My first attempts at Retr0bright

So, I've been really into cleaning and restoring consoles lately so I decided to try my hand at retr0bright.
I went down to the store to pick up some oxyclean and they had a huge selection. They have a version that's already in gel form, but I decided to try the original version since it's the one everyone is using in their recipes.


This is the cleanest Super Nintendo I have, very little discoloration except some random yellowing on the controller port bezel. So I will do my first test on the bezel because it's small and quick to get off.



Here are the tools for the job. I decided to go with a very basic recipe of hydrogen peroxide and oxyclean and leave out the xantham gum and glycerin just so I could see how the results are.


I put one big spoon full of oxyclean powder in my container and added a bit of hydrogen peroxide.


I wasn't getting the thick foam like I've seen in other people's pictures of the process, so i kinda said F-it and added more oxyclean and peroxide till it got a very thick and foamy consistency. It's the middle of the day and the sun won't be out for much longer.. So I decided to just get on with it. I don't know if it will work, but it's only my first time.


So now, I put the container on the roof where it will get the most sun light and will check on it in a few hours...
To be continued!

 

did you cover the container with clear plastic?
I heard this mix dries out quick

 

I was going to, but the lid for this container was blue so I didn't want it to block the light.. I will start earlier tomorrow and try covering it too. But who knows, maybe this will work a bit too!

 

I think it will work open like this
Food wrap over the top shouldn't block the UV

 

You're right, I was in such a hurry to just get it up there while the sun was at its peak that I didn't even think about using plastic wrap. I'm not doing anything all week so I will have a lot of time to keep testing. I plan on laying out my steps in a very clear and easy to understand fashion.

 

I'm going to be doing some testing too, should I post here or make another thread?

 

Feel free to post here.. And hopefully in a few pages time we'll have came up with a solid process that works for everyone here to use!

 

Awesome! I'll be getting some chemicals today, stay tuned...

 

OK, so it was out there in the sun for roughly 2 hours and this is the result:


It appears to have lightened the yellow a little bit, but obviously it's still yellow. I'm gonna try to find some stronger hydrogen peroxide tomorrow, as I only used the common 3% kind.
More on this later.

 

Only negative thing about retrobrighting is that the yellow can come back in a year or two.
Guess the only way to seal it would be to use a clear coat but then that would show up on the console.

And awesomeNES,I had a pal snes that was very yellow and all I used my 3% and nothing else and it came out great but now it's starting to yellow again.

 

you soaked it in peroxide only? for how long?

 

do you have liquid peroxide or creme?
You can just soak the part in straight liquid peroxide, I've been thinking of an idea involving "food saver" vacuum seal bags;

Put part in vacuum bag (or even just zip bags..
fill with peroxide
remove air
hang in UV light

 

Do you have it in a place that gets a lot of sun?

 

That's a good idea, but theres one issue I see with it. When the food saver gets tight around the part it might push the the peroxide away in certain spots and cause it to be uneven. I would like to see you try it though, ya never know.

 

yeah I'm worried of that too

 

When I soaked it think I left it alone for around 8+ hours.

And DeChief,I keep all of my consoles out of the sun,a console can turn yellow just by age in the dark,it's oxygenation and heat.

 

Interesting, I didn't know that.

 

According to everyone online it doesn't cause any damage.