Yellowing Plastic

[mr_sparkle]

Hi all, I was upset to find my best Goblin Teasmade had turned a nasty yellow colour from pure white when i got it down from my loft yesterday.

I know its the plastic breaking down due to UV light, but I was wondering if anyone had tried painting plastic appliances and the kind of finishes you get?

I just bought another one to replace it from ebay but id love to be able to restore my old one back to white!

Cheers

John

 

[yogitunes]

I believe its made by rustoleum....but its a special paint for plastic, like lawn furniture, and childrens toys....I have used it on patio furniture and the kids wagon.....and changed the colors, what a difference!

 

[rp2813]

It may depend on the type of plastic, but there are methods that might work to restore it to the original white instead of painting it over.

I'm a member of the Rotary Phone Forum and there are some threads there about the processes to restore white phone cases and handset components that have yellowed. It can be very involved, but if you prefer not to paint it could be an alternative.

Let me know and I'll post or send you a link.

Ralph

 

[thomasortega]

Please post

I have a vintage washing machine that has some yellowed parts.

 

[rp2813]

Here You Go

There are two methods mentioned in the forum. I've provided the link to the "Easy Off" method, which appears in the "General Discussion" section. If you pull up the "Troubleshooting" section there is a more involved method using peroxide and some other ingredients but it seems like a lot of work to me.

Both are time consuming and may not work on all types of plastic. Good luck, guys.

Ralph

EasyOff (Easy Off) works!

EasyOff (Easy Off) works!

www.classicrotaryphones.com

 

[mr_sparkle]

Thanks!

Thanks a lot for that Ralph! There is some great info there, I just wonder if we can get easioff here in England!

Hes done an amazing job on that phone, I could not understand how he sanded the dial tho and the black numbers were still there?

Im going to have to give this a go, the yellow just looks wrong!

 

[whitekingd]

The plastic paint you are looking for is made by Krylon, and is called FUSION. It works great! I just painted an ice crusher attachment for my blender with it. It was Harvest Gold to begin with, and is now a beautiful pink color. Try it!

 

[rp2813]

Yeah, some others questioned his use of 200 grit sandpaper but that dial bezel sure did turn out like new, didn't it? The reason the numbers weren't affected is because they aren't painted on. They are the same kind of plastic and just as thick as the bezel. The black plastic is injected into cut-outs of the letters and numbers, so no worries about sanding them off.

As for Easy-Off, I presume any similar type of oven cleaner would work the same. Try it on an inconspicuous area and see how it goes.

Best of luck,

Ralph

 

[autowasherfreak]

I have a Brother Electronic typewriter from the the early 90's that has turned yellow. I've also noticed that the plastic fronts on the pedestals for my Frigidaire washer and dryer are starting to turn yellow. I had a Oster blender that was stored in a cabinet above my refrigerator, and it turned yellow and brown on the back of the base, made me made as hell when I saw it.

 

[rp2813]

My '97 Amana laundry pair's knobs yellowed quite a bit. It appears to be related to UV rays or flourescents because some of the knobs that didn't get as much light were still white on the side that wasn't exposed.

I don't know if any of the tricks I posted links to will work on appliances, but it's worth a try, I guess.

Ralph

 

[danemodsandy]

Two Tricks:

One, Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner will sometimes remove the yellow. Not always - not even often. But often enough to be worth a try.

Two, if you're smoking in your house, either quit smoking or take it outside. This is one of two major causes of yellowing; the other is UV.

Cooking fumes, poor general ventilation, and air pollution can all contribute to the problem.