Cleaning your compacts

As promised, here’s a little guide to cleaning your beautiful little treasures.

I’m afraid I cannot take responsibility for any damage caused by using any of my processes, so please only use at your own risk and with caution!

Be prepared with:

• Methylated Spirit - be careful not to spill / drip etc.
• Cotton buds
• Toothbrush
• Cotton wool
• Water - can be be mixed with a mild soap

First of all, I must advise you stay well clear from the mirror. If you get any water on the mirror, it will fog up, smear, and you’ll be devastated. Having said that, cleaning the mirror is possible. I found that provided the mirror is totally secure, you can use a teeny drop of methylated spirit on cotton wool to clean the mirror. The alcohol will evaporate and you’ll need to keep wiping in circular motions with the cotton wool, with a small bit of pressure to get rid of any smears and make it look sparkly new. But be careful.. I scared myself the first time I was able to see my reflection.

Care must also be taken with the exterior of the compact. You should only attempt to clean your compact provided there is no damage to the design. Designs are made of different materials and common sense comes into play here (for example you cannot clean a paper design with water or chemical). If the surface is metallic and/or an etched design, I would use methylated spirit and cotton buds to clean any detailed crevices and finish off with cotton wool to polish up. If the surface is enamel or resin, I would use the same method but only if there are no cracks or signs of damage to the surface. If you’re struggling to remove any tough dirt, you can also use a toothbrush with a very gentle force - you wouldn't want to leave scratches. If there are any signs of damage then I would strongly suggest contacting an expert for advice so as not to worsen the damage.

Now, if you’re like me you’ll want to discard any used puffs and any residual powder in the compact. You can clean out any remaining powder with an old toothbrush, and then gently scrub the base with a drop of methylated spirit or mild soapy water to remove any last remaining grains. Some powder or dirt may have built up in any internal recesses or the outside rim of the compact - use a dampened cotton bud to clean up any of these hidden areas.

As a final touch, you can use dry cotton wool to gently rub over the compact’s surfaces to polish off any finger marks. You should now be in the possession of a beautiful clean (and less smelly) compact.

Here are a couple I tried earlier..

A 1950’s Regency Stratton Compact - I cleaned the design very gently with cotton wool as there is visible wear and tear to the image, and used a drop of spirit on the outer frame.

A 1950’s Eros Statue Compact - I believe this is a Kigu Darling compact but please correct me if i’m wrong as I've not been able to find a makers mark or much information to confirm this.

I discarded the old used puff, cleaned out the residual powder with cotton buds and cotton wool, and finished off polishing up the mirror and the base.

Unfortunately I don't have enough hands to take pictures of the full cleaning process, however if there is enough interest, I'm happy to video the process and update the post. Please feel free to email or comment below should you have any questions and I'll try to help.

Where to look?

The biggest national source of information on vintage compacts is through the British Compact Collectors Society (BCCS). The society was founded by life member Juliette Edwards, a name you will become familiar with during your research as Juliette is the godmother of all compact collectors. In my short time as a collector I have seen the respect and following this lady has, as a result of her amazing knowledge and passion for vintage compacts, particularly the Stratton range.

The British Compact Society costs £18.00 a year to join and after only being a member for a couple of months, I feel like I have already had my monies worth due to the amount of information opened up to me. They’re also a wonderful community of people from all generations who like to collect, share, and help answer each others questions. The society members also meet up at annual conventions with guest speakers and I really hope I’m able to attend one year; just to see other treasured compact collections and learn more about the different vintage compacts I’m yet to discover.

Juliette Edwards is also author of the self-published book; The Stratton Identification Key. I have found this book invaluable and this is now my bible for helping me to identify Stratton compacts. The book helps to identify compacts through families and dates of the different styles manufactured, also indicating which compacts are more common or rare to find. You can purchase the book by writing to Juliette, through the BCCS website here.

