If your teeth are yellow, you’re embarrassing,
but if your Commodore is yellow, you’re cool!

We recently read an advertisement (in a group with antiques), in which the owner wanted to sell a chest of drawers from the 1800s. The ad mentioned how proud the owner was of himself, because he carefully and thoroughly polished the old, battered, scratched, mat, old furniture and varnished it with two thick layers of lacquer.

Needless to say, what he got from the more competent people in the comments, he didn’t pocket. Not to mention the amount of money that the chest lost in value due to the unprofessional renovation.

The point is that it may not even be possible to distinguish whether the loss of the original (or remaining) condition is more heartache for a true collector, or that such „renovation” often harms the material more than as much it aesthetically enhances the antique.

Well, the same is true for our much-loved, mature computers.

Many and often ask if we undertake the re-bleaching of yellowed RetrObright casing. NO.

On the one hand, because it would be equal with heresy, on the other hand, because this it is almost impossible to achieve real results. Not to mention that if it for some reason, the procedure does not go well, the opposite effect may be achieved and the surface we want to save, will be destroyed, corroded, becomes matt or striped, and loses its elasticity. As a result, the material becomes stiffer with each treatment, which can result in either cracking of the casing or breakage of the handles. Yes, the ABS turns yellow over time. It will be yellow because the casing material is made of plastic to which bromine has been added during manufacturing for better heat resistance. But over time, the bromine undergoes chemical decomposition, gets yellow and old, just like us.

RetrObright RetrObright is not an effective solution either, because the plastic material itself discolours, while RetrObright is only a surface treatment.

Anyway (but this is just a personal opinion), let a 30-year-old computer be yellow…

The RetrObright process makes the appearance of retro computers a little more aesthetically novel, but the material can easily suffer irreversible damage during the process. Therefore, we would not recommend this treatment to anyone.

Most importantly, after a few years, our computer will be as yellow as it was, or even yellower.

In this regard, we launched a small „discussion forum” onFacebook.

Below are links to two relevant sources that can provide an accurate and professional explanation of the process of yellowing:

wikipedia - Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
medium.com



yellowing back over the years








staining due to improper bleaching, plus the plastic is also corroded




overbleaching is also annoying to the eye, plus the plastic is also corroded