Whitening yellowed toys with Hydrogen Peroxide

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Originally Posted by kup

Maybe its the camera flash but that toy is 'yellowed' in a way I have never seen before - I am not sure if the problem is just due to standard yellowing as I have never seen an oranged Max before.

Typically the white just turns into a mustard color at maximum yellowing like the Scourge I photographed.

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Kup, do you suspect something else is happening other than sunlight damage??
The damage on the FM looks like it occurred over a very long time.

This yellowed ratchet from thetf.net that you linked us, is almost as bad as that fort max on ebay.

I've also seen the grey plastics on a dinobot turned dark/dirty yellow, whilst the clear plastic turned dark orange (almost red) in colour. However, since i'm not the original owner, i cant say for sure if it was caused by only sunlight damage or another source.

thankfully these days, no one here is that neglectful to let our prized TFs yellow to a stage where it is too hard to reverse the damages.

To me that Ratchet's yellowing is different than the Max. That Ratchet has a similar form of yellowing as my Scourge, a mustard color while that Max looks a weird 'earth' orange color.

Clear plastic does turn orangy but not white plastic. White plastic turns yellow not orange red unless that Max is at a very severe rarely seen point of deterioration or its just the photo.

Grey plastic does indeed turn a dirty/green color but white discoloration is a pretty standard mustard yellow.

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Originally Posted by bruticus

Before:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/...0eca8414a1.jpg
After:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/...e8c5c6105f.jpg

Before:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/...6a815ffdc9.jpg
After:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/...a137762df4.jpg


fark yeah! I no longer have to be paranoid about my rare TF's getting yellowed! :D. so yeah, Grand and Fort maximus,...im looking at you!!
Prevention is better than cure, but at least a cure is available should the worst happen.

now, if only we can come up with a sure-fire method for reversing the damage on coloured plastics because not all of the coloured plastics respond well to H2O2.

some coloured plastics repair fine, whilst others fade!!! :(

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Yes I discovered the fading part first hand on the Head of Metrotitan:eek::(. I have 2 options, I can paint the head or I can dye it. I'm just worried I might buckle the head if the water temp is to hot.

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Originally Posted by 1orion2many

Yes I discovered the fading part first hand on the Head of Metrotitan:eek::(. I have 2 options, I can paint the head or I can dye it. I'm just worried I might buckle the head if the water temp is to hot.

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We should probably do a list on toys we have encountered that don't respond too well to the H2O2. It will help anyone thinking of trying out the H2O2 on a toy and also to help us determine if there is a solid pattern.

- Aimless (Misfire's TM)
- Metrotitan head

Anything else?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kup

We should probably do a list on toys we have encountered that don't respond too well to the H2O2. It will help anyone thinking of trying out the H2O2 on a toy and also to help us determine if there is a solid pattern.

- Aimless (Misfire's TM)
- Metrotitan head

Anything else?

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Red paint on Strafe's head.

Did I remember someone saying that Dogfight's blue faded? Can't recall.

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Originally Posted by Oilspill

Red paint on Strafe's head.

Did I remember someone saying that Dogfight's blue faded? Can't recall.

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That was me but it didn't fade. My Dogfight's blue was restored superbly well but within a couple of weeks it yellowed again.

I think that is more to do with the plastic's inherent tendency to yellow than anything the H2O2 did.

Does anyone know what sort of UV light I should be getting to simulate actual sunlight? I'm trying to search through the myriad of useless junk on ebay from Hong Kong to find something that will do the job. Will a standard UV blacklight globe even do the job?

I bought a UV lightbulb from bunnings and it worked for me.

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Originally Posted by bruticus

I bought a UV lightbulb from bunnings and it worked for me.

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Was it a specific brand? I went into Bunnings last night and I didn't know what I was looking for. I couldn't find anything specifically labeled 'UV light globe'.

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Originally Posted by Eruntalon

Was it a specific brand? I went into Bunnings last night and I didn't know what I was looking for. I couldn't find anything specifically labeled 'UV light globe'.

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sorry, it may have been labelled "blacklight". dont know for sure as i threw away the package.

but mine looks a bit like this:
http://www.halloweenblacklight.com/b...ght-bulb-2.jpg

should be in the light bulb section of bunnings. how big is your bunnings? cos it could just be that some of the smaller stores may not have it in stock.
but if you want to buy from somewhere else, then i cant see why not as you probably just need an ordinary blacklight/UV light source.

Just a couple of tips i used when working with the UV bulb (*FYI: these are just my opinions and by no means are they the correct way to do things):
--since i dont know what the long term effects of exposure to the artificial UV light can do, i try to limit direct contact with UV light to as minimum as possible, until someone can prove otherwise. (better safe than sorry)
--wear UV protective glasses (sunnies).
--shield off as much stray UV rays as possible just in case parts of your house get damaged (walls, doors, appliances etc).
--i use a motorised display turntable to rotate the glass bowl regularly for even UV exposure on the sides of the jar/bowl
--for the plastic parts that always floats facing the bottom of the glass jar/bowl due to buoyancy, they are hard to expose with the UV, so i ended up using two spare shelves in my detolf cabinet. put the UV light on the lower level shelf aiming it up and put the jar/bowl on the top shelf directly above it. that way the bottom of the jar/bowl now gets direct exposure.

Hopefully that should give you a few things to think about and you should be able experiment with different options to find a way that works best for you.

good luck with the fort max project!