I finally decided I will try Retr0Bright on some old plastics.

The other week, I bought a GPO 746 telephone (made in 1975) to do up. The case is made of ABS and is a bit yellowed. Unlike the usual Amiga-like candidates, this one is 'Two-tone grey' colour.

I'll prepare some photographs later, but first I'll explain what I did, in case it is of interest to anyone who wants to try it.

The Hydrogen Peroxide was purchased from a supplier on eBay (Lucemill plastic bottles). Its 11% strength, and cost less than £10 for 1 Litre. I picked it up using eBay's new Argos click and collect service.

To thicken it, I used corn flour (like you would probably use in gravy). I mixed the corn flour and peroxide in a blender (to avoid lumps), then microwaved it for a minute to warm it up so it would thicken. I didn't bother with any glycerin (as some people suggest), as I can't see what its use is supposed to be, but I guess I could try some.

I kept most of the mixture in a container, and took some out to mix with the TAED, which is in the form of Vanish Oxy Action. Just dissolved a bit of Vanish in a bit of warm water and mixed it in.

I painted the Retr0Bright on the telephone case, put it in a washing up bowl, and placed my Ultra Violet Light box on top. The light box is a DIY jobby intended for PCB manufacture. The UV tubes are of the 'insect killer' variety.

I painted a bit more on several times, though it didn't really dry as it was done in my cold kitchen. I left it about 7-8 hours, and I'm pleased to say it worked fine. The only problem is that the sides haven't done quite as much as the top. I think this is because the top was much closer to the UV lamps. I'll try and do the sides a bit more another time.

Next up will be an Apple Extended Keyboard II, since I have one disassembled next to me .

- - - Updated - - -

I did the GPO 746 telephone again today to even it out, and I think I might have overdone some of it. But the colours are certainly better now.

These photos show the telephone plastic before the Retr0Bright. You can see the difference in colour between the exposed plastic, and the plastic which should be covered by the dial surround.

746_before_01.jpg

746_before_02.jpg

746_before_03.jpg

Here is the plastic case after the Retr0Bright. It is now much more 'grey', but some of it is a bit streaky, whereas it wasn't after yesterday's treatment, so I'm not sure if I overdid it a bit.

746_after_02.jpg

746_after_03.jpg

I also did the dial surround and microphone cover. This went a bit iffy, so maybe that was an oopsie. It is shown next to the speaker cover which hasn't been treated.

746_after_01.jpg