Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

General info, Q&A.

Moderators: scr8p, klavy69

Willrcboy
Regular Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2019 12:36 pm
Location: US/ Hong Kong/ UK

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by Willrcboy »

Definitely would also like to know what best methods to be used for whitening up old RPM parts too, as some claimed that this peroxide method may damage the parts?? :roll: suggestions anyone??

The peroxide is proven to work equally well with UV light in a box line up in foil to equalise the lighting around. Also wash clean all parts you are going to work with will help immensely.

In case some of you may think pure peroxide may be too strong and too liquidly to handle, I have another suggestion and that is using a hair dye product namely SALON CARE 40, do a search on google and you will see this comes in a form of pasty solution, easier for application which then you may apply onto the parts with cling film for wrapping up and it sticks well onto the surface, UV it in a box or outside if where u lived has constant sun ( I personally prefer the lighting method as what you really need is UV for the reaction minus the heat created from the sun since parts are plastic and best not expose to too much heat ). There are other similar brands of the same stuff which some dun have ammonia and will also eliminate the smell too.

As a side note, a bit OT, if you are also a sneaker collector this pasty product will equally work well with crystal clear bottoms like Jordan 11 and some other similarly, by exposing it to UV will rejuvenate all that crystal clear new look too.

User avatar
marlo
Approved Member
Posts: 2071
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2013 5:31 pm
Has thanked: 18 times
Been thanked: 22 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by marlo »

I heard of the paste, and wrap method to whiten parts, but be careful, as this may cause a marbalized look. Blochey wavey white patches may appear, and will be next to impossible to reverse.

User avatar
morrisey0
Approved Member
Posts: 1725
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2021 2:45 pm
Location: Richmond, VA
Has thanked: 74 times
Been thanked: 1735 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by morrisey0 »

This process has become one of the most satisfying parts of restoring these old vehicles for me! The process of hydrating, cleaning, and whitening is tedious and boring, but the payoff is just so worth it in the long run! :wink:

For medium, I use Salon Care 40 Volume Clear (liquid) or Creme (cream duh). These are available at Sally Beauty or probably whatever your local beauty shop is. For small parts, they end up in a bowl with the liquid, placed in a 3 gallon bucket, and bask under a cheap construction lamp with a [not so cheap] UVB bulb. After experimenting with 3% peroxide and multiple other bulbs, this combo simply works so much better, and I don't have to depend on the sun. For larger objects, covering the part in the "creme" and putting it in a casserole dish under the light works great. I can't find the specs, but I believe the SC 40 is a 12% peroxide solution, and apparently hunters/taxidermies use it to whiten bones, because every time I go to buy some, that is what they think I am buying it for.
The rig:
sledge parts whitening.jpg
The results. These are the same arms pulled off the same rig (Sledge Hammer). The results are pretty incredible, and this was done with the liquid. I had a front bumper in the same batch, and am thinking about covering half of it with the cream for 8 hours, and seeing if there is a difference.
sledge arms whitened.jpg
I build RCs like people would have done back in the '90s ..................................... if they had 3D printers.

User avatar
R6cowboy
Super Member
Posts: 1441
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:06 pm
Location: Mendota, IL
Has thanked: 817 times
Been thanked: 849 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by R6cowboy »

Would the peroxide bath under UV light also help restore yellowed clear plastic at all? Specifically something like a hard clear plastic gear cover?
-Jerry-

User avatar
R6cowboy
Super Member
Posts: 1441
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:06 pm
Location: Mendota, IL
Has thanked: 817 times
Been thanked: 849 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by R6cowboy »

I recently had my yellowed Kyosho Pro-XRT parts (A-arms and clear gear cover) in a glass dish submerged in 3% peroxide set under a UVB light for 4 days. It had zero effect whitening the parts. Quite the bummer :cry:
-Jerry-

User avatar
GoMachV
Approved Member
Posts: 12179
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 10:31 pm
Location: Twin Falls, ID
Has thanked: 1079 times
Been thanked: 3726 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by GoMachV »

Never seen it do anything on clear parts. The Kyosho “white” nylon parts new were pretty yellow-cream colored from my recollection. If you have a parts tree kicking around take a slice and see what color it is in the middle, I bet it’s less white than the nylon we are used to doing

User avatar
R6cowboy
Super Member
Posts: 1441
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:06 pm
Location: Mendota, IL
Has thanked: 817 times
Been thanked: 849 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by R6cowboy »

On page 4 in this thread there's a link to TamiyaClub which a user had success restoring clear plastic windows which were quite yellowed, so I thought to give it a try on the clear gear cover, but didn't work so well.

