Retrobright

[madmatt]

Does anyone here has tried to get rid of yellowish on abs plastics with Hydrogen Peroxide.

http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/

thought about getting WELLA Welloxon Perfect 9% as it is already a gel and could therefore be easily applied on keycaps and my bezel.

http://www.amazon.de/WELLA-Welloxon-Per ... B0016KX136

share your thoughts and if there is a similar topic to that one please let me know and give me a link.

best regards

madmatt

[JBert]

I'm afraid your topic isn't that original.
Retrobright has been known about for a couple of years, especially in the vintage computer forums.

Entering "retrobright" into the search box brought up this thread as 4th result:
http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/retr ... t5162.html

If you go further down, you also encounter a topic about how a cleaned up keyboard can yellow again:
http://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/ret ... t6084.html

[madmatt]

Sorry for that. Well, that returning fade is kind of a letdown. According to the pictures on http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/ I thought it could actually get rid of that yellowish fading once and for all. Will check your link then if there is something one can do against that. Thanks again for the link.

[Halvar]

I used something similar to the Wella product with success, yes.

I used this one, but it was a lot cheaper then:
http://www.amazon.de/Creme-Entwickler-C ... 7&sr=1-101

This was also mentioned somewhere here lately:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/261460799292?var ... 1423.l2649

But I guess it's all more or less the same. I would got for a 12% solution though (your link is a 9% solution), but I can't base that on anything substantial.

[kbdfr]

http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/retr ... ml#p163261

[madmatt]

there are only about 8-9 keycaps I want to use it on and they are only slightly yellowed and only noticeable in direct comparison to the other keycaps. Going with a 60ml bottle for now and if it working out I might go for a 1000ml bottle and start treating the really faded bezels and a yellowed keycapset of some of my g80 3000´s. Another question would be if that gel stuff is enough already or if I should get oxy clean and other stuff mentioned in the receipies on retrobright?

[kbdfr]

I would suggest you try both with and without OxyClean on not-so-important caps from the same set
in order to have a good comparison base.
Good luck!

[Halvar]

Chemically, the vital parts are the hydrogen peroxide and the oxy cleaner. The glycerine helps for the liquid to better cover the surface of the plastic, and the Xanthan gum thickens the solution so it stays on the surface longer.

You can try anything of course, and please report how it worked, but I wouldn't call it retrobright without the oxy cleaner.

[002]

The Oxy being essential is interesting. From memory, they list it as the "go faster stripes" which would imply that it expedites the process and isn't required, but I wonder if in practical terms it's kind of required because without the Oxy, the reaction would take *way* too long?

On the glycerine/gum, having done it once before, I think that more consistent results can be achieved by doing the bath in H2O2 and actually I plan to do that this weekend on an NCR case
The gum mixture is also to be less wasteful as I think Retr0bright was originally made with the assumption that people would be de-yellowing entire cases/monitors and such and that you would be getting more bang for your buck. I think the biggest thing most of us will be de-yellowing will be a keyboard case which is pretty ideal for taking the shallow bath approach. I'll be sure to record pictures and before/after of my results and post next week on the outcome.

[matt3o]

I can confirm that it works with just peroxide. I use insanely strong h2o2 and it brighten the hell out of those caps. That being said, I always have oxy at hand, so... why not?

[002]

Yes agreed, I plan to use it too, although I don't often have it on hand. Last time I bought it for the purpose of retr0brighting something, the missus used it all before I could start my project. So lesson learned I only buy it on the day

I got hold of some stronger stuff this time too - 35%.
Did you get yours on eBay? The seller of mine was flogging some "One Minute Cure" plan and included pamphlets and e-mailed me about it. I thought *what a fruit-loop*, then considered what I am going to use it for and figured she'd probably think the same of me.

[matt3o]

I use 130 vol. (35%). It is used for bleaching wood and it is pretty inexpensive in hardware stores (2 liters for 5 euros)

[002]

Ohh wow that's much cheaper than what I paid -_-
Would you mind sharing the brand or something? I'd like to know if there is an equivalent product here. Are there any other additives or it's just pure H2O2?

