Anybody know ways to get the yellow out? My mother in law sent this video. Anybody try this? Seems like stickers are scrap with this method.
Toy yellow removal
- Thread starter Darth_Prime
- Start date
I've heard of using Hydrogen Peroxide before, but the UV light bit was new to me. I've never tried it myself, though. Always been afraid I'd ruin something.
Right? I’ve got a B Wing and a Jetfire that could use a dip. I’m afraid like you of making them worse. And as I mentioned, ruining the stickers.
I've used the hydrogen peroxide method before. Took some time, mostly cause the week I decided to do it, the weather was entirely overcast, but it worked beautifully.
Edit: yes, I lost the stickers, but it was a garage sale g1 jetfire that was already missing pieces, so I didn't care.
edit2: found the pictures I took during the process.
Edit: yes, I lost the stickers, but it was a garage sale g1 jetfire that was already missing pieces, so I didn't care.
edit2: found the pictures I took during the process.
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I've always worried about any potential chemical reactions damaging the plastic with these sort of fixes. I know I remember reading about people running into problems with the plastic cracking on MP seekers a number of years ago, and the realization that everyone who had the problem had all used the same chemical to strip paint off for customization. Really bugs me now that I can't recall what it was they were using that was problematic. Anyway, no idea if there are any such concerns for hydrogen peroxide, but I've just been leery of even trying it.
Also, with the peroxide method, I thought I'd read in the past that some people who had tried it had it clean up the whites nicely temporarily, but then the yellowing came back much more quickly and worse than it had been before. Another reason I've been hesitant to try it. I take it that hasn't been your experience wonko?
Also, with the peroxide method, I thought I'd read in the past that some people who had tried it had it clean up the whites nicely temporarily, but then the yellowing came back much more quickly and worse than it had been before. Another reason I've been hesitant to try it. I take it that hasn't been your experience wonko?
Keep the resulting cleaned plastic out of the sun as much as you can, and you shouldn't have a problem. My jetfire is still as white as the day I decanted and re-assembled him. The acting element in both cases (yellowing and whitening.) is UV light.
This comes up a lot in the retro-computing world—naturally—and a few years ago someone hit on the idea of just putting the stuff out in the sun with no chemicals at all. It works, though it takes longer than the peroxide method. Here's the needlessly-long and needlessly-meandering video that kicked it all off:
The long and short of it is that it's probably not exposure to direct sunlight that causes the yellowing in the first place, but indirect sunlight filtered through the window glass, combined with heat and possibly fluorescent lighting. He also speculates that it's less likely to cause the plastic to become brittle, but this hasn't been tested thoroughly. The biggest strike against it is that none of the other major YouTubers in the scene—who should be well aware of it by now—have attempted it, and they won't say why. I think there's a fear that you're literally just bleaching the plastic rather than simply reversing the yellowing effect.
The long and short of it is that it's probably not exposure to direct sunlight that causes the yellowing in the first place, but indirect sunlight filtered through the window glass, combined with heat and possibly fluorescent lighting. He also speculates that it's less likely to cause the plastic to become brittle, but this hasn't been tested thoroughly. The biggest strike against it is that none of the other major YouTubers in the scene—who should be well aware of it by now—have attempted it, and they won't say why. I think there's a fear that you're literally just bleaching the plastic rather than simply reversing the yellowing effect.
I would just look up a retrolabels set for him and do the hydroperoxide method.