Eduardo Correa Lima May 8 at 9:03pm · Vancouver, BC, Canada
First retrobrite attempt. Set of //c keys.
3 teaspoons of Oxyclean, 3% Hydrogen Peroxide. Put all key caps in a glass jar with enough peroxide to cover the keys. Put in the Oxyclean, then agitate the jar.
Leave in sunlight for 3 hours, agitating every hour.
I used the method outlined here by Javier Rivera on my Apple IIc Plus and it worked fine. Javier does a lot of RetroBrite projects and posts a number of results to the Apple II Enthusiasts Facebook group. He also gave a presentation on methods at KansasFest 2015 and did a live session with anyone who wanted to go through the process with him.
Javier Rivera doesIn case the link dies, I'll explain my experience a TONbit.
I went to Sally Beauty Supply. Not sure where you are, but that's a U.S. national chain. If you have a place that sells to consumer and/or professional hair-stylists and barbers, you can find a lot of Retrobrite projects in Miamithe same supplies. I found the Peroxide 40 there. I also picked up the latex gloves and hasn't noticea couple of smaller items that are used to mix hair coloring agents. This consisted of a small plastic well with handle and a brush. This is what I used to mix everything up and paint the mixture onto the IIc Plus.
From Javier's recipe:
100 ml of liquid Peroxide 40, found in beauty supply shops
One teaspoon of Arrowroot powder
One teaspoon of OxyClean powder
Here's a picture from Javier's post.
I actually found Arrowroot and OxyClean at a grocery store.
Mixing everything together was a bit challenging. The Oxyclean had a tendency to clump in the arrowroot but I just kept mixing until I couldn't seem to make a difference with it any longer. Probably a good five minutes, honestly. I imagine a blender could be used for this, but I didn't try it.
Once done, I had a flat piece of wood that I covered with aluminum foil to try to point UV at sides and things that weren't actually facing the sidesky.
I dismantled the IIc Plus, removing the mainboard, the floppy, the power supply, the keyboard. This is a lot easier on a IIc Plus than what you might find on other retrocomputers but I imagine you don't want vintage electronics out in the sun.
I pushed out the multi-effectscolor Apple logo from the case and used masking tape to cover up the "Apple IIc" on the cover. I don't know that I really needed to cover that up, but I figured it couldn't hurt. Most recipes I've read mention that the procedure will damage the Apple logo so that's why I pushed it out. It was glued in place so it came out pretty easily and there was enough adhesive to re-stick it when I was done.
With the brush, I painted as smooth a coat as I could on the IIc Plus, the top and side surfaces. The mixture would foam up and every 45 minutes or so I would go back out and smooth out the covering again occasionally adding some more of the mixture. The IIc Plus is mostly large, flat pieces so I didn't have been mentioned overto do a lot of rotating. It was fairly challenging to cover it up well. The brush and arrowroot had a tendency to streak and I needed to keep working it until it was smooth.
I think I did this for about four hours, maybe less. Once done, I literally took a garden hose and rinsed off the yearspieces. After that, I brought everything in and dried it all then left it out for an hour to so to dry further.
The original color was definitely brought back on the surfaces that faced the sky. The sides are still a little darker but it doesn't bother me. I think if I had something that would bend the UV to more directly to hit the sides I probably would have had a better effect there. The option is always there to go back and do it again concentrating on the sides, but there is a measurable difference from before I started so I haven't worried about it.
I would really like to do the keys, especially the spacebar which is more browned than anything else. I haven't done this myself. Here's what a member of the Apple II Enthusiasts group on Facebook posted:
Eduardo Correa Lima May 8 at 9:03pm · Vancouver, BC, Canada
First retrobrite attempt. Set of //c keys.
3 teaspoons of Oxyclean 3% Hydrogen Peroxide Put all key caps in a glass jar with enough peroxide to cover the keys. Put in the Oxyclean, then agitate the jar.
Leave in sunlight for 3 hours, agitating every hour.
The results are great!
Hope this helps.
I used the method outlined here on my Apple IIc Plus and it worked fine.
Javier Rivera does a TON of Retrobrite projects in Miami and hasn't notice any of the side-effects that have been mentioned over the years.
I used the method outlined here by Javier Rivera on my Apple IIc Plus and it worked fine. Javier does a lot of RetroBrite projects and posts a number of results to the Apple II Enthusiasts Facebook group. He also gave a presentation on methods at KansasFest 2015 and did a live session with anyone who wanted to go through the process with him.
In case the link dies, I'll explain my experience a bit.
I went to Sally Beauty Supply. Not sure where you are, but that's a U.S. national chain. If you have a place that sells to consumer and/or professional hair-stylists and barbers, you can find a lot of the same supplies. I found the Peroxide 40 there. I also picked up the latex gloves and a couple of smaller items that are used to mix hair coloring agents. This consisted of a small plastic well with handle and a brush. This is what I used to mix everything up and paint the mixture onto the IIc Plus.
From Javier's recipe:
100 ml of liquid Peroxide 40, found in beauty supply shops
One teaspoon of Arrowroot powder
One teaspoon of OxyClean powder
Here's a picture from Javier's post.
I actually found Arrowroot and OxyClean at a grocery store.
Mixing everything together was a bit challenging. The Oxyclean had a tendency to clump in the arrowroot but I just kept mixing until I couldn't seem to make a difference with it any longer. Probably a good five minutes, honestly. I imagine a blender could be used for this, but I didn't try it.
Once done, I had a flat piece of wood that I covered with aluminum foil to try to point UV at sides and things that weren't actually facing the sky.
I dismantled the IIc Plus, removing the mainboard, the floppy, the power supply, the keyboard. This is a lot easier on a IIc Plus than what you might find on other retrocomputers but I imagine you don't want vintage electronics out in the sun.
I pushed out the multi-color Apple logo from the case and used masking tape to cover up the "Apple IIc" on the cover. I don't know that I really needed to cover that up, but I figured it couldn't hurt. Most recipes I've read mention that the procedure will damage the Apple logo so that's why I pushed it out. It was glued in place so it came out pretty easily and there was enough adhesive to re-stick it when I was done.
With the brush, I painted as smooth a coat as I could on the IIc Plus, the top and side surfaces. The mixture would foam up and every 45 minutes or so I would go back out and smooth out the covering again occasionally adding some more of the mixture. The IIc Plus is mostly large, flat pieces so I didn't have to do a lot of rotating. It was fairly challenging to cover it up well. The brush and arrowroot had a tendency to streak and I needed to keep working it until it was smooth.
I think I did this for about four hours, maybe less. Once done, I literally took a garden hose and rinsed off the pieces. After that, I brought everything in and dried it all then left it out for an hour to so to dry further.
The original color was definitely brought back on the surfaces that faced the sky. The sides are still a little darker but it doesn't bother me. I think if I had something that would bend the UV to more directly to hit the sides I probably would have had a better effect there. The option is always there to go back and do it again concentrating on the sides, but there is a measurable difference from before I started so I haven't worried about it.
I would really like to do the keys, especially the spacebar which is more browned than anything else. I haven't done this myself. Here's what a member of the Apple II Enthusiasts group on Facebook posted:
Eduardo Correa Lima May 8 at 9:03pm · Vancouver, BC, Canada
First retrobrite attempt. Set of //c keys.
3 teaspoons of Oxyclean 3% Hydrogen Peroxide Put all key caps in a glass jar with enough peroxide to cover the keys. Put in the Oxyclean, then agitate the jar.
Leave in sunlight for 3 hours, agitating every hour.
The results are great!
Hope this helps.