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Whitening a yellowish spacebar on an IBM Model M keyboard: HOW?

Posted: 22 Dec 2016, 17:54
by devhdb
I have a 'rebel' space bar which, after the years has become quite yellowish and doesn't come out white enough as the rest of the keys after some thorough cleaning with this method:

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=32 ... #msg623677

I wonder if it's made of a different kind of plastic...

So what do you do to whiten/bleach key caps such as the spacebar? Shall I use bleach or would I risk damaging the plastic by doing that?

Posted: 22 Dec 2016, 18:04
by Ratfink
It's a Greenock model M, isn't it? A lot of those have ABS spacebars, which are prone to yellowing. A treatment with Retr0bright should make it shiny and new again (for a few years, at least).

Posted: 22 Dec 2016, 18:07
by devhdb
Oh, thanks Ratfink, I'll try that!

Re: Whitening a yellowish spacebar on an IBM Model M keyboard: HOW?

Posted: 22 Dec 2016, 18:28
by Techno Trousers
Worst case, you could buy a replacement PBT space bar. Unicomp sells them, but they might not quite match the vintage color.