Hi all!

I got a quick question recently I had to pack some of my Lego while moving away to my new home. The Legos stayed packed inside suitcases and boxes for about 40 days until I re-opened them again to discover that around 10-15 Lego Imperial Guards from my Pirate sets have changed their shade from white to a light yellowish color, especially their legs portion. I really don’t know why. I had stored them faraway from any sunlight and in fair weather conditions.

Can anyone tell me what’s the cause and how can I repair the minifigs, if there’s a way to go about it? I tried washing them by using water and tissue but with no significant result.

Hi all!

I got a quick question recently I had to pack some of my Lego while moving away to my new home. The Legos stayed packed inside suitcases and boxes for about 40 days until I re-opened them again to discover that around 10-15 Lego Imperial Guards from my Pirate sets have changed their shade from white to a light yellowish color, especially their legs portion. I really don’t know why. I had stored them faraway from any sunlight and in fair weather conditions.

Can anyone tell me what’s the cause and how can I repair the minifigs, if there’s a way to go about it? I tried washing them by using water and tissue but with no significant result.

ive never had that problem but you could try soaking them in a 50/50 mixture of water and bleach overnight. i'm not sure if bleach works on plastic though, so you might want to test it on a brick you don't care about first to make sure it does'nt do anything bad to your minifigs.

Thanks MarshallsLego for your reply. I just read about combining plastic with bleach and I don't think its a wise thing to do.

You should search in the General Discussions forum, every now and then a thread about cleaning bricks springs up.

I was reading this old thread a couple of days ago, and while it doesn't mention minifigs specifically, it mentions great results with H2O2 with optionally OxyClean added, and some pictures seem to show that it didn't damage printings. However I would be very carefully with minifigs, especially if they have gold/silver prints... it's probably worth trying first with one minifig only, possibly the least valuable minifig you have.

I found months ago a great review how to Restore the colour of old lego bricks. I think you should check it out and give it a try if need to. Heres the link: Click Here

Captain Becker

I found months ago a great review how to Restore the colour of old lego bricks. I think you should check it out and give it a try if need to. Heres the link: Click Here

Captain Becker

I have used this method to restore the original shade of some of my old plastic computer cases, and plan on doing it again with a bunch of old LEGO. It really works!

Sorry for being late, as I was extremely busy those past days and thanks to all who had replied. I will test it out and let you know the results as soon as possible.

If I am not wrong the LEGO shop owner said It's naturally for white mnifigs to turn yellowish. Only white colour lego bricks/minifigures.

When I bought shuttle adventure he told me. Same for white minifigs in his shop, turned yellowish.

ive never had that problem with legos, but i do know yellowing of white plastic is pretty common in lots of toy lines. ive always been told that toys stored in plastic bags for awhile or action figures kept carded can turn yellow because of something to do with gases realeased from the plastic being trapped in airtight, or something like that.

I do know the issue. While none of my minifigs has tried to change his/her style, many of my old white bricks have become somewhat... cast-coloured-yellowish. My 1:1 Trek-phaser rifle has got funny yellow parts because of this.

The LEGO shop owner also told me It's natural for white LEGO to turn yellowish.

Time will tell if he's right.

But he did told me even if lego turn yellowish, collectors wont mind as a lot of LEGO are white.

I have plenty of white bricks from sets dating back to the early 80's that are still very white and have others that,t I am assuming the previous owner left near exposed sun, are yellowed. The sets I purchased new in the 90's (my childhood) look brand new because they have been in a dark closet and never see sun.

Like whats stated above, fill a tupperware container with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and a bit of a catalyst like OXYclean. Let your affected bricks soak in the container in sunlight for a couple hours or day, depending on the severity. Rinse them and then soak them in a solution of Dawn or similar soap and a splash of carwash soap, agitating it periodically. This cleans the residue of OXYclean and and the carwash soap helps protect the plastic from harsh detergents. Rinse with water and air dry and you'll have brand new looking bricks!