Brick de-yellowing techniques

[Forresto]

That's right people there is a way to get you're yellowed bricks new again! Oxi-Clean. Now it doe'snt only does it clean tabletops but can make old legos look new again! I learned this amazing fact on the Brother's Brick. To read the full article click on this link Brother's Brick breaking news

P.S If there's a place for this or has already been posted i'm very sorry.

[prateek]

I think this was posted before, but it is a good solution.

[posades]

Yes I think someone pointed this out a while back, but it's nice to know nevertheless. I haven't tried it out myself, but I remember reading you didn't just use straight up Oxyclean, that you had to mix it with something else?

It would also be interesting to see what kind of long term effects would pop up from using this regularly, i.e. brittle bricks and discoloration of a different variety, etc.

[muffinman42]

i think it desolves one layor of plastic so that you can see the non-yellowed plastic under it, i wonder if it will effect the grip of the bricks or if the diffrence is very small.

[Dragonator]

Hi Forresto, this news has been posted before, so I have merged your topic with this one and placed it in the appropriate forum. Thanks very much. It sure is an interesting technique.

[Big Cam]

Neat find, I keep my LEGO's far from the sun, so I don't have any discolored LEGO's but it's good to know there is a cure.

[no_skill]

I know this thread is old, but I thought I might suggest it be placed in the tutorials index? I think it would be a useful addition there.

Thanks!

[Enilder]

can you just use hydrogen peroxide with oxy to get same result? (without using gly and xanthan)

[Karto]

can you just use hydrogen peroxide with oxy to get same result? (without using gly and xanthan)

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) alone is enough to get this kind of result. Altleast, that's what I use for some years now, on all type of ABS bricks, printed or not. The concentration required is a 100-volume (or 30%). The bleaching process will first remove the thin particle layer, created by sunlight or smoke. From my experience, the shape of the brick is visibly not altered before 48h.

Note: It may be hard to find this kind of industrial concentrations. If you find your way to an academic lab or you know a comprehensive pharmacist, you should be able to grab some. Higher concentrations are not usable because of being unstable.

[Enilder]

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) alone is enough to get this kind of result. Altleast, that's what I use for some years now, on all type of ABS bricks, printed or not. The concentration required is a 100-volume (or 30%). The bleaching process will first remove the thin particle layer, created by sunlight or smoke. From my experience, the shape of the brick is visibly not altered before 48h.

Note: It may be hard to find this kind of industrial concentrations. If you find your way to an academic lab or you know a comprehensive pharmacist, you should be able to grab some. Higher concentrations are not usable because of being unstable.

From what I've been told or read from the links, 100% isn't necessary (in fact the concentration doesn't make significant difference). It's quite difficult to get anything above 40% vol (from beauty supply). I am not sure if I am supposed to leave this out in the open after everything is poured in.

[Karto]

From what I've been told or read from the links, 100% isn't necessary (in fact the concentration doesn't make significant difference). It's quite difficult to get anything above 40% vol (from beauty supply). I am not sure if I am supposed to leave this out in the open after everything is poured in.

I wasn't speaking of 100%, but 30%. A 100-volume H2O2 means a concentration of 30% of oxygen . A 40-volume is only 12%.

The concentration of oxygen actually does make the difference, the oxidative factor aswell as the corrosive factor depend on it. Put your finger in a 100-volume solution and it will get instantly white (actually don't do this, it causes irritations). Concentrations above 80% are highly unstable, difficult to make (organic process I believe) and restricted for military purposes.

An example from my experience: The first printed part I cleaned was a pirate flag, the big one. The print is black, the flag should be white. Mine was dark brown. It remained in my ceiling for 15 years in front of a small window. The shape however was excellent, not a scratch. So I took a bottle of 100-volume H2O2 in my lab. This is indeed hard to find in general stores, but it should be easy to get from a pharmacist. At this concentration, you can leave the liquid in a strong, closed box. Higher concentrations (>40%) may create too much presure due to vaporization. The box I used - and which I still use after 5 years - is from Tupperware. After being 24 hours in the box, the flag went back to white - as new.

One thing for sure, you have to take some basic precautions when using 30% concentrations: handle with gloves; use a towel to dry the parts and don't use it for anything other than that; don't drop H2O2 on your cloths; don't breath; don't drink and certainly avoid mixing it with other cleaning stuff.

[Enilder]

I wasn't speaking of 100%, but 30%. A 100-volume H2O2 means a concentration of 30% of oxygen . A 40-volume is only 12%.

