White key Yellowing

[Chickers]

How do I  remove the yellowing from the pearl-white keys on my accordion ?
Thanks, Chickers

[Dingo40]

Try rubbing the affected areas with some neat, very fine tooth paste on some soft cloth ( eg worn singlet) wrapped around your finger. Be careful not to lodge the toothpaste in any nooks and crannies (eg gaps between keys. Pack these with paper tissues.).
Try it on a small patch to begin with.
The yellowing is probably from a build up of oily residue from fingers, especially if one is a smoker. In effect you have to “polish” off this layer: like brushing your teeth.

I’m reminded of the ( very) old Pepsodent jingle: “wonder where the yellow went, brushed my teeth with Pepsodent!”
Wonder if you can still get it?

[fphlpsnrg]

How do I  remove the yellowing from the pearl-white keys on my accordion ?
Thanks, Chickers

I might avoid using toothpaste because of the possibility of leaving residue in the space around the keys. Try retail strength hydrogen-peroxide (2%) on a soft cloth (I think 'singlet' is Brit for t-shirt). H2O2 attacks organic material only and should leave the base material of the keys unharmed. In general, for cleaning any part of any musical instrument, less is more.

[jozz]

neither method worked for me

are there any other methods?

i suppose it could be UV related and i would need to cut deep and repolish

[losthobos]

Age is beauty.... Leave em be...

[Dingo40]

neither method worked for me

are there any other methods?

i suppose it could be UV related and i would need to cut deep and repolish

Interesting. Did you try Pepsodent?

[jozz]

Sensodyne

(i thought they might be sensitive keys..)

[Dingo40]

Sensodyne

(i thought they might be sensitive keys..)

LOL!

[JerryPH]

Well, I recently polished out some horrendous scratches from the top clear coat of my sister's car. If it is embedded in the top layer, you may want to look at automotive compound. I used Speed 3D, but I suppose any compound will work.

You may also want to look at jeweler's polish, though it likely will take more effort, the results may be good as well.

It all comes down to how deep the yellowing is. Light/UV damage may go deeper than you want to go in terms of removing the top material. The final option that guarantees best results is replacing the keys.

[jozz]

i tried some elbow grease but the yellow stays the same

im giving up, stuff is too deep

it is a beater so not really worth it