MidnightAbyss
Offline
Kansas City

I am doing this to a blueboy and a whiteboy currently. I soaked both of them in 3% hydrogen peroxide for 72 hours prior. I replaced the H2O2 every 24 hours. It made a big difference but my whiteboy still isn't a crisp white. In fact it hadn't made any progress for the last 24 hours or so I soaked it. Same goes for the blueboy pretty much. Progress on both of them is stalled and they are both still noticeably yellowed. I mixed up the original retr0bright recipe exactly as it said early this morning and put them out at around 8 in the sunlight. It's been a warm day so I've been reapplying the gel every 45 minutes. Its been almost five hours now and there is literally no difference at all. None. Nada. Zip. I have no idea why they both have stalled at this point and refuse to get any better. Does anyone have any insight into this? It's getting kind of frustrating because the many wet dreams I've had about this whiteboy returning to it's former glory are now becoming so distant it seems.

Last edited by MidnightAbyss (Oct 15, 2014 5:47 pm)

friendofmegaman
Offline
CA

So in my experience 3% H2O2 isn't too efficient. You need this http://amzn.com/B004OKDW20 This is 40%

Buy a couple and coat your GB shells in it. Then wrap it in the clear (100% clear!) shrink wrap and put under UV light (or direct sunlight, but I haven't tried it I go with UV lamp).

Again in my experience small amounts of yellow goes off in mere hours, good deal of yellow in 24 hours, hardcore yellowness might take up to 48 hours.

What I tried it with:
- Original Famicom very yellowed - whitens it to 'vanilla' color, not perfectly white. Took 24 hours
- Famicom model 2 considerably yellowed (not too hardcore) - took 24 hours to restore original color
- NES controller so yellow, brown even - took around 40 hours to return to original color
- Front panel of SNES (one surrounding joystick slots) a bit yellowed - took 2 hours

IMPORTANT!!!
This is ONLY relevant for the side EXPOSED TO UV. You need to turn it over and give another side a go (given it's also yellow of course, it might be good).

Finally.
Retrobright works best on grey and colorful plastic. I think you will be able to fully recover your blueboy's color (I actually have one blueboy myself with a bit of yellowing but haven't brightened it yet).
As for white white (such as white boy) certainly give it a fair coat and leave it at least for 24 hours. It might not recover completely but should be much better.

And most importantly please keep us posted and show the pics wink

Last edited by friendofmegaman (Oct 16, 2014 12:03 am)

MidnightAbyss
Offline
Kansas City
friendofmegaman wrote:

And most importantly please keep us posted and show the pics wink

Will do! Unfortunately I have no before pics. I'm using 15% H2O2 currently. I soaked them for 72 hours in 3% only when I was waiting for the xanthan gum to arrive. I was hoping it would sort of jump start the process. Thanks for the reply! I'll just give it more time and see what happens.

Also, the link isn't working for me.

Last edited by MidnightAbyss (Oct 15, 2014 8:56 pm)

MidnightAbyss
Offline
Kansas City

I went out and got a black light so I could continue on into the night. I couldn't find anything better so I figured it was better than nothing. I know they emit more UV than a standard bulb but not as much as something like a reptile lamp. We'll see what happens I guess. If anything else I got a sweet light to expose the nastiness of my bed sheets. I'm joking. I just washed them... last month.

MidnightAbyss
Offline
Kansas City
friendofmegaman wrote:

You need this http://amzn.com/B004OKDW20. This is 40%

I got your link to work by removing the period. The stuff you linked is called 40 Volume but it's H2O2 percentage is 12% not 40%. Hair products are listed as V10, V20, V30, and V40. The jump from each one is 3% H2O2. So V10 has 3% and V40 has 12%.

friendofmegaman
Offline
CA
MidnightAbyss wrote:
friendofmegaman wrote:

You need this http://amzn.com/B004OKDW20. This is 40%

I got your link to work by removing the period. The stuff you linked is called 40 Volume but it's H2O2 percentage is 12% not 40%. Hair products are listed as V10, V20, V30, and V40. The jump from each one is 3% H2O2. So V10 has 3% and V40 has 12%.


Black light would go too.

Weird I'm pretty sure I read on the back of the tube that it has 40% H2O2... I'll double check it once I get home.

