Adventures in Retrobrite - New techniques for restoring yellowed plastic!

I guess I missed where you said the dilution ratio of 40% peroxide to water for the peroxide+heat stovetop method? Doesn't it matter?

I have a midi controller keyboard and the keys have yellowed, some more than others. I got it 2'nd hand and from the yellowing I can see the previous owner had stuck some round stickers on the keys, because the part under the sticker did not yellow as much as the rest of the key. I hope I get a good result when retrobriteing the keys.

I'm curious of all the methods you used. Did any of them return to yellow, and if so which one took the longest?

It's been 7 years and maybe someone already suggested this, but maybe a sous vide submersion heater could work.

He didn’t give the measurements for the water and 40 volume clear for the stovetop method. Anybody know what they are?

I'm doing a retro robot restoration/modernization (Omnibot 2000), and I just wanna say thank you! I'm still debating on whether or not I want to do it, I find the yellowing kind of charming, but man it would be great to see the color in its former glory.

Cough Sous vide *Cough*. They're designed to heat up a bowl of water and keep the temp.

The problem i find using the salon cream is uneven finish. The spots where the paste is thicker will be brighter. It deffinatly works the quickest. Im going to try mixing it with watter and submurging the piece in it like the peroxoide method. O also make sure you clean all dirt off the plastic, if you dont it will leave a shadow. I suggest using a mr clean magic eraser.

Quick story about the clear solution stovetop method. I would recommend sticking around 150 (as oppose to 160) and keep the lid off. I had my pot solidly at 155(ish) with no lid so i put my synthesizer keys in the pot. I put the lid on which I think increased the water temperature. About 10-15 min later I looked at the pot it was over 200 and my keys were warped. I suppose the 2nd piece of advice would be to plan to stay in the kitchen the whole time. Grab a beer or a glass of wine, put a movie on the tablet, and watch that pot. Luckily it was used and cheap so I didn't pay much for it, but now it's garbage. The good news is the keys will look nice and bright when I throw them in the recycling.

The peroxide + heat is considerably whiter than any other key. Was that over whitened, or by far a better result?
It would be interesting to see it compared to an original pristine key.

this video is a main source of Wikipedia’s page on retrobriting now 😭

Have an apple IIe Platinum. Getting ready to retro bright. Good information thanks!

stop using Fahrenheit

Harris 12% peroxide comes in a gallon for 15/20 bucks ...I use a Titanium Portable Hot Tub Heater..

grazie per la guida, ma applicando una pellicola trasparente sui pezzi si potrebbe evitare di riapplicare la crema?

Excellent video, thank you

Hey 8-bit Guy, I really like your channel and have already learnt a lot here. I have a question regarding your experience, whether devices that you have bleached have yellowed again after a few years? Thank you very much.

I think the vynil dye did unyellow the key tho? When you rubbed it it looked less yellowed, kinda the same as the less effective working methods

I've been retrobriting an extremely yellowed Amiga 500 and mouse, using 40 volume (12%) salon developer mixed with some corn starch, brushed on, and left in a plastic box in the sun for a day or two. Results were mostly good, but dealing with evaporation and condensation is the big problem. Spots that dry out seem to receive extra bleaching, as do any parts that have condensation drip on them - presumably the condensate has a higher concentration of reactive species, and perhaps the dry spots are also more concentrated, or exposed to reagents in the surrounding atmosphere. It's quite possible to bleach beyond the original colour if you're not careful, and that's tricky to undo. I'm following up with Aerospace 303 protectant in the hope that it will block enough oxygen, light, etc. to keep things from re-yellowing too quickly.

Might try ozone+UV on my retro Nintendo consoles. My poor famicom is so yellow, and it really spoils its classic red and white design

Incredible Pink, made by a company called chem quest is the only engine degreaser that works, and it works really well

I love your videos, and watch them over and over again! I was curious, do you think some of these processes make the product whiter/brighter than it was from the factory? I've always wondered that, as some of the techniques get it more to a very slightly off white that I remember.

Great job , Mr.
Thanks for your video

I would argue the 40% peroxide + heat went too far. The Mac II has a certain gray tinge to the plastic giving it a creamy white appearance.

Oven shelf cleaner gels, some have sealable bags included

LC II was the first Mac I ever used. I was a freshman in HS. Oh the memories. 💙

Try Sous-vide? It may work to hold temp for long hours? Uncertain though!

Everyone please BE CAREFUL… I just tried the heat method and an ABS faceplate warped between 150-160 degrees, and I was checking it every ten minutes. This method is not safe for some materials and I’m just sick about it. Thank god it was a generic pc case and not something important.

Also guys if you use a more concentrated form of hydrogen peroxide, including oxiclean or pure sodium percarbonate, do not heat it up with a source that can cause ignition of gasses. So definetly not a flame, probably not a standard heating element either. Because pure hydrogen and oxygen in larger amounts isn't very safe, as one might imagine. Potentially explosive. Just be safe out there.

