zexmarquies01
03-05-09, 07:35 PM
Ok, As many of you have probably noticed, Old consoles ( NES, SNES, along with the games ) tend to get a yellowish discoloration to them over time. This is due to the flame retardant they used in the plastics, Which one of the specific chemicals in that was Bromine. Over time, UV light ( from the sun ), and heat would cause the plastic to slowly change color. Making it appear as if the game, or console was stained with cigarette smoke. I have known about this for a while. But there has never been a solution to this outside of painting or sanding the console/games ( which gets rid of the console / games original texture. )
Well, A couple people found a way to reverse this! The great thing is, It requires NO sanding, and NO painting.
http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/
That's the site. By looking at the screen shots, you can clearly see this stuff works great. On the left side of the website, click "Making Retr0bright". It gives you list of ingredients to make the gel.
I did this myself. Though, I did NOT make the gel, as I don't have access to the other chemicals. ALSO, I do/did not have access to the 10%+ strength Hydrogen Peroxide either.
I went to walmart and picked up a big bottle of Hydrogen peroxide (The 3% solution. It's all they carry. they cost only $1 each ), and went to the cleaning area where they keep the laundry detergent and such, and picked up a tub of the OXY clean type stuff. ( the powder stuff ). That stuff was pretty cheap too ( Maybe $5. I can't remember exactly. ) A single small tub of the stuff will last you pretty much forever.
Just Pour some Peroxide into a container, and then add a little bit of the OXY stuff. Now, I was afraid that because I only had the 3% stuff, It would take forever. I was dead wrong. A droplet fell down the side of my NES, and as it did, it left a slightly whiter streak behind it, as it went down. The stuff was working almost instantly.
So i took a wash cloth, and would dip the corner of into the solution, then rub the NES. When I'd lift the rag, there was this yellow almost caked onto the rag. Mind you, I had already taken hot water, and wiped down the NES, to remove dirt, and to make sure the yellowish color wasn't from stains.
There were parts that didn't look like it had discoloration ( like the bottom half of the NES which is dark grey. ) Again, I was WRONG. I could see the difference once i Wiped it down.
I took my NES apart, So i could get the inside as well. Once done, I took the plastic to the kitchen, and rinsed it off really well under the sink. If you don't, The solution will want to leave a slight film on it. ( appears to be the OXY stuff after the peroxide evaporates. )
Sadly, I didn't take any pics. But maybe I'll take a few when i clean a couple of my NES games. Next, I'm going to use this on my NES controllers, and then see how well this cleans up my SNES.
The reason I am posting this here in the console game section, Is because many of us here still have the NES/SNES and older consoles from the 80's. So this section would probably get the most use out of this.
If anyone else decides to give this stuff a quick try, post pics or something. I'd be interested in hearing/seeing the results others have had.
Well, A couple people found a way to reverse this! The great thing is, It requires NO sanding, and NO painting.
http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/
That's the site. By looking at the screen shots, you can clearly see this stuff works great. On the left side of the website, click "Making Retr0bright". It gives you list of ingredients to make the gel.
I did this myself. Though, I did NOT make the gel, as I don't have access to the other chemicals. ALSO, I do/did not have access to the 10%+ strength Hydrogen Peroxide either.
I went to walmart and picked up a big bottle of Hydrogen peroxide (The 3% solution. It's all they carry. they cost only $1 each ), and went to the cleaning area where they keep the laundry detergent and such, and picked up a tub of the OXY clean type stuff. ( the powder stuff ). That stuff was pretty cheap too ( Maybe $5. I can't remember exactly. ) A single small tub of the stuff will last you pretty much forever.
Just Pour some Peroxide into a container, and then add a little bit of the OXY stuff. Now, I was afraid that because I only had the 3% stuff, It would take forever. I was dead wrong. A droplet fell down the side of my NES, and as it did, it left a slightly whiter streak behind it, as it went down. The stuff was working almost instantly.
So i took a wash cloth, and would dip the corner of into the solution, then rub the NES. When I'd lift the rag, there was this yellow almost caked onto the rag. Mind you, I had already taken hot water, and wiped down the NES, to remove dirt, and to make sure the yellowish color wasn't from stains.
There were parts that didn't look like it had discoloration ( like the bottom half of the NES which is dark grey. ) Again, I was WRONG. I could see the difference once i Wiped it down.
I took my NES apart, So i could get the inside as well. Once done, I took the plastic to the kitchen, and rinsed it off really well under the sink. If you don't, The solution will want to leave a slight film on it. ( appears to be the OXY stuff after the peroxide evaporates. )
Sadly, I didn't take any pics. But maybe I'll take a few when i clean a couple of my NES games. Next, I'm going to use this on my NES controllers, and then see how well this cleans up my SNES.
The reason I am posting this here in the console game section, Is because many of us here still have the NES/SNES and older consoles from the 80's. So this section would probably get the most use out of this.
If anyone else decides to give this stuff a quick try, post pics or something. I'd be interested in hearing/seeing the results others have had.