I did that initially. It seems to react with the peroxide and make the mixture heat up. I'd guess it's just speeding up reaction (de-oxidizing?)... I stopped as was worried it would cause streaking. I've had that happen just using the 40 cream lightener so have gone to just diluted peroxide and being patient.
Whatever you do, if it works for you, then it is good enough. Now that we got this out of the way, here is what I do: For big pieces like the casings, I use cream type H2O2, which I buy from suppliers that sell products for the beauty salons. Same strength value, 40, but it is in jel form. I apply a thick coat with a paint brush and wrap the whole thing with... wait for it... "stretch folio" (yes, that is the 3rd name for saran wrap or cling film) put it out to sun and massage it every hour or so to keep the jel as even as possible. Depending on the sun strength and how bad the yellowing was, it takes something between 2 to 4 hours. Now for the keycaps, I use the house oven. I read somewhere that retrobrighting is not dependent on UV, all it needs is energy. UV is a form of energy you can use and so is heat. I set the oven at 50 degrees C (120F) which is the lowest setting I have. I put all the keycaps in a glass bowl, pour in H2O2 (same cream type but I dilute it with water, 1 part water, 2 parts cream) give it a good stir until all the air bubbles that are stuck on the keycaps float up, put the lid on and into the oven to bake. This takes more time, around 4-5 hours at least, but I don't need to worry about the sun's angle etc, keycaps can be upside down, on their sides, doesn't matter because the heat is even everywhere. I also give it a good shake every hour or so.
Hello, Bora, and thanks! I've tried the gel/cream form of the peroxide, but when I've used it on cases, the results have sometimes been "uneven", leaving the case with a marbled or mottled appearance. I've seen others who, like yourself, get good results that way. I must be doing something wrong. That's why I use submersion, because it's always given me even results over the entire piece I'm working on. I like the idea of using the oven and I'll have to try it sometime. I think I forgot to mention in the video (actually, I think I mentioned it, but it was in one of the sections I had to re-record) that I do think temperature plays a part as well as the UV. I prefer it if the retrobright solution gets to about 150°F (60°C), which I usually achieve in the sun on a warm day. I also want to try, at some point, building an indoor submersion retrobrighting rig using both UV LEDs and a sous vide device for a controlled steady temperature.
Looks good,Keep meaning to try retrobright, but didn't have good results last time, bought a ton of uv led strip for peroxide....... maybe i will give it a try
Actually, now I think of it, I did use an LED box to retrobright that og Nintendo Entertainment System I did a video on a while back and it didn't suck. Completely forgot about that thing.
I just can't decide whether to retro-bright my 8-bit machine or not. It could use it, for sure. But it is the only one I have, and I don't want to damage it. I might try just doing the straight up "stick in the sun" without peroxide method and see how that goes.
I've never tried sunbrighting. I know it takes a loooooong time, so I wonder how harmful that much sun exposure might be. You'll have to let me know how it goes for you if you try it. Thanks for watching!
I put keys in a glass jar with diluted peroxide and just shake it every 30 minutes to an hour. Has worked really well. I really do like the results of retrobriting but everything I've done has shown it's just temporary... no UV protection or keeping it out of heat has stopped most things from re-yellowing in six months to a year or so. At best it might not come back as yellow. Just out of curiosity, I've re-done some white keys repeatedly over a few years and left others as original just to see if over treatments if the result would become more permanent or lessen but unfortunately, they all return to about the same yellow as the ones that are untreated. My Coco 2 case though seems to have held up better. Interestingly enough I only did the top half of the case on my Coco 2, probably about seven or so years ago, and compared to the bottom half of the case, it has held up much better. It's started re-yellowing a little but significantly less.
Thanks for the info. I like to get other people's perspectives. The first thing I retrobrighted, my childhood Coco 3 case, has held up well after a little over a year. I used 303 protectant on it, but haven't made any real effort to keep it out of the sun or heat. It spent 30+ years in an attic with absolutely no climate control and only ever got a small bit of yellowing. I didn't do the keys (didn't need to). As with most everything, I expect results and longevity will vary. I think it depends on the specific chemical make-up of the plastics involved.
Looks great! I was watching Geek With Social Skills, and he used Oxiclean to do his retrobright. I will give that a try. Thanks for sharing
I'll have to try that sometime. Thanks.
