Retr0Bright - Removing discoloration from old plastic

[Yoshi648]

Stand back, Yoshi is doing a science!

For anyone who collects older video games/computers/anything else involving plastic, surely you've come across something that has discolored with age. I'm sure many of you have (or at least seen) a nice Super Nintendo system or NES controller or something that instead of it's normal gray appearance, has turned a nice yellow/tan color over time. Thanks to the wonders of the internet a solution has been found to remove it.

It's called Retr0Bright. Basically it's a combination of Hydrogen Peroxide, an Oxy/Oxi clean laundry booster, and use of UV light (yes the thing that often expedites this yellowing processes helps reverse it).

I found this a while ago, but have been to lazy to try it out. I bought a 20 year old LEGO set online that came in the mail a few days ago. Half the set consists of white pieces, and many of them have turned a nice tan color, so figured I would finally try the stuff.

To test the waters first, here is a selection of other discolored white parts from my LEGO collection.
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My favorites are the 2X8 plate in the upper left that still has half of it as the original white, and the three 2X4 bricks that are entirely tan at this point.

I dumped the parts into a container, added some oxy-clean and hydrogen peroxide, and set it outside in the nice desert summer sun giving off lots of free UV light. It's a little after 9:00 now, I'll add more pictures during the day as this stuff hopefully works. Once I can confirm success on this, I'll try it on some Nintendo cartridges I have that are discolored.

[Yoshi648]

I think I used a little too much oxi-clean.

The point of the oxi-clean is to expedite the process. You can use just hydrogen peroxide and UV light and it'll work, just it'll probably take a few days. With the right conditions oxi-clean can get it done within a few hours to a day. Mine was pretty much done after an hour (and it's a bit cloudy outside).

I will say though, yes it does work!


I still left two pieces outside as they still are a bit discolored, but wow. Once I have everything inside fully cleaned and air dried, I'll take a final photo (and in the room with the same lighting as before ).

[Seiji J. Konokama]

This is interesting. I wonder if this would restore the whiteness of my Logitech keyboard, because the keys are terribly yellowed.

[karlwiesner]

Im surprised it doesnt corrode the legos at all

[Dragonite]

Haven't taken chemistry class in a couple years, but I wouldn't worry about that too much. It takes a lot to make plastic (basically tightly-packed, unorganized masses of polymer) break down than a bit of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).

[Yoshi648]

Alright, after just an hour of soaking in Retr0Bright and the parts (mostly) dry, here are the results:

Before:


After


Quite a difference I'd say! A few of the parts still have some yellow in it, though I'm sure it would be completely gone if left in longer.

I'm going to start making preparations for the next round to see how that comes out (note to self, use less oxi-clean on this round).

[GreenMan]

Note to yourself use a ton more oxiclean this round.
I want to know if you can get it to happen in seconds.