Yeah the rest of the white parts (trans case, ball cups, suspension balls & spacers, hubs, steering knuckles & arms, etc) which are made of a different material, are still quite white. I read Lavigna's Pro-XRT thread and he originally had no luck soaking the A-arms in peroxide. He then boiled them in water and re-did the peroxide bath and it helped rid of the yellowing decent amount. So I'm gonna give that a go.
-Jerry-

User avatar
TRX-1-3
Approved Member
Posts: 2008
Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2014 12:13 pm
Location: USAG Humphreys, South Korea
Has thanked: 1932 times
Been thanked: 940 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by TRX-1-3 »

R6cowboy wrote: Mon Jun 06, 2022 6:32 pm I recently had my yellowed Kyosho Pro-XRT parts (A-arms and clear gear cover) in a glass dish submerged in 3% peroxide set under a UVB light for 4 days. It had zero effect whitening the parts. Quite the bummer :cry:
Is 3% sufficient? I think I did closer to a 50/50 on the last round of whitening I did. It was glass jar +2 photo periods of dicect sunlight. Yeah, "photo periods"....WTF. :roll:
Hope you're doin' something fun.

User avatar
R6cowboy
Super Member
Posts: 1441
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:06 pm
Location: Mendota, IL
Has thanked: 817 times
Been thanked: 849 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by R6cowboy »

After boiling the nylon A-arms for a few minutes, I put everything in another bath of 3% peroxide and placed it outside since we had a mostly full day of sunshine, didn't time it but roughly 9 hours I'd say. Can now definitely tell it made some bit of difference, boiling the nylon A-arms certainly did the trick to help out. I forgot to add ball cups, spacers and suspension balls to the after photo, but those are noticeably whiter as well.

As far as the clear gear cover, soaking in the peroxide did slightly help to rid of some of the yellowing, but it was still very yellowed and quite the eye sore. So it won't be installed on the truck.

Before
Before.jpeg

After
After.jpeg
-Jerry-

User avatar
TRX-1-3
Approved Member
Posts: 2008
Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2014 12:13 pm
Location: USAG Humphreys, South Korea
Has thanked: 1932 times
Been thanked: 940 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by TRX-1-3 »

~72 hrs in a 3%, no sunlight. But did do a few heat cycles in a water bath (think heating up a baby bottle). Not sure if the heating did anything or just the time.
20240214_184546.jpg
20240221_095249.jpg
Hope you're doin' something fun.

srobert910
Regular Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri May 19, 2023 12:24 am
Location: Austin, Texas
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by srobert910 »

What does everyone use to “condition” the plastic after the whitening process? Anything suggested like an oil or silicone? I would guess that most oils could deteriorate plastic, but maybe there’s something synthetic that would work?

User avatar
juicedcoupe
Super Member
Posts: 3431
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2020 4:05 pm
Location: Pascagoula, MS
Has thanked: 264 times
Been thanked: 2007 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by juicedcoupe »

srobert910 wrote: Sat Mar 15, 2025 10:18 pm What does everyone use to “condition” the plastic after the whitening process? Anything suggested like an oil or silicone? I would guess that most oils could deteriorate plastic, but maybe there’s something synthetic that would work?
I soak them in water, allowing them to rehydrate.

I normally do ambient water for several days or even a week. Soaking in a warm crock pot overnight would probably work as well.
Always looking for new and interesting ways to waste money.

User avatar
R6cowboy
Super Member
Posts: 1441
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:06 pm
Location: Mendota, IL
Has thanked: 817 times
Been thanked: 849 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by R6cowboy »

srobert910 wrote: Sat Mar 15, 2025 10:18 pm What does everyone use to “condition” the plastic after the whitening process? Anything suggested like an oil or silicone? I would guess that most oils could deteriorate plastic, but maybe there’s something synthetic that would work?
I do the same as juicedcoupe, but I initially bring the water almost to a boil first, then put the parts in the water and let them soak for many days or all week. I don't know for sure if putting the parts in hot water first is any better or not. I only do it, in theory, to initially somewhat soften the plastic/nylon.
-Jerry-

User avatar
morrisey0
Approved Member
Posts: 1725
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2021 2:45 pm
Location: Richmond, VA
Has thanked: 74 times
Been thanked: 1735 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by morrisey0 »

Just to add as this is common sense, but I missed it. :? Use CLEAN water! My tap water has a bit of iron in it, and it shows by staining porcelain over time. I kinda forgot that fact, and put a whole car's worth of FanRC nylon in a bowl of water, and just left it there thinking leaving them in there wasn't hurting anything. About 3-4 weeks later, my new nylon had been quite "oranged." :wink: Oh well, now I have a full set of FanRC dyed black nylons.
I build RCs like people would have done back in the '90s ..................................... if they had 3D printers.

User avatar
Lowgear
Administrator
Posts: 4317
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:00 pm
Location: New England
Has thanked: 120 times
Been thanked: 754 times

Re: Anyone tried this? Yellowed parts white

Post by Lowgear »

As someone with iron heavy well water, that's a really good point I wouldn't have considered otherwise. I'm thinking distilled or even bottled water would be a suitable alternative.

Create an account or sign in to join the discussion

You need to be a member in order to post a reply

Create an account

Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute

Register

Sign in

  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Temple's RC10 Tech Forum”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests