What's the most appropriate way to restore a hard rubber panel that has turned olive-drab green in color? I'm considering using glossy black paint or liquid shoe polish. This panel pre-dates Bakelite.

Often the color stays green, but you can try to polish it with Brasso. Try Brasso first, before you paint it. Black lacquer is probably the best for maintaining a shine similar to the original shine. I have used black lacquer for many things other than hard rubber and bakelite, but when I used it on my toaster handles, and some other bakelite pieces, it looked very natural. Make sure that you clean the surface well with alcohol before you paint. Perhaps acetone will help remove oils and such, though be careful that it doesn't melt anything. It shouldn't.

Thomas

Brian.
I'm assuming it's hard, and you want it to remain that way. I would recommend regular paint thinner/mineral spirits, rather than the more harsh acetone or lacquer thinner. If its well aged, which I assume it to be, the mineral spirits probably won't attack it as harshly. You can use flat black paint, then overcoat it with a satin polyurethane to retain the original rubber appearance.

marv

:What's the most appropriate way to restore a hard rubber panel that has turned olive-drab green in color? I'm considering using glossy black paint or liquid shoe polish. This panel pre-dates Bakelite.