Gaming gear yellowing | jawa invents sunshine

Last edited by jawa_ on Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yellowing. It's a pain, isn't it? White or grey - and, sometimes, silver - plastic often seems to fall prey to the effect and it can turn good-looking gear into something that seems rather decrepit.

Some of my stuff has gone this way, including my Amiga 1200 computer, Commodore 1084ST monitor, Sony TV, SNES console, PSone console and PSone controller. I've read that the effect can be caused by either old fire retardant chemicals, sun damage and/or smoking.

My PSone console and controller were immaculate but then started to discolour whilst tucked away in a box in my cupboard. Super frustrating! Over the years I've read about "retrobrite" - a chemical wash that you wipe over stuff and then leave for a while - but it seems to be hard to get and you have to know what you're doing with it.

Anyway, around six weeks ago I dug out my PSone controller and the yellowing/darkening was obvious. I cried for a bit and then put it onto my bedroom windowsill. Subsequently I've shifted it around a wee bit each day and... the colour is now so much better! The discolouring is still slightly visible but overall there has been a dramatic improvement. I'm guessing - and we may need official science experts to verify this - that the strong sunlight has caused this change. Whatever has happened, I like it!

I'm now wondering two things: one, will the improvement effect stay and, two, how the heck am I gonna get all of my gaming gear - including that large monitor - onto my windowsill?

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by KK » Tue Aug 22, 2023 10:53 am

This has happened to some of my magazines as well. A few even have what look like rust stains running along the edge. Good storage no doubt plays a part as well, but there's not always the room for good storage practices. Sometimes you just have to let it go ALTOGETHER NOW, YOU ALL KNOW THE WORDS: The cold never bothered me anyway...and stick it on eBay.

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by **False** » Tue Aug 22, 2023 10:57 am

https://www.instructables.com/DIY-Retro ... -solution/

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by **Octoroc** » Tue Aug 22, 2023 10:59 am

Yeah, it's mostly down to the fire retardant chemicals in the plastic. You can reverse the yellowing process using hydrogen peroxide which I suppose is what 'retrobrite' is. Nasty stuff.

Leaving things in the sun will just make them fade.

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by **Jenuall** » Tue Aug 22, 2023 10:59 am

Stick it on the window and the parakeets will clean it for you

Ironically, A Game Gear won't yellow.

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by **jawa_** » Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:26 pm

KK wrote:This has happened to some of my magazines as well. A few even have what look like rust stains running along the edge...

Yeah, paper often ages too, KK. Sometimes that rust effect pretty much *is* rust, cause by staples in the magazine.

False wrote: https://www.instructables.com/DIY-Retro ... -solution/

Ah! Retrobrite! Ta for the info, False - it's clear that this method can be very good although it does involve acquiring chemicals and taking stuff apart. I ain't no chemist!

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by **jawa_** » Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:30 pm

Octoroc wrote:...Leaving things in the sun will just make them fade.

Thing is, though, Octo... it works! Retrobrite (or chemical equivalent) is the top option if you know what you"re doing, but I was surprised that sunshine is a pretty decent alternative. The original (not discoloured) plastic doesn't seem to have been impacted but the bad (discoloured) plastic has returned to being a lot nearer its original colour.

I guess I should have taken "before and after" photos to demonstrate the effect. I will do so next time!

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by **jawa_** » Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:35 pm

Jenuall wrote:Stick it on the window and the parakeets will clean it for you

But then the crows - or a herd* of rooks - will nab them

.

* I know it's not herd. It's heard...

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:Ironically, A Game Gear won't yellow.

Yes! I beat GRcade! When I was writing the title I originally put "Game gear yellowing" but then I thought that someone would make a joke about it. So I changed it! :lol:

.

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by **Outrunner** » Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:41 pm

I genuinely hate this with my consoles. My NES and one of my SNES consoles, my PS1 and original Playstation and the grey bits on my Gamecube have all go disgusting shades of yellow. The worst is my Sega collection. My Master Systems, Mega Drives, Saturns, Game Gears, Pico all look great. My Dreamcast looks disgusting, I genuinely wish Sega had released a black variant over here. I'm tempted to buy a black case and transfer all the innards over. both my SG-1000's are similar with yellowing kicking in. At the very least it balances out my display, 2 gross yellowing consoles at either end of a line of pristine looking black consoles.

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by **rinks** » Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:42 pm

jawa, you're among friends here. If you've pissed on your consoles, just say so. We'll understand.

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by **jawa_** » Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:49 pm

Outrunner wrote:I genuinely hate this with my consoles. My NES and one of my SNES consoles, my PS1 and original Playstation and the grey bits on my Gamecube have all go disgusting shades of yellow...

If you have a window that gets the sun... consider my method, Outrunner!

Note We do not suggest that this approach is used. Speak to scientific experts and fire safety officials. The process described was for entertainment purposes only and is not advice.

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by **Qikz** » Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:51 pm

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:Ironically, A Game Gear won't yellow.

The super rare 10,000 unit G.G. White edition will! (given to Sega employees in the 90s)

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by **jawa_** » Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:53 pm

rinks wrote:jawa, you're among friends here. If you've pissed on your consoles, just say so. We'll understand.

It is odd, as I have never smoked and it's not like the gaming gear was in permanent sunshine when it yellowed; most of it was in the loft or my cupboard.

I guess that some bits of plastic yellows and others do not. My phone/internet socket box in my living room has a shell made of four bits of plastic; two bits have yellowed and two remain white.

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by **jawa_** » Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:54 pm

Qikz wrote:
The super rare 10,000 unit G.G. White edition will! (given to Sega employees in the 90s)...

The buttons have gone green

. I dunno if my sunshine solution will work for that.

Qikz wrote:
kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:Ironically, A Game Gear won't yellow.

The super rare 10,000 unit G.G. White edition will! (given to Sega employees in the 90s)

Ah, nice! I wasn't aware of this one. Thanks for posting!

jawa_ wrote:
The buttons have gone green . I dunno if my sunshine solution will work for that.

Try pissing on it. Apparently we are all friends here.

PostRe: Gaming gear yellowing by **Outrunner** » Tue Aug 22, 2023 1:35 pm

jawa_ wrote:
Outrunner wrote:I genuinely hate this with my consoles. My NES and one of my SNES consoles, my PS1 and original Playstation and the grey bits on my Gamecube have all go disgusting shades of yellow...

If you have a window that gets the sun... consider my method, Outrunner!

I'll give it a go but I think, at least in the case of the Dreamcast, it may have been the sun that caused it to go yellow. I had it set up for years in the room that had the most sun but the VMUs which were plugged into the controller and never exposed to sunlight are almost pristine. I had the same issue with some of my Transformers action figures which were in the same room going yellow. On the flipside, my Gamecube was pristine when I packed it up for storage and it still went yellow so there's not consistency there.

Only my Dreamcast, PSP and DS lite are white, and afaik, none have discoloured so far.

They eventually will though and later the plastic will become brittle.

My dreamcast is in a right state, very very yellow. The controller and VMUs are still white though.

All my other consoles are fine.

Here's a thread on an alternative to the retrobright method that doesn't involve caking your shells in chemicals:

twitter.com/A3rgan/status/1539964670039076865

And my personal results from said method:

twitter.com/Not_the_chef/status/1549495543554052096

Gaming gear yellowing | jawa invents sunshine

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