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RetroBright - SE/30 plastics AFTER
Here is the "after shot" which shows the cleaned system. I cleaned all the plastics on the SE/30, on the HD20 drive underneath and the IIgs keyboard. The Apple speakers you see were never yellowed. I bought these new in the box on EBAY -- they were never used by the owner and always stored in the box so they never yellowed. The speakers show just how perfect the RetroBright method is. It doesn't turn the plastics white. Instead it restores the plastics to their original platinum appears.
Yes, yes, if you look closely you can see that the front bezel of the SE/30 is not 100% deyellow as the back. But after staring at white cardboard all day outside, my eyes were shot. Another dose of RetroBright and a few hours in the sun would make the front and back sides match perfectly. But that will be for another day. Breaking apart my SE/30 was a chore I don't wish to repeat often!
Yes, yes, if you look closely you can see that the front bezel of the SE/30 is not 100% deyellow as the back. But after staring at white cardboard all day outside, my eyes were shot. Another dose of RetroBright and a few hours in the sun would make the front and back sides match perfectly. But that will be for another day. Breaking apart my SE/30 was a chore I don't wish to repeat often!
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Comment by James Wages on November 15, 2009 at 5:05am - Adam, the most troublesome part is the disassembly required for the front panel. You have to remove the CRT and speaker too. I also removed the color logo, of course, as that is metal and would be adversely affected by the H202 deyellowing. But as you can see, it's worth it.
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Comment by Adam Rosen on November 14, 2009 at 8:14pm - Looks great James! Debating whether to do this to some of my old Macs. I'd rather take apart an SE/30 than a Mac Mini anyday, though! :)
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Comment by James Wages on August 16, 2009 at 5:58pm
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You are correct that the 3% peroxide I used is available at most any drug store (although I purchased mine online here in Japan). But RetroBright is not a "product" at all. It is a "method of deyellowing plastics" as described on its Wiki here:
http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/Retr0Bright+Gel
My implementation of that "RetroBright method" differs from what is on that Wiki insofar as I used lower concentrations of H202 (only 3% in my case) and I charted new waters with my use of household corn starch as a thickener. The corn starch makes it possible to convert the RetroBright liquid into a gel. The benefit of the gel is that you can deyellow larger sections of plastic without having to purchase an enormous amount of H202 for submerging.
In my photos, you can see the result of both forms of RetroBright: gel (for larger parts) and liquid (for smaller parts).
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Comment by Lars (WhyOSX) on August 16, 2009 at 4:56pm - A 3% H₂O₂ solution is available at every pharmacy - 'RetroBright' may be a product sold only in the U.S..
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Comment by Ken on August 16, 2009 at 4:13pm - Congrats. The results are spectacular!
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Comment by James Wages on August 16, 2009 at 4:12pm
- Large plastics were deyellowed with my "corn starch" gel version of RetroBright, while small parts such as the keyboard keys were submerged in the liquid version. I used regular 3% hydrogen peroxide to clean everything, and as you can see from the photos, you really do not need any stronger concentration of peroxide to deyellow vintage plastics.
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Comment by Lars (WhyOSX) on August 16, 2009 at 6:52am
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Did you apply it with a cloth or put the parts in a bath ?
Great results anyway.
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