Slate Clock Cases

01	Remove the Movement and as many of the metal decorations as possible.
02	Wash the case with warm water and soft soap. Rinse well. Allow to dry.
03	Wash the case with White Spirit using Wire Wool grade 0000 lightly.
04	Allow to dry completely - the slate will look white and patchy - this is normal.
05	Carry out ALL necessary repairs to the case NOW.
06	Wash again with White Spirit and allow to dry.
07	With a soft cloth and a brush apply a thin coat of 50/50 Pure Linseed Oil/White Spirit.
08	Remove any excess and allow this to soak into the slate for one week.
09	Apply another coat of the mixture and leave for another week.
10	Rub the slate GENTLY with a soft cloth to remove any remaining moist mixture.
11	Apply a good solid beeswax and polish. [Do not use spray polishes]
12	Repeat stage #11 regularly for around 50 years.
13	Additional Note: Recently I had a REALLY bad slate case to restore. 100 years of varnish and paint! I suggested (in writing) to my customer that her case needed radical treatment and perhaps Nitromors would be necessary. As the case was in such a mess anything was worth trying. She agreed (in writing). I obtained a square foot of polished slate from our local gravestone dealer and painted it. When it was dry I applied Nitromors full strength paint stripper (Sodium Hydroxide and other things) to one half of the slate and left it for 2 hours. (Rubber gloves and eye protection !!) Then I washed it really well with hot water and ordinary washing-up liquid - the kind one uses for hand-washing cups and plates. The slate looked white and very bare. I allowed it to dry and washed with white spirit and continued with my usual method. The result was most encouraging and my customer agreed that her clock should be treated in this way. To be absolutely fire-proof, initially I treated the back only and was really pleased with the results. A lovely 'black' sheen and very uniform. Next I treated front and sides of this clock. Following the Nitromors the whole thing looked dreadful and for a few minutes I was worried. However, I simply continued with my usual procedure as given above without changing anything and in 3 weeks the clock looked beautiful. An added bonus was the exposure of several brass inlays and decorations that had been covered in the black paint. End result: Clock looks very nice indeed, happy customer and loads of recommendations. Next time I will still approach this procedure with caution as I suspect different materials will react in different ways. I shall treat the back of the case only at first and at this point I will get the customer to view it in person.