Bringing Back the Grey - Trying the Vapor Retr0brite Method

[@slickback1305]

If you decide to keep going with Retrobrighting, you should check out Odd Tinkering where they submerge the plastic in the peroxide and put it in a UV box

[@RestorishOfficial]

Yeah those UV light boxes are cool. I have chosen not to use that method because 1) the cost of the amount of hydrogen peroxide needed to submerge the parts, 2) wanting to find and model a method that more people may be willing to try without feeling overwhelmed with the need to build the box, and 3) the potential brittling effect on the plastic reported by some experimenters.

[@slickback1305]

@@RestorishOfficial fair points.

[@floko3604]

@@RestorishOfficial Thank you really much for this video and comment. I have been thinking for a long time about building such a uv box to retrobright some old white lego pieces from classic space sets. But the effort building + amount of hydrogen peroxide for only small amounts of goods was just too much for me. Will try your method soon!

[@Ulmentflam]

So I believe the brittleness comes from exposure to the Hydrogen Peroxide and UV rays over time. If you use more H202 and heat, reducing the exposure time, then the plastic is less likely to be as brittle. You are basically taking the exact same methodology, without more percise temprature control. I.e. Using the UV rays and heat from the sun for exposure. The more heat you add I believe the more likely the plastic is to become more brittle, so you do need to find a good balance between Heat, volume of h2o2, and exposure time.

[@snowflakehunter]

You can reuse a hydrogen peroxide.​@@RestorishOfficial

[@JWe472]

I was always really impressed by your stance on retrobriting, because the methods out there seemed so impossible for just a normal person to do at home, and I do like seeing that something has aged. But this method I can also get behind :) Thank you for showing us this new method!

[@modoru]

Not sure if anyone's mentioned it yet, but if you want to ensure you're grabbing those screws well without risking the chance at stripping them, you should use the JIS bits in the tech pro toolkit (they'll be marked J0/00/000 iirc). They're very similar to phillips, but they're a japanese standard used in most electronics from over there.

[@RetroGameRevival]

as one of the people that started this (from the original video, I’m the guy that got the blue game gear results), I can tell from experience what will happen next; it will absolutely turn back yellow, in a relatively short timeframe even. however, the trick is to keep repeating the process when it does. The more you vaporbrite, the longer it’s gonna take for the yellowing to return. To a point where it’s now years for me on certain items to show a hint of yellow again. Do make sure you dont exceed ~40/45 degrees (celcius) inside the box, as that will damage the plastics! Additionally, I found recently you only need a loose cup of peroxide somewhere inside the container, which you can reuse until it’s all vaporized! saves a ton of money that way too ;)

[@Sillysoft]

Well I guess being in az is out of the question

[@IKEYMAN]

@@Sillysoftim in phoenix, guess im out too

[@bitwise7924]

Thank you for this. I've been kicking around giving this a shot myself for a bit, but I never liked the idea of having the parts submerged in the peroxide. "The potential cons have out weighed the pros" I wish you had expanded on that a little, because I never hear people talk much about what the cons are when I investigate retrobrighting. Thanks again! Another great video!

[@iamme2072]

The yellowing of plastic is caused by the plastic breaking down and becoming brittle due to ultraviolet light (UV), so I'm guessing it has less to do with the retrobrighting making the plastic brittle and more to do with the plastic already being brittle before the retrobrighting, (retrobrighting doesn't fix that ) and there is the chance of breaking it while retrobrighting.

[@EthanBB]

Thank you for starting a test to see how long it will take to regress back to yellow, since on the internet times vary wildly from few weeks to years. I'm sure type of plastic has something to do with it, but NES seems like a great candidate for how many there are of them, so many retrobrights happened on them.

[@rjvthebest2000]

The O2 created by the hydrogen peroxide tends to be dense and heavy. Some of it may have leaked out of the bottom. If you try this again, I recommend looking for a way to flip or better seal your tote. Still pretty impressive.

[@ruizuferipegameplay]

I think this method was really interesting, especially with the idea behind your videos, that i remember you said before "been able to be done and accessible for everyone", since the method i saw of this "retro brightning" required more stuff. It felt to me that this method, didn't get the plastic to the original color, like the more complicated methods do, but for the simplicity of it, i think it's enough. Great video.

[@XSkidMarcX]

Found your channel yesterday while watching the Q&A with TronicsFix. Great Content. Subscribed.

[@FishDS9]

WOW! What a difference!

[@klorslug]

Great timing for me to see this vid. Just got an NES that I’m refurbishing for myself and didn’t want to make a UV tub and soak it in peroxide!