[matt3o]

No, it's pure H2O2

I don't think It has a brand per se. it is made by a chemical company here in Italy.

[collector of junk]

i've used just oxy clean( well asda own brand) on its own on doubleshots with good results .left in uk sun (yes we do get some) for 3 days

p.s could or should this post be moved to the retrobright "main post"??? just asking !!

[Muirium]

I might just try that. Good peroxide is a bugger to get hold of here, what with our island's long history of amateur bomb makers… ugh.

[lowpoly]

"1. Is a stronger peroxide solution better ?"
http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/Problems+and+Pitfalls
Short answer: no.

OTOH, they post a 30% recipe here:
http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/Retr0Bright+Gel

[matt3o]

I have to say that I always add water to 35% peroxide. Never had problems. Always worked like a charm.

[Muirium]

So what's the effective % strength when in use? That's the one we need to know…

[matt3o]

So what's the effective % strength when in use? That's the one we need to know…

I have the slightest.

3/4 H2O2 1/4 water I'd say + oxy.

[madmatt]

so I used the weekend, which was quite hot in germany, to get a sunburn and retrobright my g80 1000. What shall I say. Mixed 12 % hairstylist whatever gel with oxyclean and put it on. Left it in the sun for a day and that thing looks like it just left factory back in the 80s. Quite impressive. Will share photos once I am off from work.

best

madmatt

[002]

I've been Retr0brighting an NCR case over the past few days.
This is the first time I've tried the bath method, having done the gel method last time which was very messy.
My method wasn't really calculated or (super-accurately) measured, I basically just winged it based on my knowledge of how this works and adjusted the mixture as I went along.

Tools:
- Plastic 35L tub (much too big but it's all I could find)
- Some pavers
- Some vinyl sheeting
- H2O2 35% (500ml)
- Vanish Napisan Oxi Action
- Lamp with UV bulb
- Water

I placed the pavers around the perimeter of the plastic tub simply to make it smaller so I wouldn't need to waste any precious H2O2, and then put the vinyl sheeting in. I think I put about 3.5 litres of water in, just enough to submerge the case, and put about half of the H2O2 in. Sprinkled on some Oxi Action, mixed it in a bit, then put the UV lamp onto it. I left it over night and checked the progress in the morning. I think the UV lamp is nowhere near as effective as the sun (plus I only had a small bulb), so for the last three days I placed it outside during this brutal Australian "winter" (~24 degrees Celsius).

Because it was exposed, bugs and stuff got into the mixture so I had to watch it often and fish them out with a fish net. Every time I did this, I'd add a bit more H2O2 and a pinch of Oxi.

Anyway here are the pics:

Day 1 - First two images are before any treatment.

Spoiler:

Day 2 - Days 2 and 3 it's a bit hard to see what is going on because the brightness of the sun hides the tan-line a bit.

Spoiler:

Day 3 - This was a crappy Facebook photo to show progress to tinnie

Spoiler:

Day 4 - Finished the top case. Pretty happy with the result. I can't really make out the tan-line any more.

Spoiler:

Next - I've actually already got this bad boy soaking, and it has shown progress much quicker than the top half of the case. Might be because I just keep adding H2O2 to the water. I have not changed the water since starting

Spoiler:

[matt3o]

thanks for documenting your experiment.

I'm under the impression that the sun does a much better work than UV lamps. Usually in 8 hours of Italian-summer sun I get super whitening results. Maybe heat plays a role in it?

[002]

I thought that originally too but I am pretty sure it's all about the UV index. It looks like in Italy you guys have a similar one to ours in summer (i.e. Extreme) http://www.meteovista.com/Europe/Sunpower-Italy/171

I think in your instance you are using a much more concentrated mix (3 parts H2O2 to 1 part water?) so that might have something to do with your excellent results in relatively short time?

[matt3o]

yeah probably you just diluted it a little too much. better safe than sorry I guess

[002]

Yeah, especially considering it's not mine so I am always a bit more cautious but even if it were mine, the price of H2O2 is a prohibitive factor. I paid about 30 dollars for 500mls

[matt3o]

I'm pretty sure you can find a better deal looking at industrial/chemical products. Try to go in stores that deal with wood and wood treatment.