Refresh plastics *RetroBrite*

[wii_HD]

I have been aware of the RetroBrite process for a number of years and intended to try it sometime or another, I just never got the motivation to get the ingredients together.

Then just recently I came across a blog that said there was a off the shelf product that was ready to use as is.

So as I have got some GameCubes with yellow-ish controller ports which do not clean with conventional cleaning products I decided to try the RetroBrite way.

I dont know if the staining is nicotine or sun ageing but it sure looks ugly compared against a clean controller port.



I put a strip of tape on the port to see if there would be noticeable difference.

The process itself involved applying cream peroxide with a toothbrush all over the discoloured area of the port and then covering it in cling film which helps to stop the cream drying away.

I then left the controller port outside in bright sunshine for a total of four hours of which it was cloudy for about ninety minutes.

After which I washed the port to remove the residue peroxide.



Remarkable difference - image on screen fails to deliver the true change seen.




The products used - Jerome Russell 12% Cream Peroxide - Kitchen cling film.

I got the peroxide from Superdrug (£1.52) retail chain store here in UK.

Here is the blog that brought this product to my attention - Thanks guy. http://stiggyblog.wordpress.com/2011/04 ... ter-cases/

[dilav]

Thanks for sharing this information. I have a controller port cover and a dreamcast which has some light yellowing and was thinking of painting them. Will probably try this instead.
I don't think this will work on the aging yellowing of NES/SNES cases, anyone know?

[liquitt]

Thanks for sharing this information. I have a controller port cover and a dreamcast which has some light yellowing and was thinking of painting them. Will probably try this instead.
I don't think this will work on the aging yellowing of NES/SNES cases, anyone know?

have you clicked the link? look at his photos - his computer cases look worse than any yellowed nes i've ever seen!!

[_Nold_]

Cool stuff!

I had one yellow faceplate, too.. just painted it black and now it looks really evil

[HomelandReloaded]

I don't think this will work on the aging yellowing of NES/SNES cases, anyone know?

I don't know either, but I understood that some of those older consoles were made from a bad batch of plastic ingredients, so it may still be necessary to remove the surface layer. It's great to know that there's a way to clean up GameCube systems now, though at the risk of making them less fire resistant (didn't even know they were treated!) I will adjust the prices I pay for items on eBay!

[wii_HD]

For the doubters please read up - http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/

This sh1t works

[dilav]

have you clicked the link? look at his photos - his computer cases look worse than any yellowed nes i've ever seen!!

Yes, I have clicked it and read the article. Not sure why at the time of posting I though of the NES/SNES to be any different.

I don't know either, but I understood that some of those older consoles were made from a bad batch of plastic ingredients, so it may still be necessary to remove the surface layer. It's great to know that there's a way to clean up GameCube systems now, though at the risk of making them less fire resistant (didn't even know they were treated!) I will adjust the prices I pay for items on eBay!

To rethink I believe it should work on the consoles as it had worked on computers and the cause of yellowing could be the same. However I do find that the yellowed Snes plastic is weaker than the non yellow ones.

[HomelandReloaded]

Yes, if the fire retardant was one of the materials in the plastic then it should work the same (I had thought it was just a coating, like on furniture).

Thanks to Wii-HD for telling us about this - now I've just got see the look on face of the staff at the checkout when I buy the cream peroxide product

I'm not going to mix my own now I know what's in it.

[TPSNT]

Thanks for sharing this information. I have a controller port cover and a dreamcast which has some light yellowing and was thinking of painting them. Will probably try this instead.
I don't think this will work on the aging yellowing of NES/SNES cases, anyone know?

I have used it on several SNES and SFC consoles and it works great. They look like new. You can't tell the difference between one that is treated with Retr0bright and a new one unless you put them side by side.

On the Retr0bright wiki they advise not to use hairdressing creams because they can contain additives which might damage the surface of the plastic. I bought a bottle of 30% hydrogen peroxide from a chemist and I dilute it to 15%. It gives me great results.

Unfortunately I didn't make a before picture, but in the picture I have attached the SNES is original color and the SFC is treated with Retr0bright.

[emu_kidid]

very nice TPSNT. I have a lot of NES consoles in need of a good retroBrite do over.

[SouLSLayeR]

I was at the super market today and I remembered the retrobrite project for some reason.
I did try to make the original one some time ago, but I couldn't find cheap and small quantities of hydrogen peroxide.

So I bought this on impulse:


And its ingredients...(it seems all hair products are 12% max):


I applied a fairly thin layer with an (old ) toothbrush and covered it with kitchen membrane/film (I don't even know how's called).

To be honest, I was so anxious to see the results I only left it only about a hour in the sun.
Rinsed with water and...

IT'S FREAKING EPIC :3

Oh, and the best part is the price.
0.54 euros.

[HomelandReloaded]

That really is good - it's great to see old consoles looking new again! By the way, the film is called cling film in the UK.