The concentration of oxygen actually does make the difference, the oxidative factor aswell as the corrosive factor depend on it. Put your finger in a 100-volume solution and it will get instantly white (actually don't do this, it causes irritations). Concentrations above 80% are highly unstable, difficult to make (organic process I believe) and restricted for military purposes.

An example from my experience: The first printed part I cleaned was a pirate flag, the big one. The print is black, the flag should be white. Mine was dark brown. It remained in my ceiling for 15 years in front of a small window. The shape however was excellent, not a scratch. So I took a bottle of 100-volume H2O2 in my lab. This is indeed hard to find in general stores, but it should be easy to get from a pharmacist. At this concentration, you can leave the liquid in a strong, closed box. Higher concentrations (>40%) may create too much presure due to vaporization. The box I used - and which I still use after 5 years - is from Tupperware. After being 24 hours in the box, the flag went back to white - as new.

One thing for sure, you have to take some basic precautions when using 30% concentrations: handle with gloves; use a towel to dry the parts and don't use it for anything other than that; don't drop H2O2 on your cloths; don't breath; don't drink and certainly avoid mixing it with other cleaning stuff.

I am using 3% from a pharmacy store with Oxyclean lol

The highest that I can even find is 12% (40 volume). Currently, parts are submerged in hydrogen peroxide and oxyclean (exposed to light). I couldn't find any info on the purpose of the gel that was mentioned and I don't have an access to UV lights so I just put it near the window. It's been about 10 hours. If it doesn't work, I may have to do this properly...

[legomaniac83]

A couple of questions for Karto.

I have a whack of pieces I need to get white again, and by reading some of these posts it seems as easy as finding some 100 volume (30%) H202. All I would do is put it in a strong container with the pieces, and they should turn white again over time?

Have you done multiple pieces at a time?

And What do you do with the liquid after you are done cleaning the parts? Do you keep it or discard?

Sorry for all the questions, but getting my parts back to white this way seems better than spending a ton of $$$ on Bricklink.

Thanks for the help.

Edited March 14, 2010 by legomaniac83

[Enilder]

ended up ruining LEGO with simple 3% in less than a day. cracks everywhere and still yellowed. waste of $5. :(

[fred67]

I have only used the 3% Hydrogen Peroxide solutions available in supermarkets and the like, I haven't found anything stronger than that, although I haven't asked at a dedicated pharmacy (the store one said they only had what was on the shelf... 3%).

I can confirm that adding oxyclean to undiluted 3% solution will, for me, get things clean in less than one day... I leave it out in the morning, and when I get home from work, the pieces are amazingly clean.

You don't need the thickeners (xanthan gum or anything else) for LEGO... the reason the retrobright people used thickener is to spread it on large pieces, so unless you have like a 48x48 plate that you can't fit in another container, it's not necessary.

Contrary to what a couple of people have posted, I've never had a piece crack; it may dissolve a top layer, but it must somehow expand the plastic because the pieces have better gripping power afterwards.

I've used it on white and gray with great success. Used on clear, and the results were preferable to the yellowed pieces, but not entirely clean and clear. The plastic needs to cure, because it gets soft... I tried drying a piece with a tissue and it looked like I used sand paper on it, ruining a clear macaroni (expensive mistake). The others I just let sit for a few days, and they were not as clear as new, but preferable to the yellow they once were.

All I can say is, for a solution you can make easily from stuff you get at the supermarket, it works amazingly well and anybody with old discolored pieces should at least try it on a few expendable pieces if they don't believe those of us that use it.

[Calabar]

As I've many yellowed bricks (mainly from my infantry), I decided to try the "OXY" way!

So I looked for an oxi detergent in the supermarket, and I found different versions:

- Standard

- with whitener

- for shoes

...

So.. a little question: is there a product better than others? Or I've to avoid to buy some kind of that? Or it's the same thing?

PS:

It would be appreciated a suggestion for a good product I can find in Italy.

[fred67]

As I've many yellowed bricks (mainly from my infantry), I decided to try the "OXY" way!

So I looked for an oxi detergent in the supermarket, and I found different versions:

- Standard

- with whitener

- for shoes

...

So.. a little question: is there a product better than others? Or I've to avoid to buy some kind of that? Or it's the same thing?

PS:

It would be appreciated a suggestion for a good product I can find in Italy.

Sorry, don't know what's available in Italy... Oxyclean is the stuff Billy Mays used to sell on TV here in the U.S. before his untimely death... it's available in Supermarkets here, it's just called "Oxyclean" and is found where the laundry detergent is.

