Let me be the one to introduce you to the rabbit hole that is retr0bright. There are numerous videos on youtube of various different methods of retro-brighting.
No problem, let me just say that I haven’t tried it myself but I’ve watched a lot of videos of other people trying it and the worst results that I’ve seen have been the ones using a gel that they paint onto the plastic and then cover in plastic wrap. This tends to leave a streaky effect because the substance is not equally thick in every area and so it has more whitening effect where it’s thicker.
The best results that I’ve seen have been the ones that have completely submerged the plastic in a liquid peroxide solution, or have suspended the plastic above the solution to immerse it in the vapors that evaporate off from the peroxide (pure oxygen). These methods give completely uniform coverage so they whiten the plastic equally in every place.
It seems that you also need strong UV, and people that live nearer the equator have better success using the sun. But in the absence of good UV lighting, heat also seems to have some effect.
Just as a quite warning- retrobright will make the plastic of the dreamcast white, but it will also make it more brittle, and it’s not a permanent solution. It WILL yellow again, and repeated applications of retrobright will make it more and more brittle.
Fair warning it will also continue yellowing and getting more and more brittle if you do nothing. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade, but it does undergo aging in a way that makes it less durable than traditional materials. Wood can be kept from biodegrading, metal can be kept from corroding, but aging plastic just gets more and more brittle and just really wants to become microplastics
Mine’s still white, but I’d always heard there were different types of plastic used in consoles (and computer cases) back then, some of which would become discolored, and others wouldn’t. Might be true, unless anyone in your house has been a smoker in the last 25 years.
Look up a cleaning solution called ‘RetroBright’. It’s designed to remove the yellowing from the ABS housings of old electronics. I’m pretty sure the recipe for it is available free online, or you can order pre-mixed bottles of it. You have to be a little careful with it because it’s mostly hydrogen peroxide, but I hear it works great.
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Let me be the one to introduce you to the rabbit hole that is retr0bright. There are numerous videos on youtube of various different methods of retro-brighting.
The most scientifically thorough treatment of the phenomenon that I’ve seen is this paper: https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/The-Retrobright-Mystery.pdf
Soak the plastic in hydrogen peroxide and oxy booster stain fighter
For the rest of you ADHD havers who don’t have the patience to get that write up to fit on your phone screen.
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No problem, let me just say that I haven’t tried it myself but I’ve watched a lot of videos of other people trying it and the worst results that I’ve seen have been the ones using a gel that they paint onto the plastic and then cover in plastic wrap. This tends to leave a streaky effect because the substance is not equally thick in every area and so it has more whitening effect where it’s thicker.
The best results that I’ve seen have been the ones that have completely submerged the plastic in a liquid peroxide solution, or have suspended the plastic above the solution to immerse it in the vapors that evaporate off from the peroxide (pure oxygen). These methods give completely uniform coverage so they whiten the plastic equally in every place.
It seems that you also need strong UV, and people that live nearer the equator have better success using the sun. But in the absence of good UV lighting, heat also seems to have some effect.
Good luck!
Just as a quite warning- retrobright will make the plastic of the dreamcast white, but it will also make it more brittle, and it’s not a permanent solution. It WILL yellow again, and repeated applications of retrobright will make it more and more brittle.
…
Fair warning it will also continue yellowing and getting more and more brittle if you do nothing. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade, but it does undergo aging in a way that makes it less durable than traditional materials. Wood can be kept from biodegrading, metal can be kept from corroding, but aging plastic just gets more and more brittle and just really wants to become microplastics
Mine’s still white, but I’d always heard there were different types of plastic used in consoles (and computer cases) back then, some of which would become discolored, and others wouldn’t. Might be true, unless anyone in your house has been a smoker in the last 25 years.
…
Look up a cleaning solution called ‘RetroBright’. It’s designed to remove the yellowing from the ABS housings of old electronics. I’m pretty sure the recipe for it is available free online, or you can order pre-mixed bottles of it. You have to be a little careful with it because it’s mostly hydrogen peroxide, but I hear it works great.
You are correct, it’s the plastic. Or rather, the fire retardant mixed into the plastic.
If I recall correctly it’s related to a fire retardant additive that oxidizes
My DC is still bright white, but my snes looks like it used to smoke.
that description is so on point
My Dreamcast is pretty normal, but good God my NES.
I bought it 20 years ago it was already yellow lol