The objective of this blog is to help share information for anyone researching vintage compacts and I have listed a few links below to get you started. I’ll come back and add to these links as I find more that are helpful. I'll also be looking at helpful books and sharing the titles on my blog to help with your research. Vintage compacts are always in fashion and I aim to open the barriers of compact collecting for all generations because it can be so much fun!

Click ‘em up for more info:

British Compact Collectors Society - The BCCS official website

The Compact Clinic- Experts on restoring compacts

Vanroe Compacts - An inspiring entrepreneur

Vintage Compacts (Kigu) - A goldmine of information on Kigu

Collecting Vintage Compacts Blog - A packed blog full of information on individual designs

Poodles and Pincurls - A fun vintage beauty blog

Miavenues - Good tips for dating your Stratton

Antique Atlas - A big collection of compacts

Pinterest - 1920's to 1950's Stratton - Some beautiful examples of Stratton compacts.

Compacts- A Collectors’ Manual - Juliette Edward's first book is an excellent guide for  beginner 

History of Stratton

The story of Stratton powder compacts actually begins with knitting needles….

(credit to http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im193412GHK-Stratnoid.jpg#filelinks)

In 1868 the company was founded and began the manufacture of Stratnoid knitting products. In the early 1920’s Stratton began importing components from America and began marketing powder compacts, known as Stratnoids. Personally, I enjoy collecting the older compacts and Stratnoids are still relatively obtainable if you look in the right places although I’m yet to add one to my collection.  In the early 1930’s they began manufacturing their own components and the branding became became better known as Stratton.  

Stratton were affiliated with other companies through mergers and changed hands several times. Other parts of the business became known for the manufacture of radio transmitters which became more popular and advanced through the decades as new technology became available.

It's fascinating to learn that the company made huge contributions to the armed forces during war times, manufacturing thousands of transmitters and receivers for the forces. The company also sold other beauty products such as the ‘Reduca chin-strap helmet’, designed to reduce the look of your double chin without creams! However, I’m here to tell you about the fancy metal section of the business.

Stratton compacts became very fashionable and by the mid 1930’s Stratton were the biggest UK producer of powder compacts, owning  half of the  market share. The earlier Strattons were marketed as non-spill compacts, featuring a well in the centre of the compact to hold the powder.

Unfortunately during the WWII bombings; Stratton lost four out of five of their factories halting production but according to Graces’ Guide some machines in the remaining factory were modified to help war efforts. The machines that made Stratton’s charming lipstick holders were modified to produce shell cases.

In 1946  Stratton resumed production and their beautiful fancy metal works became as popular as ever.

More notable Stratton dates:

1948 - Stratton patented their self opening inner lid, a very popular feature of Stratton compacts enabling ladies to get to the powder without chipping a nail.

1956 - Stratton patented the frame style lid of their convertible compacts, allowing the compact to be used for either solid or loose powder.

I enjoy looking at the vintage advertisements for Stratton compacts as I believe they give an insight into the social history of the time:

Stratton advert 1959:

(credit to Vanroe’s fascinating blog https://powdercompacts.wordpress.com/2011/06/07/strattons-vintage-powder-compact-advertisements/)

Stratton advert for Reader's Digest 1970:

(credit to Vanroe’s fascinating blog https://powdercompacts.wordpress.com/2011/06/07/strattons-vintage-powder-compact-advertisements/ )

Arguably, the most popular or most available vintage compacts are their Princess, Queen convertible, and standard convertible compacts as they each remained in production for around 40 years, from the 1950’s to 1997. It can be difficult to date these however you can get an idea by looking at the design on the lid of the compact and the design of the base.

There is no definitive way of dating a compact that I have found (so far) but there are ways to get a rough idea of how old your Stratton is and i'll be posting about this soon, however I've found this YouTube video which also offers some good tips :

Stratton also acquired other big brands such as Kigu and Mascot and continued to manufacture beauty products until 1997.

The company changed names and is now back in production, importing components and selling as Stratton of Mayfair.