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Cleaning smoked plastic

what you have to realize is that you'll never get it with one application of bleach (or whatever else probably). I've been using the Clorox gel stuph, works FASTER then real bleach it seems, but it's "selective" if you will. You can pour on top of a big area, yet when you hose it off/dry it, you'll find there were areas that weren't bleached as much as others. It's got to be done repeatedly it seems. The length of time I left this stuph on didn't seem to matter that much. You can try dunking it for extended periods, but I'm concerned whether long periods could hurt the plastic (probably not, but who knows). Give this gel stuph a try. You'll find the speed at which it works gratifying.
 
"Direct sunlight, in conjunction with bleach seems to work best (in spite of the paradox that the sunlight caused the yellowing in the first place)."

Yes, the bleaching effect of sunlight did occur to me also.

"The color you're shooting for is a real light beige, with just a hint of yellow. Deeper and pinker than eggshell, but not as yellowish as ivory, or even cream. Anywhere in that range should be passable..."

Personally, I find some of these things have the most subtle hint of chartreuse, with an o so gentle tinting of mauve. OMG SHUT UP!!! LOL

Saw a truck today, had to buy it on sight. That azure just stopped me in my tracks.

--T
 
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A Swedish gentleman who used to comment figure skating in the early 70'ties was an innovator when it came to naming various colours. He coined that one skater's dress was "dark white" and a lot more interesting descriptoins. I've read on this forum before that there is a special colour named "digital grey" for restoring digital PDP (and VAXen?) etc. Maybe some colour manufacturer should make a series of grey:

Apple ][-grey, Apple //e-grey, C64-grey, C64c-white, Victor-grey etc etc.
 
used some more splash-less Clorox the past couple of days. I've gotten out some particulary nasty brown stains with repeated applications, but to totally get a case to it's original color will take considerable work it seems. The other thing to watch for is weakening the plastic. Some sort of conditioner might be in order (like putting armor all on your dash to counteract the suns bleaching effect). Can't recommend something specifically. Maybe olive oil? Something to restore the oils (which everything has to some degree) that the bleach is undoubtedly taking out.
 
new thought

new thought

I don't know why I didn't think of this before-
Have you tried using a super fine grit polishing compound, like Mequires jewlers rouge? This should take off what can be taken off safely. I've used Mequires mirror glaze to clean up old bakelite nobs and such on my antique fans.
As to "restoring the oils" two thoughts here- 1- plain old Amour All. I've seen it used to help restore original plexiglass windshield on "fiberglassic" boats. 2- There are products on the market for rejuvinating old rubber. I used some awhile back to resurect the rubber drive mounts in a horribly abused Vaxstation. Can't remember the name though.
3- (whoops I lied about the "2" thoughts) Get a silicon cloth from a gunshop. I tried it on the front of my DAT changer tonight which was looking a little rough and now the surface feels almost new.
 
I often use the ArmourAll on my laptops. I've also thought that you might be able to use regulation Rubbing Compound, like you use on a cars paint-job, but I haven't tried it because I no longer own a power-buffer, and I ain't about to try doing it by hand. I always used a product called 'Black Magic'. It's a liquid-type compound, not a paste, and it works great on laquer or enamel, and would probably make short work of discolored plastic. OTOH, you might need to go with a coarser grit, if the discoloration goes very deep into the plastic, then finish it with finer stuff.

--T
 
I personally don't recommend any sort of abrasives. First off, it's just probably not worth it. And you're going to mar the surface unless the staining just isn't that deep, in which case a little bleach will do the trick.
 
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