Here's a tutorial (by request) for people who want to try this out.

Remember, hydrogen peroxide is very nasty stuff. If you get it into your eyes, they will break. So don't.

Use protective goggles and wear rubber gloves. It's highly abrasive, and will bleach and irritate your skin.

Also, use common sense. Place the mixture where no kids or pets can get at it.

1. Buy some hydrogen peroxide (3%-35%). I can only vouch for 10% and stronger, since that is what I use.
2. Buy some Vanish Oxi-Clean.
3. Buy a UV-light. I use this one http://www.velleman.eu/distributor/products/view/?id=381476.
4. Get a clear glass/plastic jar or bowl.
5. (Optional) Get a cardboard box and place some aluminum foil in it. I'm actually not sure the foil works, since the glass will probably reflect a lot of the incoming light from the foil. But I think some gets in, so it's probably not entirely useless (I kinda doubt household glass bowls are UV-treated). The cardboard box is kind of useful though, since you will need to stir the mixture from time to time, and it will soak up some of the mixture which will otherwise splash onto other things.
6. Dilute the hydrogen peroxide to 3-12%. I use about 10%. The weaker the mixture the longer the process will take.
7. Take a dash of oxi-clean (not much! The retrobright wiki suggests a 1/4 teaspoon per 500ml 10-15% hydrogen peroxide) and dissolve it in some warm water.
8. Place the keys in the bowl and pour the diluted hydrogen peroxide over them, make sure they're all covered.
9. Pour the warm water with the dissolved oxi-clean into the bowl. Stir.
10. Place the bowl in the cardboard box and light the entire thing with the lamp. Keep the lamp 30-45 cm away from the bowl.
11. Wait a couple of hours. Stir.
12. Repeat 11. until you're satisfied with the results.
13. Rinse the keys THOROUGHLY in water.

Also, make sure to use gloves or rinse the keys thoroughly before handling them to check intermediate results!

Apparently, only oxygen is released from the process. So it should be safe to put the thing pretty much anywhere. Don't take my word for it though, I am no chemist.



Been going a bit nuts with retrobright the past couple of weeks, here are the keycaps of a heavily yellowed G80-1000 after a couple days treatment! The case of the G80-1000 is still untreated. Look at the spacebar to see the difference. A non yellowed G80-1800 with the same type of keycap (doubleshots) was photographed with the same settings for reference. This stuff is truly amazing!

The pics look a bit weird (I think the white balance is off?), but I didn't want to do any Photoshop magic to them, just concentrate on comparing the keycaps of the upper and lower board.





Next up: this heinous thing

Nice - did you do the keys in a jar trick outside or some other way?

really cool, keep us updated!

ripster wrote:Nice - did you do the keys in a jar trick outside or some other way?

Sorta, I just put some aluminum foil in a cardboard box, threw everything in a glass bowl and lit the thing up with a low-wattage UV-lamp.

Not as quick as placing it in the sun, but it does the trick. I think I left the cherry keys in there for about 30-40 hours. It takes a while, but the results astound me every time. This is the third set I've done. The two previous ones were from SP (one was extremely yellowed, even worse than the FK board). Turned out like new!

I don't keep track of the strength of the peroxide mixture. I think I use something like 8-12%, and a dash of vanish oxi-clean. People have reported similar results with a 3% mixture, but well, I'm not THAT patient. I figured the mixture could use a boost since my process lacks direct sunlight.

We need someone to offer retrobrite services in the marketplace!

I walked into a growshop which was displaying some UV lamps in the window. Who wants to wait for sun? I wanna nuke that shit. Problem is there is too much choice. Different wattage, different spectra. Would it be best to simulate a summer day full of sun, or a cooler spring light? Choices, choices...

webwit wrote:I walked into a growshop which was displaying some UV lamps in the window. Who wants to wait for sun? I wanna nuke that shit. Problem is there is too much choice. Different wattage, different spectra. Would it be best to simulate a summer day full of sun, or a cooler spring light? Choices, choices...

Well, in regards to the actual retrobright process, I don't really think it matters what kind of weather you wish to simulate. However, you will want a lamp that can produce ultraviolet light in the 300-350 nm region, since these wavelengths are apparently the ones that destabilize the bromine (and make it possible to replace the bromine-oxygen bond with a bromine-hydrogen one). The stronger the lamp, the more energy will be provided to the process. So if you want to nuke the keys, you probably want one that's really strong. I don't feel I need to nuke the keys, so I use a 15W one (low energy, equivalent to about 60W), and that does the trick for me.

I nuke it in my son's carniverous plant laboratory.


This depicts the slow death of PS/2

Rip: You really know how to contribute valuable info to one's post

Actually it shows that a UV light isn't really necessary.

I used T8 Cool White lights, the cheapest they had at Home Depot.




When are you going to start contributing something interesting?

so let me sum this up
u make a 10% h2o2 solution and add 1/4 teaspoon oxi per 500ml
and then place it in the sun or under an uv light?
btw. what happens to the labes when doing this?
More questions:
Can u use de solution only once ore more times?
How do you dispose of it (wait until the h2o2 is dissolved entirely in the sun?)

In America we toss it in our rivers and streams. That's just the way we roll. EU regulations I'm sure prevent this.

mintberryminuscrunch wrote:so let me sum this up
u make a 10% h2o2 solution and add 1/4 teaspoon oxi per 500ml
and then place it in the sun or under an uv light?
btw. what happens to the labes when doing this?
More questions:
Can u use de solution only once ore more times?
How do you dispose of it (wait until the h2o2 is dissolved entirely in the sun?)

Pretty much. Labels can fade, see this page. I successfully used the solution for three sets of keys. I'm actually still using it, but I think it's gone flat, since the reaction has slowed down considerably. Check local regulations on how to dispose of the solution.

ripster wrote:Actually it shows that a UV light isn't really necessary.

I used T8 Cool White lights, the cheapest they had at Home Depot.

Fluorescent lights initially produce ultraviolet light which is 'converted' to visible light. Not all UV light will be converted, and will accelerate the reaction. But yeah, a dedicated UV light isn't necessary, since we are exposed to it all the time. UV from the sun will bounce around everywhere, and many ordinary lamps will emit some UV light as well. The reaction is accelerated by high doses of UV, which is why it is best to place the mixture in the sun, or under a dedicated UV-lamp.

BTW, that Silicon Graphics board turned out terrific! I gotta try the gel sometime this summer.