with a splash of Dawn to clean off grime, shoe > polish to restore color, and then sometimes shellac / clear polyfinish as an > additional seal (and to lock down loose, torn, and frayed fabric). > > Does that sound about right or are there more preferred alternatives? > > Thanks! > > Arvin > > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.org _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
