Interesting. It is crazy all the stuff that plastics do as they age.
channeling Bob Wills
Interesting. It is crazy all the stuff that plastics do as they age.
Career Member
Yes. I got started with all this due to yellowing vintage Star Wars figures, and figures turning tacky/sticky over time.Originally Posted by rche
Apparently the fire retardant (bromine, I think) they used in plastic back in the day is what causes it to yellow as it is exposed to the UV light (or UV light through your window), while degrading plasticizers is what gives those old toys that gooey, slimy, tacky texture.
My personal method for deyellowing is salon care 40 (solution, not creme) plus UV lights. Artificial will do if you don’t have an area with a lot of sunlight. For the tacky feel, a good rinse with hot soapy water followed by 303 UV protectant spray will do the trick, and leave the figure with a factory shine.
This process works best on vintage electronic plastics, but also works well on white figures like Star Wars Stormtroopers. I don’t recommend it for other colors myself, as it tends to fade them.
Last edited by Liu Bei; Jun 2, '21 at 5:16 PM.
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