Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Need tips on cleaning Firestone sign

Hello,

Recently I picked up a couple of signs from a member here. Among the signs was an Firestone sign probably from the 40s. The white on the outside edge is definately porceline and cleaned up pretty well with a glass cooktop cleaner. Found that tip here- thanks :))

The center potion of the sign appears to be textured and possibly porceline. I feels almost like coarse cloth.

So far I have not found a good way to clean that portion of the sign. I tried a couple of things on a small test area. I tried rubbing compound (very old school),the cooktop cleaner, Purple power (a degreaser, but none made an difference when it came to cleaning it. I am hesitant to use anything really agressive as I might damage the sign. It isn't in great shape, but I'd like to clean it up a bit before I hange it up in the garage.

Anyone have any experience with this type of thing?

Would a couple of pictures help?

picture 1

Firestone picture

IF THAT BLACK BACK FIELD IS THAT WASHED OUT, CHANCES ARE YOU'LL NEVER GET IT TO TOTALLY COME BACK TO IT'S FULL LUSTRE. I HAVE THE SAME SIGN, BUT IN SOMEWHAT BETTER CONDITION. I ENDED UP PAINTING THE BORDER WHITE, THE LETTERS DEEP ORANGE AND TOUCHING THE BLACK UP IN LARGER PLACES THEN COATING IT WITH CLEAR! ALL POLY BASED! IF I REMEMBER I'LL TAKE A SHOT. I KNOW IT'S PRETTY WEATHERED AGAIN SINCE I DID IT 5 YEARS AGO. I BELIEVE I PAID $70 FOR IT AND IT'S JUST A BARN HANGER!

That looks like the "cobalt blue" color in the center of the sign. If so, good luck getting it to come back. I've never figured out how to do it. It seems that once that cobalt color goes, it's gone. I ended up putting some clear coat on mine. Hated to do it, but it was a last ditch effort. Has anyone else had problems with the blue?
Don

ACTUALLY I REMEMBERED THAT MY SIGN HAS THE SELF-FRAMED EDGE AND IS NOT FLAT. THE CLEAR COAT HAS ALL BUT WASHED OFF AND NEEDS A NEW COAT. THE SURFACE IS VERY SCRATCHED. THE ORANGE AND WHITE SEEM TO BE HOLDING THEIR OWN:

YEP! If that blue color is faded, its gone for good! Don't know why but the sun really does a number on that cobalt blue. Most all other colors hold up a lot better over time.

ACTUALLY THEY SAY RED IS THE QUICKEST FADING PORC AND PAINT COLOR.