[@RestorishOfficial]

Awesome!

[@janetcook-ro1kg]

Looks good. I was surprised at the difference. Your mustache looks good, too.

[@3DJapan]

Mine has been sitting in it's original box for around 25 years and it still looks perfect.

[@sithseven]

yea because uv light exposure causes the yellowing.

[@kalicia84]

Oooh the video everyone's been waiting for!

[@jfrancis2768]

I love the lines on the screen sir, it's how crts worked, aside from Sony's Trinitron, I love showing this to people when I'm trying to explain how crt's actually worked

[@kulilin3104]

In the past I attempted to retrobrite by submerging the plastic in liquid H2O2. I found that it dried out the plastic I cleaned to the point where it became brittle. Then someone directed me to using the hair creme they use in solons. Since it is also 12% H2O2. The best part was, it didn't dry out the plastic. Heck, it even made it look shiny and new. But it isn't great for plastic with paper based stickers you can't remove.

[@nickk05281982]

What brand was it?

[@kulilin3104]

@nickk05281982 it was L'Oreal Oreor 40 Developer.

[@LizActually]

Here I thought you were gonna announce how excited you were to display your new ‘stache. 😉😂

[@ralskiep8217]

I just found this, really neat trick. This will work on the Snes too I'm guessing? I'm paranoid about taking it apart but its so grotesque looking.

[@RandyFortier]

Love the shirt and logo.

[@graemepatterson]

9:44 - just curious, is that a loose red wire inside the controller, like one that just isn't used or something?

[@RestorishOfficial]

Good question. I didn't notice that until you pointed it out. Anyone else here know?

[@amaiorano]

@@RestorishOfficial It's not a wire, it's a kind of cottony shroud that wraps the wires, probably to reduce the chance of breaks when bending the cable. I don't know why that bit is red, though - maybe some dye from the actual red wire came off? Hard to tell. It's usually white.

[@dkeele]

Never done retrobrighting before, but when you put the smaller container down to place the Nintendo plastics on, that essentially trapped the vapors for a large majority of the peroxide under it. Would it be better if you used a wire rack or something similar (like a cookie cooling rack) that would allow all the vapor from the peroxide to fill the chamber? I would think this would make the process much faster and more effective. But I could be completely wrong as I've never done it before.

[@RestorishOfficial]

Good observation. That may have had an effect. The lid that I used did have ribbed lines on it which would have prevented a seal from forming, and I am inclined to think it didn’t negatively impact my particular setup. I will definitely consider this though going forward, and recommend that people used a lid that allows the free movement of the gas with another container resting upon it.

[@Shinquapin]

Wow! I've never heard of this method of retrobriting before. It uses significantly less hydrogen peroxide than the method I'm used to, where you submerge the parts and use UV lights. I've been hesitant to try it like you, but I'd like to try this new method on my NES. Thanks for the vid!

[@Blake-Greaves]

Hey, I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this before, but I was wondering if you could take a before and after photo to compare the changes, if that’s okay with you. I thought it might be helpful for your channel.

[@wilfredobracero4226]

Does it matter if you would have put more peroxide and left it longer?

[@FiveStringCommando]

0:04 Ha! You snipped my comment! 😁 I did understand your point as to why. That said, I am glad you are willing to try some alternatives as in this video. Yellow isn’t a good color on a NES…

[@jebadaiah1228]

you were chosen

[@danielpowers5891]

I notice you didn't put the power/reset button in with the rest of the plastic.

[@jebadaiah1228]

if you had said that Nintendo was the limited edition coffee color I would have believed you

[@RestorishOfficial]

Lol

[@LizActually]

I thought it was some special gold edition.

[@subplot]

we called it the cigarette mom special

[@RezRetroModz]

😂

[@hawkfeather6802]

It looks pretty good.

[@ghost_tom_joad8530]

I gotta try this out now.

[@-Brunnen-G]

I saw another fixer/refurbisher using a kneaded eraser to clean the smaller parts by scrubbing the part after he'd press the part into the eraser on each side of the part. I would just make sure to allow the eraser to dry completely before kneading it in any way.

[@TRex-fu7bt]

someday tastes will change and that sickly yellow is gonna be a desirable patina 😉

[@alexcalem7201]

El problema de ese método de blanqueamiento es que, si el sol es muy intenso, el plástico puede llegar a deformarse. Me sucedió al hacerlo con una ps1.

[@geoffwallick]

to film a tv screen you need to manually sync the shutter speed ( 1/30th of a second) with the frame rate of the tv, which is usually 30fps. you can use multiples as well....1/60,1/120

[@bigdawghoss9871]

dude. That's NIGHT AND DAY difference. Mustache looking good, hoss.