I was also thinking a dryer with no spin or an attachment inside to keep it level, could work very well for heating larger items. The safest is probably a sous vide style where you heat water and submerge the item in a sealed container to heat it.

Few other ideas. You can use clear plastic bags to keep less material blocking the sun and also needing less peroxide. Various sizes online and can be reused. Not to mention air tight. The second idea I had is setting it outside on a mirror so sides can get more sun. The best possible setup I can imagine is setting the plastic bag on glass or clear plastic, with a box shape of mirrors a few inches under it. Not sure if the box shape is necessary, but essentially reflect the sunlight back onto the underside and sides.

Generic brake cleaner is great stuff, it's potent though and while I've used it on my skin, I would wear gloves. Not sure it would work great for plastics though.

I know this is an old video, but instead of using the stove, have you thought about an ultrasonic cleaner?

You basically get two-for-one here. Use the heat for retrobrite, and you also get clean keys (saving you from scrubbing each key individually). You don't even need to fill a cleaner with hydrogen peroxide - fill the cleaner with water, and put the keys and peroxide in a zip lock bag in the cleaner. (I use water and dish soap in a zip lock bag just to clean the keys, and it works with no effort).

I haven't tried this, but I think it would have potential.

Great stuff. Thanks for the video!

You could probably just use a sous vide machine to heat the water for the heat method.

Back in the '70s, I used 409 spray cleaner on an old used 12" TV for my dorm room. It removed the yellowing. I'd done it a few times with excellent results.

Use a sous vide heater for a huge bath?

Aquarium tank and a sous vide machine...or multiple aquarium heaters and an empty external aquarium filter to circulate the heat. (these hang on the edge of the tank and have a pump that draws the liquid out of the bottom of the tank into a box, which then spills it back into the tank, over the top edge). You might even be able to attach a lighted aquarium hood, fitted with a UV light to really speed things up. If you decide to go that far, I would probably either paint the external glass on the tank or wrap it with something to keep the light in.

The nice thing about aquarium tanks is that they are available in many sizes, and you may be able to buy what you need (tank, heaters, external filter, light hood, and all), 2nd hand, from someone that is moving and not taking their fish with them, and is desperate to get rid of all the equipment.

Missed opportunity: Using the Control key as the "control key."

Ozone and peroxide (including indirect sources of it like sodium percarbonate) are oxidizers, and that's how they are able to bleach fabrics (or fade them in the case of ozone. Also ozone in higher concentrations is quite hazardous.) Peroxide hair bleach uses the oxidizing properties too.

If you're going to build the later Retr0brite setup made by 8BG that used UV lamps, if you either live alone or you make very sure that anyone who might visit the treating room is told not to go there, and you yourself have skin and eye protection, you could in theory get the best UV results using a UVC fluorescent tube with a wavelength capable of generating ozone. You wouldn't want to overdo this because UVC can break stuff down, especially the ozone-making form.

Personally 8BG's regular UV plus heating element setup is a fine general-purpose method. Using solar heat is viable in other locations. Yesterday it was 113F outside and extremely sunny in my backyard, including the asphalt, and I'm nowhere close to 8BG. So if you live in an arid state you can get very good solar results without as big of a need to use a heating element and UV tube. Of course, if you want the best results, you could do the heating element and tube while in the sun.

peroxide, much like alcohol, evaporates at room temperature. in a darkened room, it's likely not warm enough.

however, in any amount of SUN, it should be MORE than enough to evaporate. you probably had it dripping off the covering of the glass.

пластик от температуры плавится, ненадо его греть, клавиши перекоробит

How long does it take for yellow plastic to turn yellow again after it turns white?

Did you try acnee cream OXY 10?

If you're looking for a "big enough bag" just get a trash bag and apply some butyl seal to it. Or use tape. Or use clay. Or whatever to make a good seal. You could even upscale it using plastic sheets that are used to cover furniture while painting to make a bag. All you need is something tacky to make a seal 🤷

Try it with chlorine 👀

Hey 8-Bit Guy! Could you theoretically sous vide sun-yellowed plastic to circulate hot water to aid in restoration?

I tried 3% Hydrogen Peroxid and UV for 48 hrs and it did almost nothing. Did everything exactly like in the video. Not sure what I did wrong?

On the topic of cleaning before retrobrite, I think it'd be important to ensure that you get a clean result (no pun intended). I feel like the dirt and grime could interfere a lot with the process and result in spots that didn't get retrobrited or something in the gunk could mess the process up.

Overall, I wouldn't risk it. I kind of view it like cleaning your arm with alcohol before you get a shot. Can't risk any dirt and germs getting in the way of something that should help you.

sous-vide device (about $35 on ali-express) and a large plastic tub from a DIY Store will do your heating and volume maybe?

There are plastic bags meant for vacuum packing textiles. That in conjunction with running ozone sounds simple.