If you're not sure, the Oxyclean only acts as a catalyst... you can just leave your pieces on Hydrogen Peroxide for several days. The first time I did it, it took like 3 or 4 days and the results were OK, but adding oxyclean gives better results in one day.

Maybe this will help.

Edited August 24, 2010 by fred67

[jd5775]

I want a way to mass clean my legos. Could I just mix hydrogen peroxide, oxyclean, and water in rubbermaid tub, sit it out in the sun and stir occasionally?

Would this be a good way to clean all my legos, even the not yellowed just dirty ones?

[fred67]

I want a way to mass clean my legos. Could I just mix hydrogen peroxide, oxyclean, and water in rubbermaid tub, sit it out in the sun and stir occasionally?

Would this be a good way to clean all my legos, even the not yellowed just dirty ones?

I don't know how it is for dirt removal, just for correcting color... but yeah, that's the general idea... if you can get 30% hydrogen peroxide and dilute it with water and add oxyclean... but I can't find 30%, just 3%, so I use it undiluted with oxyclean and it works just fine for me... one day (morning to mid to late afternoon) is all it takes with oxyclean as a catalyst. Several days without.

I don't know that it would be particularly useful to clean out dust and stuff... I might try the top rack dishwasher trick first, and then just use the hydrogen peroxide trick on the discolored ones.

[super curry max]

Gonna do this tomorrow with a Broadsides Brig set I got in a lot that is super discolored on all the white pieces. I'll take pics of my results.

I did this a few years ago with some old GI Joes that went yellow on me and things went pretty good for that, only some of the figures skin tone also changed a bit. But since I'm doing this with one solid color pieces I am excited about the results.

[Calabar]

Ah... so OXI Clean is not a ready product.

Because of my poor English, I fear to misunderstand something.

Can anyone provide me a schematic summary of what I need to know?

I need a list of necessary products and components, and if possible a way to recognize the "OXY" product in order to find a correct alternative here in Italy.

[super curry max]

So here are my results. Pics are a bit blurry but you can clearly see the extent of the yellowization on the bricks and how immaculate they came out. I did a solution of 2 teaspoons oxyclean and the rest regular 3% peroxide in a lidded glass jar and put out in the sun for about 6 hours. I did another few bricks today using just 3% peroxide and got even better results on some colored bricks. So I'm not entirely sure the oxyclean is even needed. Also Nothing cracked or got damaged in the slightest and grip power was certainly not affected.

Before:

After:

[fred67]

So here are my results.

WOW! I never had any pieces that yellowed (although they were pretty bad). That's some incredible results, although my experience differed from yours... before I heard about using Oxyclean, I just used hydrogen peroxide and had to leave the bricks out for four or five days. With oxyclean, less than one day's worth of sunlight (maybe 9:00am to 5:00pm) is enough to make them clean.

Can anyone provide me a schematic summary of what I need to know? I need a list of necessary products and components, and if possible a way to recognize the "OXY" product in order to find a correct alternative here in Italy.

Sorry, I don't know what oxy products are available in Italy... but all you need is hydrogen peroxide (they say 30%, but I just use 3% without diluting it, it's pretty cheap) and a container to put the bricks in to leave out in the sunlight. You don't need Oxyclean, it just makes it work faster (super curry max's experience notwithstanding), but I believe the active ingredients in most "oxy" products is just sodium percarbonate and soda ash. You might also look for products labeled "Oxi" instead of "Oxy."

[CP5670]

That looks fantastic. I especially like how it seems to have picked out the yellowed surfaces only. Pieces that are yellowed due to UV exposure (as opposed to oxygen exposure) tend not to be so uniformly across the whole piece.

Do the pieces still look exactly the right color though? I had previously heard that these techniques don't work well for old gray and the pieces end up in a color closer to bluish gray.

[super curry max]

That looks fantastic. I especially like how it seems to have picked out the yellowed surfaces only. Pieces that are yellowed due to UV exposure (as opposed to oxygen exposure) tend not to be so uniformly across the whole piece.

Do the pieces still look exactly the right color though? I had previously heard that these techniques don't work well for old gray and the pieces end up in a color closer to bluish gray.

I should have taken pics of what i did today but there really wasn't any change in the shade of the color bricks i did today.

I did a few blue bricks that had the yellowized sort of greenish tint to it and also some gray pieces and a few old grey mountain pieces that were also greenish. The blue bricks showed no diminishing change color and came out great. As for the grey walls on the parts that were greenish those parts ended up slightly lighter in color than than the rest of the piece but(for me at least) you can hardly tell. I mean you can see where the yellow part was but only if you are really looking for it. I'm more than happy with how this turned out.