Whitening yellowed toys with Hydrogen Peroxide

[Ravagecat]

Remember how I restored the white on my Vroom? I had him completely away from light at the back of a bottom shelf but sadly, he has gone yellow again!

He did last for about a year and a half though. The yellowing is fairly recent and rather sudden.

Hey Kup - I'm interested to know why it has changed back...

We know that there are a bunch of things that cause the issue in the first place like sunlight, smoke, heat, bad plastic batch, even the type of light bulb you have can cause issues for some plastics.

Do you use a fluorescent bulb in your toy room, old school tungsten screw in, led down light etc. ?
Is the room exposed to a lot of dust ?
Is the room exposed to natural light ?
Does the room get hot during the day ?

I have whitened my getway and searchlight by applying the peroxide paste and want to try and avoid them going yellow again.

Thanks in advance

[kup]

Do you use a fluorescent bulb in your toy room, old school tungsten screw in, led down light etc. ?

No, the Toy room is kept in constant darkness: No Sunlight and a low density globe is used only occasionally when I go in after dark to look for something. As mentioned, despite the room kept in constant darkness, the toy was completely away from direct light at the very back of a deep mid-bottom shelf (You need to lean down and look in to see it)

Is the room exposed to a lot of dust ?

No, I am the only person living at my place and no pets. The toy room is also not a 'living area', I only go in to take things in or out so minimal dust.

Is the room exposed to natural light ?

Not at all. Blinds are constantly closed and any gaps barricaded by MOTUC mailer boxes.

Does the room get hot during the day ?

Not at all. Overall my place is fairly cool.


Just to mention that it actually took two years to yellow again (wow I didn't realize it had been that long!), it wasn't a sudden thing.


That's why the whole thing seems strange to me. The toy had been kept in constant darkness ever since I whitened it. My guess is that although sunlight (artificial light) may expedite the process, yellowing can occur despite of it just for being exposed to air.

As we know, some plastics are more prone to yellowing than others so maybe some will mostly be affected by sunlight while others just need to be exposed to air to yellow.

[liegeprime]

hmmm must be a bad batch kup. My Vroom hasnt yellowed (knock on wood) yet or at all actually. Although my downshift figure could use a creme treatment, it's not pristine white as it should anymore.

[Trent]

Or the whitening process is just temporary. Once it has yellowed once then it is more prone to doing so again.

[Ravagecat]

hmmm must be a bad batch kup. My Vroom hasnt yellowed (knock on wood) yet or at all actually. Although my downshift figure could use a creme treatment, it's not pristine white as it should anymore.

Just to mention that it actually took two years to yellow again (wow I didn't realize it had been that long!), it wasn't a sudden thing.


That's why the whole thing seems strange to me. The toy had been kept in constant darkness ever since I whitened it. My guess is that although sunlight (artificial light) may expedite the process, yellowing can occur despite of it just for being exposed to air.

As we know, some plastics are more prone to yellowing than others so maybe some will mostly be affected by sunlight while others just need to be exposed to air to yellow.

Thanks for the reply Kup....It would seem what you are both saying makes sense. Some plastics (especially if the batch was not quite right) are prone to yellowing with age due to exposure to just air

Frustratingly disappointing to say the least

[liegeprime]

it is frutrating , but, thankfully there is this option, rather than nothing at all. I guess some of us though have learned to live with Jaundiced figures

[GoktimusPrime]

Yesterday I bought some H2O2 and have been using cotton tips to rub it into parts of my Fortress Maximus, especially the right upper leg section. I'm not sure if I'm seeing whitening or if it's my imagination. I can't be bothered disassembling the toy to soak the pieces in an H2O2 bath... but one thing I'm not doing is letting it set in sunlight (but one fear is that, because I'm not coating the entire toy in one go, it might yellow the uncoated parts even more).

So, short of doing the H2O2 bath thing (ceeeebs), should I:
* Put the toy in direct sunlight anyway
* Avoid sunlight, but just keep applying more H2O2
* Or maybe expose the toy to "mild UV", i.e. open the blinds in my TF room (the window faces east, so the western sunlight would be bouncing off opposite buildings and back into the window - so it would be indirect sunlight coming in)?

I guess what I want to know is... is applying H2O2 onto the toy still useful for whitening if it's not being exposed to sunlight (but perhaps less effectual), or is it a complete act of futility? I've only been rubbing the H2O2 in the right upper leg, none of the left. I'll take a photo this evening and post it to see if anyone else can notice any difference between the two sides. I've done about 5 applications so far since yesterday afternoon.