RetrObrite - Get Rid Of That Yellow Piss Look

ripster

Now RetrObrite has been mentioned quite a bit at Geekhack but I haven't seen any postings of results. I did once see an obscure mention (was it Nanu?) of a failed experiment - something involving a thermochemical meltdown. The purpose of this post is show in detail how to RetrObrite and show some key and keyboard results.

Before RetrObrite

After RetrObrite

First, the official RetrObrite website is here. It's not a commercial product, it's a process. A bunch of vintage computer enthusiasts found a way to use Hydrogen Peroxide, OxyClean, and UV light to remove the yellow tinge. They then dubbed it "Open Source" and like most Open Source projects appear to have abandoned the website and further updates. A very complete summary of WHY vintage plastic tends to yellow is here. It's frankly a LOT more complicated than "the retardants". Some keyboards, like the IBM Model M, tend to resist yellowing. Others, like the Apples, look like your dog pissed on them.

And of course if you are a TRUE Vintage Geek read no further. Leave it yellow. Take your keyboard to Antiques Roadshow. See if I care.

Gather the following materials (shouldn't run you much over $10 for the chemical stuff):

500ml of Hydrogen Peroxide - I got mine at "Sally Beauty" - 40 vol translates to like 10 to 15% strength
2 heaped tablespoons Xantham Gum - Bob's Red Mill available at Whole Foods
1 level teaspoonful of Glycerine - available at RiteAid
1/4 teaspoonful of OxyClean - available magically if you pray to Billy Mays
Equipment: Blender, UV light (sun or STRONG CFL), couple of glass jars, brush, chemical resistant gloves, goggles

Now I'm serious about the gloves and eye protection - the face shield is probably overkill (Nanu scared me) but you really don't want to get this stuff on your skin. So first blend up the Hydrogen Peroxide, Glycerine and Xanthan Gum. I tried a paint mixer and it was an utter fail because this stuff requires serious blending. You may need to sneak in the kitchen and use a proper blender. Your significant other will understand. Maybe.

Just don't show her/him this. Ewwwww!

Now the Xanthan gum is used by Vegans for bread making as a thickener and the Glycerin helps for an even application and the mixture from drying out. At this point you have enough to coat like a dozen keyboards so what I did was stick a 1/4 of the mixture in a glass jar and the rest in a larger jar.

Time For Billy Mays Magic! Get a bit of boiling water and put a 1/4 of a teaspoon in (NOT MORE). I used a test tube for ultra geekiness - make sure it has a hole in the stopper or you WILL be blown up like the Hurt Locker.

Pour a 1/4 of this mixture (NOT MORE) into the glop and stir with couple of chopsticks. Stir well. At this point things get interesting. You get a foamy action going. Luckily no thermonuclear explosion.

Then paint this stuff onto the keyboard case. In this pic it's the edge of Focus 2001. You can see the line where the built in keyboard protector stops and the sunlight yellowed the plastic.

Now if you live in a sunny climate you can put outside. In my case my son is into Carniverous Plants (no mind altering chemicals in these) so I just put them under the lights.

Wait 24 hours.

Now the SGI Granite above essentially only took one application as did the Focus 2001. Now HERE'S the tough one. A very yellow Apple M0110

Look at that spacebar!

After one application. Hmmm. Mottled.

After two applications. Note the mottling follows the pattern of the first application. I didn't touch the main keys.

The SGI Granite did fine after two applications. No mottling. And although it appears like the lettering was affected it actually was not. It was like that before the RetrObrite.

Here's the SGI Granite spacebar and a NeXT key. I wanted to see if RetrObrite messed up black keys in any way.

After two applications both look pretty good. The doubleshot NeXT key has a whiter inlay now. The Granite spacebar is very slightly mottled but the Flash pic exaggerates it.

The Focus 2001 also came out nicely. No yellow edge.

With it's spiffy keyboard protector attached. Ready for UV battles!

So in summary I give RetrObrite a big thumbs up. I think though that it's not magic. Really yellowed keyboards, and some plastics, aren't going to respond as well. As I mentioned earlier you got a lot of things going on - base plastic, fire retardants, softeners, and of course the amount of sun damage.

And you white HHKB users. Better sit far away from the window. ALL plastics are affected by UV lights - it's a matter of degree.

Feel free to post your results here. There are threads in other forums like this one in the Amiga forum. Other variants I've seen are:

- Use trays, fill with Hydrogen Peroxide and Oxyclean. Stick out on your driveway in the sun (put on a table if you have kids or pets though!).
- Fill up jars with Hydrogen Peroxide and toss in a bunch of keys, skip the Oxyclean, stick on a table
- Stronger pharmaceutical Hydrogen Peroxide

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