FYI The active ingredient in Clorox 2 is Hydrogen peroxide. I am testing some parts from an old radio that has yellowed in a solution of this to see if it works.

Is this one of those post you allowed to reply with "That's what she said"?

Hmm. Wonder if you could apply this to a playfield (sparingly) to whiten up yellowed areas? Maybe someone that has a unusable old playfield could test this.

Okay, so here's my test items with Clorox 2 (1/4 cup liquid to 1 gallon of water).

Old Radio Shack Shower / Beach radio with years of yellowing on the front and top:

Ugly radio.jpg
Ugly Radio 2.jpg
Here with one days worth of soaking in Clorox 2 solution and sunlight. There wasn't enough room in the container for the front and back, so I put the front part way in to make a comparison cleaning (also, I can't get the waterproof speaker out without damaging the case. I'm going to try the peroxide cream and Saran wrap method on this when I get the cream).
One day .jpg
Comparison.jpg
Even the foam rubber on the inside of the battery cover came out cleaner and brighter looking (although the interior of the panel wasn't yellowed, the foam had turned a dull brownish cover. Maybe this had something to do with the C cells).

It still needs some treating, but there is a definite difference.
Close up.jpg

Or possibly "Frog Tape". It claims to make a seal along the edge of the tape when you paint. ( I haven't tried it, but that's their claim.)

Okay, so here's my final results on the radio:
Before after.jpg

Not perfect, but 95% better. The case front was done in the 40% salon Cream, wrapped in plastic, in the sun for one day.. The knobs were done in the Clorox 2 solution for a day and a half in the sun..
There's still a little discoloration on the case, but it's a huge improvement.

So has anyone tried some posts, or other white playfield parts yet?

I was going to suggest this as well.

Still say give this a try:
http://frogtape.com/how-frogtape-works

It creates a seal along the edged when it gets wet (usually from latex paints.)

Peroxide works okay for slight yellowing, but I had better results with salon cream or the Clorox 2 solution (see my previous posts).
But as far as the burns, nothing is going to remove that. There's been a chemical change in the plastic.

So has anyone tried this on some plastic play field hardware (or even cabinet parts) yet?

Check my post (#104) and check out the radio. It works well on white plastics. I think what needs to be seen is if the results are the same on colored plastic.

The pinball equivalent of a bad sun tan.

Seriously thou, are any of the parts colors other than white? And post some before and after pictures for us.

I know I'm supposed to look at how much less yellow the plastics look, but ... just ... can't ... avert eyes from mismatched screws in second picture!

Kidding aside, that is a huge improvement!

Admittedly, I thought this was a joke until I remembered that there are high intensity U/V lamps inside. The only problem would be if the tray weren't large enough to take a small pan of parts and which ever source of H2O2 being used.

A couple of people have mentioned a layer of liquid latex on the artwork to seal it from the liquid, and I mentioned trying "Frog Tape" to seal it, but I haven't heard of anyone trying it yet. I think I still have a set of plastics from a Bow and Arrow in my attic. If I have a chance, I'll get them down and see if they're a good candidate to try this on.

Answer 1. Even the 40% solution contains water, and it can migrate across the surface.
Answer 2. Not confirmed if it will bleach colours, but Hydrogen Peroxide IS the main active ingredient in colour safe bleaches (i.E. Clorox 2).

When you put it in a container, and put it in sunlight or under a U.V. lamp, even the small amount of heat can cause some of the peroxide to evaporate out of the creme, and it can also condensate on any surface of the container or what's in it. Try it at your own risk. But I als o am interested in that Tamiya tape. Please post pictures.

... I double posted.

Good Will in Santa Ana CA. had a Playstation that had turned almost brown (a Friend and I joked about it being John Boehner's old Playstation) that now I wish I'd bought now so I could try that on.

I tried it on a screened piece from a Silverball Mania, with Frog Tape, and the the Salon Creme foamed up in the sunlight, and took the tape off along with some of the graphics.

I also recently tried cleaning an old Playstation case, and the Salon Creme and it left bleached out marks all over the case top! I had better results with the lower part of the case using Clorox 2 and water.
0606161917-00_(resized).jpg

My take is, unless you're cleaning a piece of white or off-whie plastic with no screening on it, 40% Salon Creme can be destructive.

I gotta say when I came to whites, I had pretty good luck (look at the radio I did as an example)with cleaning, but I haven't run into anything that turned brittle. It may come down to what type of plastic is being de-yellowed. I recently tried a 40+ year old piece of Polystyrene that came out just fine. All I can suggest is try a sample (I'd go with just regular First-Aid type peroxide or Clorox 2) and see how it turns out. The Salon Creme may be to harsh on really old plastics.

Speaking of which:

SNES_(resized).jpg

This one has an appointment with Purel and H2O2.

Yeah, but I've been looking for an NES or SNES like this to try de-yellowing on. Here's how the top turned out after 11 Hours in the sun with Clorox 2:

SNES_2_(resized).jpg

I'll probably have to do it once more because the interior is still yellowed but for now I want to do the bottom half. Also, no brittleness to the plastic.

And if you try this, a couple of things:
1. Mix 4ozs. Clorox 2 to 1 gallon of water (or about a 32 to 1 ratio).
2. Only mix it up when you're ready to use it (read the label warnings about mixing / storing mixed solution.)
2. Never seal up the container you're doing the de-yellowing in tightly! (same goes for using peroxide of any type). Oxygen is being released and pressure can build up in the container. If you cover the container with plastic wrap or something like it, leave it loose on an edge, or at least punch a couple of pin-holes in the top.

Hopefully by next weekend I'll have some pictures of the finished case to post. Next, I want to find some sample plastics to try this on.

Exactly.

No. In that case, the plastic is burned, not yellowed by bromine in the plastic. Once it's burned, it's permanent.

Just another recent project:
DSCF0107 (resized).jpeg
DSCF0115 (resized).jpeg
DSCF0127 (resized).jpeg
This time I just used regular First Aid peroxide.
(The restoration also included a new bezel and repairing lines on the screen).

3% and sunlight. I'm surprised this one turned out as well as it did. It was on and off again overcast that day.

Try this: One quart of 3% peroxide, 16 oz. of water and 2 Oz. of Liquid Chlorox 2. Got these results over the last two days with a SEGA Dreamcast:

Before ...
DSCF0163 (resized).JPGDSCF0168 (resized).JPG

After ...
DSCF0174 (resized).JPGDSCF0173 (resized).JPG

One day for each half (had trouble finding a container to fit this in). the second picture is after I had done the to /lid assembly. I didn't realize just how bad the bottom was until I laid the top piece on top of it. The cover for the modem wasn't as bad and was clean in about 4 hours.

I've tried UV lamps before, but they don't work as well as direct Sunlight.

Note. Once again remember: When you use peroxide and/or the Clorox 32 solution, make sure the container is NOT sealed tight or at least put a pin-hole in the top to vent off the oxygen that is released, or else the lid will pop open. I forgot to do this and the lid came loose and I ended up spilling a lot of the solution when I picked up the container off a cinder block wall.