Cheap, easy and effective whitener for yellowed plastic items - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: Axtman
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2022, 04:20:53 pm
content: You guys probably already know about this trick but I will restate.I took a few badly yellowed knobs of the test gear and put them in a baggie (Ziplock clear plastic bag). I then poured filled up the baggie about 1/2 way with 3% hydrogen peroxide (commonly found at drugstores). I then placed the baggie in the sun for a few days. The knobs came up much whiter than before.This technique has been used by retro gamers and computer collectors to brighten the bodies of old yellowed games and computers.

author: Axtman
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2022, 04:48:46 pm
content: The button on the top was whitened with the procedure I discribed. The button on the bottom was what the other button looked like.(The button looks whiter in real life.)

author: Haenk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 12, 2022, 03:16:11 pm
content: You might want to google "retrobright".

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 12, 2022, 04:18:48 pm
content: ... then note what opinions museum conservationists have on the process. There is a serious risk of embrittlement, and old ABS may be pretty weak to start with!

author: EE-digger
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2022, 03:27:51 pm
content: RetrObright had a number of chemists and others analyze the cause and come up with their solutions, including a gel recipe.Here's another take on the "whitening" however. For me it worked on 3 or 4 products, but only from a certain timeframe...I had several Fluke instruments which were already toward brown/amber when I acquired them. Never having heard of the brightening efforts at the time, I tested the surface of one with full strength purple cleaner. When sprayed onto the surface, the brown literally rained down the sides of the instrument. It did not soften or affect the surface, even if an area was gloss, so I continued.The units looked like new when cleaned this way and I concluded that the discoloring was from years of cigarette smoke. I suppose it could also have been from some process that was running in a plant, leaving deposits on bench instruments and lungs over time.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2022, 03:44:30 pm
content: Quote from: EE-digger on March 15, 2022, 03:27:51 pmWTF is "purple clearner"?Is it a reference you chaps across the pond automatically understand?Cigarette smoke certainly leaves brown tar stains which come off with a variety of cleaners, IPA is quite good.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2022, 03:52:53 pm
content: Does Google function on your side of the Atlantic?

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2022, 04:13:54 pm
content: Y' know it would have been just as quick to provide an answer as expend the effort in a sarcastic reply.Anyway checking the composition the stuff has hydrogen peroxide in it so not surprising it lightens browned ABS.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2022, 04:25:01 pm
content: My response was no more sarcastic than yours. Nyaa-nyaah!

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2022, 05:45:06 pm
content: Quote from: TimFox on March 15, 2022, 04:25:01 pmNo, your response wasdecidedlymore sarcastic. FWIW I am American and I’d never heard of “purple cleaner”, either. And a google search doesn’t seem to indicate it’s a specific brand name to begin with.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2022, 07:05:39 pm
content: Googling “purple cleaner” gives many hits on “Purple PowerTM” and other similar products with “purple” in the name.I submit that “on your side of the Atlantic” and “you chaps across the pond automatically understand” are roughly equivalent in sarcasm, but extra credit for “WTF”.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2022, 08:23:05 pm
content: Ah, I see part of the problem.“you chaps across the pond automatically understand”Was not at all intended as sarcasm, it was a genuine query as to whether it was sufficiently well known in the US that no further explanation was needed.Apologies for over use of British English

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2022, 08:35:48 pm
content: I find the differences between British usage and American usage of the English language a fascinating topic."Rubber", "napkin", etc.Of course, the brand names for normal household products have not yet become thoroughly globalized, but "Persil" is now available in the US (since 2015).

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2022, 11:04:30 am
content: Australian... who also has no idea WTF is "Purple cleaner." Also aware that short, generic terms like that don't work well with google, and expecting to have to wade through piles of trash results. Also google results tend to be optimized for your own country, so might not even work at all for something like that.When people refer to commercial products, I wish they'd be more specific, since brand names rarely remain the same in different countries. Or can be entirely different products.Is this what you meant?https://www.amazon.com/4320P-Industrial-Strength-Cleaner-Degreaser/dp/B002HU5N4Ohttps://www.walmart.com/ip/Purple-Power-Concentrated-Industrial-Cleaner-Degreaser-32-oz-Gel-Floor-use/16879847Purple Power (4320P) Industrial Strength Cleaner and Degreaser Brand: PURPLE POWER

author: Haenk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2022, 11:22:16 am
content: Quote from: TimFox on March 15, 2022, 08:35:48 pmLol, took Henkel only a century then?

author: Paceguy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2022, 11:09:48 pm
content: That "purple cleaner" that is being referred to, is it possibly that Zep branded heavy duty degreaser that I use that happens to be purple in colour?

author: Bravo
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2022, 04:53:22 am
content: I am amazed that the topic of purple cleaner has had that much discussion. Methylated Spirits.

author: Renate
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2022, 12:36:59 pm
content: Semi-related:I had a little white Bluetooth speaker that I ignored for a few years.When I pulled it out of a box it was both yellowish and unpleasant to the touch, as if somebody had spilled something on it.It turns out that it originally had some sort of "soft touch" coating that gave it a softer feeling, a matte look.Apparently it had all decomposed into something else.It was tough removing every speck of the nasty stuff using isopropyl.In the end I had regular, non-matte, semi-shiny, smooth cheap white plastic.I have a Snark guitar tuner which is also losing a similar coating.

author: SoundTech-LG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2022, 02:42:07 am
content: Here's the purple list ingredients for all the smart asses... CLOROX2 but no bleach.https://smartlabel.labelinsight.com/product/6096219/ingredients

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2022, 01:35:11 pm
content: Quote from: SoundTech-LG on March 26, 2022, 02:42:07 amSo now you’re saying Clorox stain remover is the “purple cleaner”? Which is different from what other people have said?So maybe people weren’t being smartasses by asking for clarification for what is meant by “purple cleaner”, because it’s NOT a commonly-known term.

author: Renate
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2022, 02:53:33 pm
content: "Purple cleaner" is completely unambiguous. It clearly refers to:

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2022, 09:45:40 pm
content: Quote from: Renate on March 26, 2022, 02:53:33 pmOf course. I should have remembered, my bad! You can throw thechanclaat me now…

author: Renate
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2022, 11:21:51 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on March 26, 2022, 09:45:40 pmActually, I was just kidding. I have no idea what they meant.Still, that's the only purple cleaner that I know.