Plus I noticed you chose the xantam gum approach. I wouldn't recommend you that because the thing is too hard to clean off. Especially from groovy parts and screw holes. The hair solution I linked can be used as is. And way easier to remove.

EDIT
Also updated link on the original post, sorry, didn't notice the dot.

Last edited by friendofmegaman (Oct 16, 2014 12:03 am)

arfink
Offline
Minneapolis

I've never bothered with the retrobrite pastes, I pretty much exclusively use the liquid bath. In the past I have used the cheap 3% hydrogen peroxide and sometimes I've even cut it with water to make sure I can fully submerge the pieces. I use more oxi-clean than suggested, and when I can't notice any more fizzing or bubbling I add more. I also frequently agitate to ensure maximum chemical availability. I've also just been using sunlight.

Here's an example of one I did several years ago, and the only photo I have on hand that's convenient.

I had the pieces in a glass jar, and used a pie plate as a kind of sun reflector, and just made sure I stirred it often and frequently added oxiclean when the fizzing stopped.

EL=DBS
Offline

I have an off-white Pocket I wanted to try this on but I'm worried about the paint. Will it remove the A, B, START and SELECT text as well?

Jazzmarazz
Offline
Michigan
EL=DBS wrote:

I have an off-white Pocket I wanted to try this on but I'm worried about the paint. Will it remove the A, B, START and SELECT text as well?

I think not, as long as the concoction is mild enough. It is not really a paint, it is something like an enamel.

MidnightAbyss
Offline
Kansas City

Sad update. I botched the blueboy. Today I decided to try just Oxiclean and water. I found the ratios on another forum and went for it. I checked it about every hour and no progress was being made whatsoever as far as yellowing goes. I always took it out and then dried it to check for the onset of bloom. Left to eat supper tonight and I came back and guess what? It had started to bloom. It's slight but very noticeable. Odd thing is that the blueboy is still yellowed but has the bloom effect over it in places. What makes everything worse is that I botched a Game Boy Color frontlight job too. With the frontlight hooked up it just flashes off as soon as you turn it on. If I undo it then it will work. I've tried everything at this point. Can't find any shorts. Nothing. It's a kitsch-bent kit and I did the loca method he links. So now I have a ruined blueboy and a ruined Game Boy Color. Life is good! I think I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now.

EL=DBS
Offline
Jazzmarazz wrote:

I think not, as long as the concoction is mild enough. It is not really a paint, it is something like an enamel.

Sorry to bump this but I wanted to know whether Retr0bright or anything similar would work on clear (transparent) plastic. I got a defective Pocket for the case but the yellowing is quite visible.

Jazzmarazz
Offline
Michigan
EL=DBS wrote:
Jazzmarazz wrote:

I think not, as long as the concoction is mild enough. It is not really a paint, it is something like an enamel.

Sorry to bump this but I wanted to know whether Retr0bright or anything similar would work on clear (transparent) plastic. I got a defective Pocket for the case but the yellowing is quite visible.

http://brickjungle.blogspot.com/2010/03 … aq_21.html

EL=DBS
Offline

Ah, I see. Thanks for all the help.

Jazzmarazz
Offline
Michigan
EL=DBS wrote:

Ah, I see. Thanks for all the help.

Start with a smaller ratio than even he suggests. I cannot stress  this enough. Then if you're confident in the outcome, add a little more of the active ingredient next time. None of us can afford to melt a GB. sad

But yes, it will work on clear too. wink

Teh D3th St4r
Offline
Santa Cruz, California

HOLD THE PHONE!
40 vol. developer cream (like from a hair salon) a tablespoon of oxyclean, and lots of sunlight (I use short-wave UV curing lights).
I did this one a couple of months ago.

MidnightAbyss
Offline
Kansas City

Definitely do the tried and true mixture ratios. I ruined the blueboy from what I suspect was a bad ratio I found on another forum. Live and learn I guess. I'm going to eventually try to clear coat the blueboy and see if it helps. When it's wet you can't see the milkyness but when it's dry you can. The whiteboy came out great though and is happily sitting in the drawer with the rest of my Gameboy collection. It never removed all of the yellowing but it's far better than what it was.