Using peroxide to refresh my lego

[ChiefJudge]

Hello

As you guys will all know - Old lego left in the sun goes brownish.
That's because safety minded Lego has Bromide in it to act as a flame retardant (I think).
Unfortunately when left in the sun The UV rays react with the plastic and the bromide atoms are attracted to each other and whilst gathered in wee clans make that part of the lego Brownish!

As this is a chemical reaction it has been suggested that this can be undone!
In theory if you coat your lego in peroxide solution (Blond Bombshell Hair Bleachy) and introduce UV light (The Sun (Not the paper)) it should in theory rejig the bromide atoms.

Has anyone tried this!

[David]

Hi ChiefJudge

Interesting topic. Thanks for sharing the information on Bromide, wasn't aware of it. I have heard about using peroxide before (with UV light - where is the Sun?) and a lot of people do experiment using it, just take a look here for a host of YouTube videos on the attempts and results.

A point to note - I have also heard that peroxide and similar bleaching solutions can degrade the plastic and make bricks more brittle.

I have a pile of yellowed LEGO but have not yet thought seriously about cleaning it in this way. If you do try it please share your results. I understand results can vary depending on exposure time to whatever solution is chosen so I suppose some testing would be required to see what happens.

I am not sure of the hazards of the hydrogen peroxide so I would advise caution and handling with care.

[ChiefJudge]

Yip - Need the sun so will wait until its better weather before trying.
Don't actually mind discoloured lego that much - as it verifies the lego is Authentic Vintage!

As for safety - I aim to give it a try Outside with full safety measures. Will post results if the sun ever shines!

[David]

I think we'll be waiting for quite sometime. Look forward to it though!

[wanbo]

I gave it a go a few years ago with white and light grey parts

Ordered six 200ml 6% bottles of Hydrogen Peroxide from Amazon. Can't remember the exact ratio of water to HP I used, but I'm fairly sure I threw in all 6 bottles

Clean the parts well, put them in a clear tub and leave them outside on a good day until the bubbles die down.

Worked great

[David]

Clean the parts well, put them in a clear tub and leave them outside on a good day until the bubbles die down.

Are we talking about a few hours here? No sign of deterioration to the pieces?

[wanbo]

Clean the parts well, put them in a clear tub and leave them outside on a good day until the bubbles die down.

Are we talking about a few hours here? No sign of deterioration to the pieces?

Depends on the strength of the mix I guess.....but yeah, a few hours at least. I might have had mine out for 3-4.

Stir them a bit, take a few out and check them and use best judgement. If the most of them have lost the discoloration, take them all out and rinse them

No deterioration to the pieces at all.....they just looked almost like new

[Sleepy]

I'm in the middle of doing this with the pieces from my old Highway Rig. The white turned out brilliantly whilst the light greys are currently in the solution. I used a mix of hydrogen peroxide with a small amount of Oxi-action stain remover in a pyrex oven dish on the window sill in our kitchen.

With winter sun, it's a much slower process: it took almost a week for the whites to lose their yellowing.