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Asked — Edited

How To Remove Yellowing From A Robot

does anyone know how to remove the yellowing on my plastic on my robot
i know about using bleach or white spray paint
but here is the problem.like on a R2-D2 robot it has silver paint,blue paint ,plus other colors,plus in very small detail.but yet on sme pieces have yellowing of the plastic
so can paint or bleach

so is bleach or painting it and then repaint the details with the right colors after it dries the only way or just leave it alone
i did see info on a thread after i wrote this about retrobright ,will try it and post results
i will have to borrow my lepard gecko lizard UV lamp


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#1  
Fred,

I would think that this bottle of Concentrated Green Cleaner made from Orange Peels would do the trick. It is a product of your own state. It has made things Super White for me.

Mel
PRO
USA
#2  
Retro.bright does not work well , I used 40 volume hair developer with whitener also hair salon product. Have patience , set parts outside in the sun and mix new wet solution every.hour the first day. Let sit overnight , the wash parts to remove all the resedue from the night before. Then in the sun start applying the hair.bleach.mixture every hour agian and let sit in Sun. By the third day wash.the bot and it should be done. If not done yet repeat.process agian. It's in my omnibot 2000 / rad 2.0 vacuum.thread. here's before and after results.....
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#3  
does it remove other paint,might look to try both ideas,did see your on your thread

retrobright idea i am using is tezza's recipe,there are a few recipes
1/2 pint (200 ml) Hydrogen Peroxide, 6% strength (available from most Pharmacies as a hair bleach or antiseptic)
2 heaped tablespoonfuls of "White Crest" Arrowroot
1/5 teaspoonful of "Oxi-Magic" laundry booster (to be added to the gel just before use, like the original recipe)

do need to remove any decals,but main question is does your remove the other paint
PRO
USA
#4  
No if you notice all my factory paint and decals are maintained. Omnibot 200p is painted on and not disturbed. Basically the 6% isn't enough to whiten, it will only clean off loose grime. 40 volume developer is 15% peroxide and it takes several applications and a couple days . 6% would take much.much longer. I tried retro bright for a week with no noticable results.
#5  
Some paint and decals are effected by bleaching and most are not. You need to do a test spot somewhere and see. J.W.
#6  
@jstarne , witch recipe did you try
look at the photos on the site of the commodore 64 it looks like decals didnt touch ,but the plastic is white

i know on your site photos look good too


Then we took the idea to other forums, where the idea received a sceptical response at first. Lorne (from Arizona) and Tezza (from New Zealand), from the Vintage Computer Forums (http://www.vintage-computer.com) really took on the idea, worked with us and helped us perfect the process between VCF and EAB. We have now proved on several forums that plastics yellowing can be completely reversed in hours without damage using our mixture."

here is info on hair bleach products
. Use of Hair Bleach products on dark coloured parts.

Lorne found a hair bleach product that originally looked promising on beige parts, however, when this was tried on dark blue coloured parts that had turned almost black, it was noticed that the surface had changed as shown below.

The best guess as to the chemical in the hair bleach that caused this is called Terpene; this has chemically etched and denatured the surface slightly. If you wish to try a hair bleach product, please stay away from any that appear to contain solvents or chemicals such as terpenes.
PRO
USA
#7  
I used the recipe you.posted up , I realized for.bad.yellowing.its not.efficient. I.talked to local restoration professionals and they said using 40 volume developer works best. For areas you want to remove the yellowing on a dark.color.then just don't mix whitening powder in. On so it.will.restore the.original.plastic color. Using 40 volume.developer none.of.my bots.surfaces has become.pitted or otherwise ruined.
#8  
ok thank for info,i guess the best way it try both ways
will go out this week to get all supplies and try both and most my results
what is the name the 40 volume developer you used
cant say if your will work or not
or Tezza recipe will work or not till i try them both

did a search at sally beauty supply and they have many brands

can pick up at sally beauty 1 mile from my house
@jstarne let me know the names of the developer and whitener
some stuff like arrowroot can get at publix and walgreens near my place
#9  
I have an Omnibot 2000 that I am considering restoring. I've been doing research on retrobrite so I would like to clarify one thing.

The retrobrite wiki recommends using hydrogen peroxide in a 10% to 15% concentration. The stuff in pharmacies and drug stores that is labeled "hydrogen peroxide" is typically only a 3% concentration, which is why it may not have worked well. "40 volume developer" is just the name hairstylists use for 12% hydrogen peroxide. Here is a good reference I found:

http://www.using-hydrogen-peroxide.com/hairdressing-peroxide.html

So I'm not sure it's accurate to say retrobrite does not work well. It does, but you have to use a higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide than is commonly available under that name. One place to get it is from a hairstylist, but in hairstylist lingo it is called "40 volume liquid developer", presumably because women would freak out if they thought they were getting "hydrogen peroxide" on their hair:)
PRO
USA
#10  
The reason why retro bright does not work well is because the hydrogen peroxide evaporates from the developer over time and becomes less effective , also in direct sunlight the liquid can completely evaporate. So you generally want to keep the surface of parts wet with fresh solutions. After trying different methods I found direct sunlight and apply the solution every 45 minutes yielded the fastest results.
#11  
Did you use the gel formulation? (with xantham gum and glycerin?) I was thinking of going with that but I've yet to gather all the ingredients (plus, it's been fairly cloudy lately)

What was your experience in disassembling the Omnibot? I'm a bit wary in doing so; I don't want to end up with a bright and shiny, but non-functional robot:)
#12  
from what i found out that retobrite works better then the hair salon developer,but only if you use 40% hyrodogen peroxide
hair salon i need to add more then a few times and other little less
only problem is making it or buying all ready made,but making will save you money
#13  
Fred, AS I said before, the Green Cleaner from your local walmart or kmart will do the job. You want the one that is made from orange peelings. When I was working as a technician, we used it all the time and we got computers in that were horribly stained from smoke and kitchen grease. A little green cleaner on them, and they like they just came off of the assembly line. I don't know the Exact name, but if you check around I am sure that you will find it.

Mel
#14  
OK, the one I use is called BIO-GreenClean. It is $65 a gal. But,a gallon last a long time because you only use a teaspoon or two to make 32 oz of cleaner. You can buy it Ready to use for $14 per 32 oz. It goes a long long way. They are also products called SIMPLE GREEN. The trick is to find one made with orange peelings. You apply it, let it set for about a minute and wipe it off. Everything looks like new. It is BIO-degradable and is all natural and smells fresh and clean. No harmful chemicals, just orange peels.

I have used it for over 20 years.

My boss had a man that came door to door and sold it. it was $65 a gal. But, my boss hassled him down to only $8 a gal. It lasted for years using it every day on the workbench. That was a while back, so it might be more now.


Mel
PRO
USA
#16  
Yellowing is ultraviolet degradation of the plastics surface , it is not simply a stain that can be washed off with a cleaner. I realize some of these bots are really dirty. I put all my bots parts in the dish washer. To answer the guys question about taking them apart. It's easy , just keep plastic bags , a camera and sharpie available. There are small parts you want to save for when you put it back together.
#17  
yes your are right,,need special chemical to remove it lie retrobright or salon cleaner,witch uses the same stuff as retrobright
i seperate my parts in boxes ,plastic bags and 35 mm canisters or pill boxes and label them
mostly dont use a camera ,it takes time to set it up plus have no problem putting it back together without it
i guess from, many many years of building and taking robots apart,it gets super easy for me
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