A way to clean yellowed playset plastic?

[Shileah]

Heya,

sorry I am making another thread, I warned you that this would happen

I still have my old Baby Buggy. It has spend all its life except for the last six months when I took it from my parent's house in a home with smokers, and you can tell easily:

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So far, I have tried soap, Magic Eraser, a pimple cream with some bleaching stuff in it (I don't remember how it is called, but I am sure you all know what kind of cream I am talking about here), to no avail, which is why I ask for the advice of the experienced collectors.

What do?

[Prideth]

• Buy a couple bottles of Hydrogen peroxide. ($0.85/per at Wal-mart, here)
• Stick that booger in a clear plastic container just big enough to fit it.
• Drown in Hydrogen Peroxide ; enough to cover the buggy completely
• Cover the top of your container with plastic wrap, pulled taught and secured over your container
• Let that bad boy sit outside in the sun for 1-2 days.
• Revel in success

[Shileah]

Ahh, the famous hydrogen peroxide bath, I've heard of it! Thank you, I didn't know I can use it on playsets! The colour will not bleach out?

Now I only have to find out where they sell it here in Germany. It probably is something totally obvious!

Edit - ok, I checked for online sources and found out that there are varying concentration percentages. Is there any info on how concentrated it should be (I found 3, 11,9, 30 and 35, but you need to be a professional user and sign legal documents to buy those with 30+)?

[Bibsy]

I don't use a hydrogen peroxide bath, I use peroxide gel 30 concentration (the highest you can get without a license).  I don't know how well a bath would work.

I spread it on with an old toothbrush  and let it sit for a few days.  Depending on how yellowed it is, you might have to repeat a few times.  Make sure to use gloves since the peroxide will sting if left on your skin.  The gel also seems to lose it's potency when left exposed to the air, so if you're just doing the baby buggy, I'd try to get an airtight container big enough to fit it in.  I did this with my baby buggy and it worked a lot faster than the larger playsets that I had to leave exposed to air.

Good luck!

[Shileah]

Ah, that sounds interesting as well, thank you! I did a quick Google search and have no idea where I could buy this here, the highest I found was 12 %. I checked the one I have, it says it has 10% of benzoyl peroxide in it. After reading how you treat your stuff with the 30 % cream, I am wondering if I should give it a try with my cream again. I only left the cream on there for maybe 15 minutes and then rinsed it off again. Worth a try maybe, at least until I have found a source for either the cream or the liquid peroxide.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

benzoyl peroxide  (Zit cream) is more volatile - it can continue bleaching over time.... never use it on actual ponies! 
hydrogen peroxide  is AWESOME for discoloured things! 

[brighteyes]

Ahh, the famous hydrogen peroxide bath, I've heard of it! Thank you, I didn't know I can use it on playsets! The colour will not bleach out?

Now I only have to find out where they sell it here in Germany. It probably is something totally obvious!

Edit - ok, I checked for online sources and found out that there are varying concentration percentages. Is there any info on how concentrated it should be (I found 3, 11,9, 30 and 35, but you need to be a professional user and sign legal documents to buy those with 30+)?

The hydrogen peroxide (I'm calling it H2O2 from now on because it's shorter :p) you can buy at the drug store in America is almost always 3% and that is probably what is most commonly used in H2O2 baths here.  Honestly, I'd try 3% first and if you don't get the results you want with that concentration, you could always work up from there. 

I think a good rule of thumb for restoration is to always try the gentlest methods and concentrations first and go up from there.  It sounds like you've tried everything else so sunfading in H2O2 should be a logical next step.  Unfortunately, I've had sunfading actually make yellowing worse in playsets, but I've never tried it in conjunction with H2O2 so I'd say it's worth a shot, especially if others have tried it with success.

I would not recommend using higher than 30% because really high concentrations of H2O2 can result in spontaneous combustion of wood and natural fibers if it comes in contact with them.   Even 30% can be dangerous and should be used with gloves and other protective clothing. 

[Shileah]

Ah, 3% is enough? That shouldn't be a problem then, I can get this on Amazon just fine. Thank you!

benzoyl peroxide  (Zit cream) is more volatile - it can continue bleaching over time.... never use it on actual ponies! 
hydrogen peroxide  is AWESOME for discoloured things! 

I actually tried that last summer on my childhood Gingerbread because she is pretty discoloured.  Tbh, I don't see any difference to this day, be it better or worse, but I wouldn't want to try it again.

[brighteyes]

Ah, 3% is enough? That shouldn't be a problem then, I can get this on Amazon just fine. Thank you!

benzoyl peroxide  (Zit cream) is more volatile - it can continue bleaching over time.... never use it on actual ponies! 
hydrogen peroxide  is AWESOME for discoloured things! 

I actually tried that last summer on my childhood Gingerbread because she is pretty discoloured.  Tbh, I don't see any difference to this day, be it better or worse, but I wouldn't want to try it again.

I think 3% is most likely what people are using when they say they used H2O2 from the drugstore so it's a good place to start.  If you were thinking of trying higher concentrations if 3% doesn't work, you could always buy 30% and then make a 1:10 (10ml 30% in 90ml water) dilution to get 3% to try first.  Then if the 3% didn't work you could try 6% (20ml 30% in 80ml water) and so on.  I would also get a pack of gloves so that you don't get any on your hands when handling it, just to be safe.

[Shileah]

I've ordered some 3% today, so I'll try with that first. I'll definitely use gloves, I've got easily irritated skin as it is so I won't take any chances here.

Wohoo, I am really curious how it will turn out!!!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I actually tried that last summer on my childhood Gingerbread because she is pretty discoloured.  Tbh, I don't see any difference to this day, be it better or worse, but I wouldn't want to try it again.

Well, Gingerbread is one of THOSE special ponies that burns in the sun, gets age spots/plasticizer leakage easily, so I  am NOT surprised that those methods didn't work for her.  There really isn't much you can do I'm afraid.

[Shileah]

Yeah, I learned that soon after I joined here It's really sad, she is such a pretty pony! I've won an auction on her on ebay, from the pictures she looks still pretty good, except for maybe the eyes.

[jrr74]

If you do need something stronger, higher concentrations of hydrogen peroxide can be found in beauty supply stores (e.g. Sally's, here in the US).  Good luck, I am going to try to bring back some whiteness in my show stable this summer.

[Shileah]

Thank you! I have a show stable myself that I got pretty cheap on ebay, but the price was so low because it has some really nasty stains. Couldn't get rid of these either so far. Is it safe to use this method on all coloured pieces of playsets, or are there any known pieces that didn't work or got out worse? Kinda like the "do not sunfade" thread

[Sebby6]

Would this work on pink playsets that have gone yellow too?