I did that initially. It seems to react with the peroxide and make the mixture heat up. I'd guess it's just speeding up reaction (de-oxidizing?)... I stopped as was worried it would cause streaking. I've had that happen just using the 40 cream lightener so have gone to just diluted peroxide and being patient.
Whatever you do, if it works for you, then it is good enough. Now that we got this out of the way, here is what I do:
For big pieces like the casings, I use cream type H2O2, which I buy from suppliers that sell products for the beauty salons. Same strength value, 40, but it is in jel form. I apply a thick coat with a paint brush and wrap the whole thing with... wait for it... "stretch folio" (yes, that is the 3rd name for saran wrap or cling film) put it out to sun and massage it every hour or so to keep the jel as even as possible. Depending on the sun strength and how bad the yellowing was, it takes something between 2 to 4 hours.
Now for the keycaps, I use the house oven. I read somewhere that retrobrighting is not dependent on UV, all it needs is energy. UV is a form of energy you can use and so is heat. I set the oven at 50 degrees C (120F) which is the lowest setting I have. I put all the keycaps in a glass bowl, pour in H2O2 (same cream type but I dilute it with water, 1 part water, 2 parts cream) give it a good stir until all the air bubbles that are stuck on the keycaps float up, put the lid on and into the oven to bake. This takes more time, around 4-5 hours at least, but I don't need to worry about the sun's angle etc, keycaps can be upside down, on their sides, doesn't matter because the heat is even everywhere. I also give it a good shake every hour or so.
Hello, Bora, and thanks! I've tried the gel/cream form of the peroxide, but when I've used it on cases, the results have sometimes been "uneven", leaving the case with a marbled or mottled appearance. I've seen others who, like yourself, get good results that way. I must be doing something wrong. That's why I use submersion, because it's always given me even results over the entire piece I'm working on.
I like the idea of using the oven and I'll have to try it sometime. I think I forgot to mention in the video (actually, I think I mentioned it, but it was in one of the sections I had to re-record) that I do think temperature plays a part as well as the UV. I prefer it if the retrobright solution gets to about 150°F (60°C), which I usually achieve in the sun on a warm day.
I also want to try, at some point, building an indoor submersion retrobrighting rig using both UV LEDs and a sous vide device for a controlled steady temperature.
Looks good,Keep meaning to try retrobright, but didn't have good results last time, bought a ton of uv led strip for peroxide....... maybe i will give it a try
I've never had good luck with LEDs. Give it a go with real sunlight and see what happens. Let me know how it goes. Thanks!
Actually, now I think of it, I did use an LED box to retrobright that og Nintendo Entertainment System I did a video on a while back and it didn't suck. Completely forgot about that thing.
I just can't decide whether to retro-bright my 8-bit machine or not. It could use it, for sure. But it is the only one I have, and I don't want to damage it. I might try just doing the straight up "stick in the sun" without peroxide method and see how that goes.
I've never tried sunbrighting. I know it takes a loooooong time, so I wonder how harmful that much sun exposure might be. You'll have to let me know how it goes for you if you try it. Thanks for watching!
I put keys in a glass jar with diluted peroxide and just shake it every 30 minutes to an hour. Has worked really well. I really do like the results of retrobriting but everything I've done has shown it's just temporary... no UV protection or keeping it out of heat has stopped most things from re-yellowing in six months to a year or so. At best it might not come back as yellow. Just out of curiosity, I've re-done some white keys repeatedly over a few years and left others as original just to see if over treatments if the result would become more permanent or lessen but unfortunately, they all return to about the same yellow as the ones that are untreated. My Coco 2 case though seems to have held up better. Interestingly enough I only did the top half of the case on my Coco 2, probably about seven or so years ago, and compared to the bottom half of the case, it has held up much better. It's started re-yellowing a little but significantly less.
Thanks for the info. I like to get other people's perspectives. The first thing I retrobrighted, my childhood Coco 3 case, has held up well after a little over a year. I used 303 protectant on it, but haven't made any real effort to keep it out of the sun or heat. It spent 30+ years in an attic with absolutely no climate control and only ever got a small bit of yellowing. I didn't do the keys (didn't need to). As with most everything, I expect results and longevity will vary. I think it depends on the specific chemical make-up of the plastics involved.