[@karthikms3128]

use soft material like sponge to brush plastic or else it will leave scratches.

[@jerryjohnson4618]

WOW 😮

[@JoshuaMattingly]

wow!

[@Sansyboi611]

That is BEYOND yellow, that's like Gold at the point it was when you started Special Zelda Edition NES fr fr

[@RetroJack]

I think you would've had better luck standing the case on a dish rack instead of an upended container as the dish rack would provide better airflow.

[@Asriazh]

This NES wasn't yellowed, this was the gold edition! ^_~

[@kriscynical]

3:52 I expected the Ducktor to show up. Very disappointed. /s 😂

[@LennonsRetroTech]

I will never do retrobrighting because the yellowing kinda adds character and history to the device.

[@robinsutcliffe_video_art]

I have done retrobriting a number of times on different items. Eventually the yellow does return in every case I have seen.

[@TheGameBench]

I've seen another method where you just submerge the parts in the peroxide then use some UV LEDs. Seems to be much more effective and faster. Granted, I feel like this is best done when you have a lot of parts you need to do at once since you have to use so much peroxide. It's too bad that regardless of the method, it will just yellow again as there's no known way to stop the chemical process causing the yellowing.

[@stevenmusante4681]

Am i crazy or is there still a tiny bit of yellowing? It could just be the lighting or something of that nature.

[@dreamcazman]

Yeah, the problem with retrobrighting is it's not permanent, the plastic will go yellow again after a while.

[@degeimos]

With new method you mean almost the same exact method that other channel were using years ago?

[@RestorishOfficial]

Good point. I could have worded that better. The method was discovered in 2022, which is relatively new compared to other RB techniques, but I should have framed that better.

[@constable9793]

By not removing the card slot, you're inviting corrosion. It simply unplugs.

[@zincmann]

Got to be honest, no offense, I am disappointed with the results. Not sure what your reservations are but I normally soak it in the peroxide in the sun with saran wrap over it (reusing the peroxide) and I get great results on even yellowed consoles like that.

[@robert_roland63]

Somehow I missed that video Tito made. I’ll have to see his perspective on it, but such a win to have a way to retrobright consoles without submerging or smearing stuff all over it.

[@muharremsuz]

I never saw this retrobrite method. Others use liters of chemical. This one looks better

[@LPcrazy_88]

This is the only method I've ever known (besides submerging and using a UV light) for restoring yellowed plastics, what are the methods you don't like?

[@Pixelshroomies]

8but guy has retrobrighting down to a science. Submerged is the best method. And hydrogen peroxide from Sally’s works best

[@waynetrain4636]

plastic blocks u.v light......try to remind that when yu try to use u.v light to retrobright something

[@manakajunpei9007]

Personally I would setup a dark room for it and use uvc lights to obtain a more reliable working flow with no "oh it's cloudy" or areas with different colors because they received less light.

[@dagvidarsigvartson6291]

That was really and old fashion retrobright. I use the hair cream you buy in a saloon. Then i apply the haircream(12%) with a paintbrush on to the surface. Then i put it into a ziplockbag.Then place the item in the sun. Normally i am done after 30 min. Then i wash it and use soap and a brush to clean it. I am done after 1 hour.

[@Iudayus]

Am I the only person who was kind of digging the extreme yellowing colour?

[@BuzzingGoober]

How in any way is using hydrogen peroxide to remove yellowing a 'new method'?

[@gc4408]

Spoiler alert……,. A plastic tub , hydrogen peroxide ( wal mart $3) , the sun , outside bright summer sun 4-6 hours…… works perfect and looks new…… $3 , 6 hrs…….. I have done nes and ps1 about 10-12 now….. all look brand new

[@zandert33]

He used 12% hydrogen peroxide, which is a bit more expensive than the typical 3%.

[@fallios]

I think you could have gotten it whiter had you left it longer.

[@RestorishOfficial]

Yeah I am curious now if it would have. I did three full days, but it was a really yellowed system.

[@Jamesssssssssssssss]

Here i've been complaining about global warming making Florida unbearable. When i have the best environment

[@joe241able]

spray some lysol mold remover it will get white lol

[@MrDoom6969]

3rd

[@shadowfrost44]

The changing of the bits is freaking annoying

[@richfutrell753]

It's still very yellow. Waste of time and money.

[@shermanstraveldiaries4317]

First haha

[@andychamplin]

You would have been better with a 6000 lumines UV Light fixture.