My Atari STE has had the Retrobright Treatment

[paradroid90]

Hi everyone

Hope you are all having a great weekend. After the great weather we have had in South East England I decided to Retrobright my STE with decent results

[TheNameOfTheGame]

Wonderful results! It is amazing to see the before and after!

[wongck]

Looking great !!

[paradroid90]

Thanks for the great feedback guys

I did do a few systems last year for re-sale (C64's and Amiga's) but never an ST.

Used the B Blonde peroxide trick and wrapped it in clingfilm and left it out in the sun for six hours.

Not bad for a treatment less than a quid

Laquered as well !

[Brume]

Nice!
I didn't know it needs to be wrapped in a clingfilm. Is it a standard technique?

[paradroid90]

Yeah, picked up the tip whilst trawling the Internet as I did a 64 previously with little difference after 8 hours.

Covered it clingfilm and it worked a treat

[Brume]

Ok, thanks for the tip
How long did it stay under the sun? I guess you didn't retrobright the keyboard?

[paradroid90]

Started about 1030am finished about 500pm so about 6 to 7 hours

No the keyboard was fine prior to retrobrighting although in the past did a c64c keyboard and came up fine apart from the space bar

[KLund1]

What was your 'retrobite' formula? Brands, mixture qty's? How did you apply it so that is it even all over?
PS looks great, by the way!

[paradroid90]

All I use is Jerome Russell's BBlonde Peroxide Cream - Small Bottle is about £1.89 in Superdrug (Got some funny looks when I bought it )

Use a paintbrush to put on a quite thick coating all over the yellowed plastic and wrap in clingfilm so when in direct sunlight it does dry out

[paradroid90]

Here is some images of a before and after with a c64c keyboard in my breadbin

[KLund1]

Very nice.
I have used something similar but I get strange results. I read the the plastic in ST's are susceptible to this. I was looking for a sure way to avoid this with other ST cases. See where the keyboard meets the back grill.

[wongck]

i think i saw somewhere on the web that says you cannot let the stuff dry out else you get some patches.

[paradroid90]

Yes Wonck is right. What the clingfilm does is stops the peroxide drying out so even after six hours the plastic needs a good wash down before reapplying to your case.

If you leave it exposed you will get fading on the original colour of the plastic.

You cannot really see it but I did the c64 keyboard twice and got some plastic burn on the function keys.

Since then I have always used clingfilm

[KLund1]

I will give it a try with the cling wrap and report back.
Thanks

[paradroid90]

Good Luck

[KLund1]

Here are my results. Mixed
The 520 is very good. The 354 did not do well. It is marked a long the folds/wrinkles in the cling wrap.
Suggestions for the future.
Also what glue is best for badge reattachment?

[paradroid90]

Hi Buddy

Thanks for your pics

Yes the disk drive does look a bit patchy but the 520 looks awesome

All I can suggest is that it was left too long our the cling film was wrapped too tight ??

Always remember to spread the BBlonde evenly and and it does not have to be sealed air tight.

Hope that helps and well done with your first attempt

[KLund1]

Would a glass or clear plastic container work, if it was sealed near air tight at the top? I could use cling wrap as a top, if there is no clear top for the container?

[spudisgood]

Hi some nice photos here

I have heard that the plastic can return yellow after having retrobrite treatment and a way to avoid this is to put clear matt lacquer on the casing after the retrobrite treatment has completed

Has anyone done this?

[mattsoft]

looking at this old thread and some of splotchy results. another tip: if you are placing the items in direct sunlight, i'd recommend lifting the cling wrap every 30 minutes or so and reapplying some the cream peroxide. it helps it from drying out, and also helps in case you apply unevenly to make it more even.

also, make sure you clean everything really well first. like soak in the sink with dish soap or vinegar, then rinse really well.

for best results, i actually retrobrite on cloudy days. takes longer, but i have way more control over the brightening. if you go too fast, i sometimes get swirls. since switching to cloudy days and taking my time works every time.

[ST Graveyard]

Cloudy days? Too fast? Maybe it is best to retrobrite inside the house?

[EmpireAndrew]

I agree with mattsoft.
A slightly cloudy day is better than strong direct sun.
And yes you should reapply every hour to avoid patches.
And definitely wrap in film.

However...

I for a less risky solution buy a clear plastic container at the pound shop and a couple of gallons of 6-7% hydrogen peroxide off eBay and submerge the whole case in it. No atrwaking possible although it may take a couple of days.
I do that for all things up to the size of an ST.
Monitors are a pain as I would need too much fluid so I use a more retrobrite like formula and I still get some blotches, mostly from not following my own advice above.

As an aside, this is generally not a permanent solution.
The keys on my TT keyboard had started to slightly yellow again after just 6 months.
Tests by others indicate that neither sealing doesn't help, neither does lack of light.
It appears temperature may also be a factor depending on the plastic.

I'd advice not coating with anythig, keeping it out of the light when not in use (I use those allegedly UV blocking dust covers) and not keeping it anywhere to warm.
But I'd still expect to have to do it again in a few years at least...

[ST Graveyard]

Andrew, since you don't need to put your hands too much on a monitor (compared to an st), spraypainting in exact colors might be a good solution for these things?

[EmpireAndrew]

Could be an option yes.

For some things you'd need to spray the logos/text on too using a vinyl template cut out but if you have the equipment you could do it.
The surface texture would be wrong, but better that than the yellow plastic imho.

It won't work for me as I have to keep lugging the machines and monitors on and off my storage shelves as I only have 1 desk to use and I'd inevitably scratch/chip the paint.
But if you have a more static setup it could work very well I guess.