How to bleach white keycaps yellowed by the sun

[popol]

Do anybody of you have an easy method to bleach white doubleshot keycaps that have been yellowed by time and the sun? Old Omnikey 101 keyboard keycaps. They are mainly yrllowed by the side and are otherwise in good condition (almost not used on the top). What a shame.

Same for the case of the keyboard yellowed on some parts.
inside, plate and switches are looking great just like if this keyboard hasn't been used that much...

[popol]

thank you very much for your help Ripster. I'll try to get used to and stick to the forum rules.

[popol]

the chemical blend will be hard to produce and store in my very small flat.
Would be nice if somebody could produce a quatity of RotrObrite and sell to the community, ready to use, withof course an additional value in the price.

[REVENGE]

the chemical blend will be hard to produce and store in my very small flat.
Would be nice if somebody could produce a quatity of RotrObrite and sell to the community, ready to use, withof course an additional value in the price.

Per ripster, the jar method would be easy for you to make, use, and store. Basically a jar of hydrogen peroxide solution and catalyst.

[popol]

Per ripster, the jar method would be easy for you to make, use, and store. Basically a jar of hydrogen peroxide solution and catalyst.

can't find the link to this method into his sig

[sinis]

RetrObrite - Get Rid Of That Yellow Piss Look

[StaCT13]

Also, if that 'signature' Retrobrite formula doesn't work, just immerse the whole thing in hydrogen peroxide. It takes closer to a week, but it got me much better results.

[simon_C]

hydrogen peroxide and a sprinkle of oxy clean did the trick for me.

[popol]

Thanks to everybody.
There are 35% solutions of hydrogen peroxide for sale on ebay. Is it a too high concentration? Would a bottle of 500ml be enough?
I guess you put only white keys but HOW LONG did you do? ( I just have a peripheral yellow mainly touching a side of the keys)
Outside storage and transparent bowl closed?

[enoy21]

I have a further question about this after reading the Wiki and this specific method :

http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30892&start=75&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=retrobright

Well a few questions really.

A: How does this effect the color of Double shots ?
B: How can you tell if it's yellowing with age or just it's natural color ?
C: This time of year in the mid Atlantic US it is cooler and less direct sun (UV) so would it still work ?
D: A heat lamp for a lizard.... Is that a UV lamp  ?



My thought is that I wouldn't mind using the double shots that are on my WYSE 60 but I really wanted a brighter white rather than an off white cream color.

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?22293-Some-suggestions-on-a-mod-idea.....

11th post down.

[simon_C]

Thanks to everybody.
There are 35% solutions of hydrogen peroxide for sale on ebay. Is it a too high concentration? Would a bottle of 500ml be enough?
I guess you put only white keys but HOW LONG did you do? ( I just have a peripheral yellow mainly touching a side of the keys)
Outside storage and transparent bowl closed?

nope, 35% is good. just read the retr0brite page and youll know all you need to.

 

I have a further question about this after reading the Wiki and this specific method :

http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30892&start=75&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=retrobright

Well a few questions really.

A: How does this effect the color of Double shots ?
B: How can you tell if it's yellowing with age or just it's natural color ?
C: This time of year in the mid Atlantic US it is cooler and less direct sun (UV) so would it still work ?
D: A heat lamp for a lizard.... Is that a UV lamp  ?



My thought is that I wouldn't mind using the double shots that are on my WYSE 60 but I really wanted a brighter white rather than an off white cream color.

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?22293-Some-suggestions-on-a-mod-idea.....

11th post down.

A: wont matter. It will restore any abs to its original color.
B: try it and find out
C: pretty much any sunlight will work
D: wouldnt use a heat lamp, the reaction produces its own heat. Compact fluorescent  light bulbs work really well.

this does not change the original color of the keys. if they were cream to begin with, they will be restored to that original cream color. all it does is remove the yellowing caused by the bromine fire retardant.

[flyball]

you use your keyboard outside?

[enoy21]

So ummmmmm no one told me that the oxy would continue to foam after going under the light.  I put it in a bowl on my computer desk and came back to a mushroom like topping threatening my new keyboard.  I see the oxidation working. Am I supposed to keep the foam off to allow the light to penetrate the liquid surface ?

Also is there any tricks to keeping the keys fully submerged ?  The bubble action keeps getting under them and raising them above the surface.

[StaCT13]

When I whitened my keys, I used two clear plastic cups per 2 keys.
Place the first cup, place in 2 keys (or however many that fit easily upright), pour in Hydrogen Peroxide, place in second cup (to squish the keys), and rubber band the cups together. A bit tedious and the cups I used only fit 2 keys each, but it kept those things in place.

ALSO, please note that many clear plastics still block UV light. Check with a blacklight or something. If in doubt, I know plastic wrap doesn't.

[StaCT13]

BTW, the process should take around 5-7 hours IF you use Oxiclean, nothing goes wrong, and the stain isn't all that bad. Otherwise, expect closer to a week to get a good result.

[enoy21]

I'm ok with patience , but wasn't it determined that Oxy stops working after 6 hours ?  I have no lid on the container and the light is about 5" over top of it shining directly into it, but there are alot of bubbles still hanging around and the keys keep wanting to shift so I've been stiring it about every half hour for the past 2.5 hours. I really don't see much difference at the moment. I figure I'll leave it over night in the dark tonight and restart the process tomorrow. I just hope it's not a waste since it's not UV sunlight/lamp and they aren't all staying fully submerged facing directly into the light.

I didn't see anything in the threads about CFL until the last couple by Rip and someone else that was quite helpful and said about the same things he did.

[enoy21]

I also think that when I do it tomorrow , I will use a shallow glass baking dish and try my best to keep the keys upright along the bottom using a second glass baking dish on top. Good call Stact.

[enoy21]

So after about 3 hours in the plastic bowl I went ahead and transferred half the keys (The lighter ones) to the glass baking dish facing up, placed another glass baking dish on top to hold them in that position, then trickled in the oxy mixture until they were all covered well.   Stuck it under a CFL light for the night.   This morning they did indeed look brighter, but I haven't had time to compare them to the space bar that I left out of it as a control.