Yellowed plastic problem can be fixed?

Mikam73 · Post by **Mikam73** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:43 am

This feels amazing..

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum ... #post89902

http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/

nbla000 · Post by **nbla000** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:48 am

Thanks, very useful info.

vic user · Post by **vic user** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:32 pm

wicked!

i have quite a few keyboards that need their teeth whitened!

Richard James · Post by **Richard James** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:13 pm

Bookmarked that wiki entry.

Tormentor · Post by **Tormentor** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:31 am

Wow, my beloved Vic needs this badly, and I just yesterday discovered an old blender in the back of a pantry. Sounds like it's time to blend up some of that gel.

Post by **Jeff-20** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:57 pm

Tormentor's avatar gets me every time he posts. I don't know why it is so attention-grabbing. Is that a mug shot?

commodorevic20.com · Post by **commodorevic20.com** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 7:23 am

Thanks! I'll give this a try.

In the past, I've had some sucess with rubbing in "VIM" cleaning paste on yellowed plastics.

gklinger · Post by **gklinger** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 7:50 am

commodorevic20.com wrote:In the past, I've had some sucess with rubbing in "VIM" cleaning paste on yellowed plastics.

VIM is a detergent and all it will do is clean off external dirt and can't do anything about yellowing. Sometimes that is enough. I wouldn't advise using VIM though as it is abrasive in nature and it can damage the plastic.

My routine is to wash the computer cases in warm water with a sponge and liquid disk soap. If some heathen has written on the case with magic marker I gently rub the area with a Magic Eraser until the marks are gone and then rewash. When it's totally clean I can determine if there is any yellowing and deal with that as necessary. I always rewash the item after bleaching too.

I'm extraordinarily fussy about the appearance of my classic computers and that routine works for me. I remember bring my VIC-20 out to a TPUG meeting once and several people commented that it look unused. They should have seen it when I first got it. Ick.

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:00 am

I'm not sure to what degree Vim, Jif and the others make bigger impact than dishwasher detergent, soap and so on.

But yes, it would be cool if any manufacturer of dishwashers or washing machines made one with a built-in UV lamp and two slots: one for H2O2 mixture and one for the TAED catalyst. Then the machine could slowly release the two into a spray mechanism applying new coats onto the plastic while the light is on. Perhaps it'd be an extreme and expensive niche product but I think the technology is already there if one would like to build one.

gklinger · Post by **gklinger** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:23 am

carlsson wrote:I'm not sure to what degree Vim, Jif and the others make bigger impact than dishwasher detergent, soap and so on.

I'll preface this with a YMMV because products with the same name may differ from country to country and I am basing my comments on my first hand experience.

I said "liquid dish soap" and not dishwasher detergent soap (detergent and soap are two different things BTW). Products for the dishwasher, much like VIM, are abrasive in nature. The stuff I use to wash dishes by hand is called Palmolive, which absolutely IS soap, and it's a thick, creamy type of liquid (so hard to describe). VIM is also a thick, creamy type of liquid into which an abrasive has been added. When you roll it around on your fingers you can feel the small, sand-like particles. It is what is called a "scouring soap". Not something you want to use on beloved and valuable classic computers. You might as well rub them down with sandpaper.