Reply To: Clock case cleaning

[Bob Tascione]

Hi DigitalTripper,
Looks like you’ve received lot’s of good advise here already and thought I would add what I have done with these cases in

the past. I normally stay away from using water based product or mixtures since I don’t want to get any moisture between

the celluloid laminate and the wood. I don’t know if the moisture would actually be a problem but due to my very limited

understanding of woods and laminates I just like to play it safe. I used a waterless hand cleaner like ‘Goop?’ to clean the

surfaces. There are some of these industrial hand cleaners that contain an abrasive and since I’m not sure if that would

damage the surface I only use a cleaner that doesn’t contain them. This idea of using a hand cleaner was passed on to me

many moons ago back in the ’70s by another clockmaker (Charlie at Charlies Antique Clocks who used to have a thriving Clock

restoration biz in Brea, Calif.) and is or at least was fairly common practice for cleaning these cases. After removing all

hardware and cleaning with the cleaner – can take some elbow grease too – I would then use regular Bee’s wax and polish the

case. They turned out beautiful! I think you can use regular Carnuba type car waxes too but not certain about that so could

try it on some inconspicuous place. Not sure about Howards but would be worth a try on a small section to see how it looks

too. I know that Howards products are Awesome for wood though.

Hope this helps,
Bob