Many, MANY people have written at length about retrobrighting, its pros and cons and its numerous methods. Here, I’m just going to share my current workflow and method. I find it simple, convenient and effective.
For a deep dive into the science behind the retrobright technique, check out Jeff Birt’s video from 2021.
In the past I’ve tried the immersion, vapor and cream methods. At the moment I’ve settled on immersion with 12% clear hydrogen peroxide. Food grade 12% H2O2 or 40v clear developer can be used. For smaller items such as key caps I use a ziploc bag.
For larger items I used an inexpensive consumer vacuum sealer device. I press out the majority of the air by hand. The vacuum function doesn’t help much and ends up drawing a large amount a liquid into the sealer, which both damages the machine and prevents the heater element from properly sealing the bag. Double sealing the larger, heavier bags can help prevent leaks.
These can either be placed in direct sunlight for a faster, more aggressive retrobright treatment, or in a dark, warm place (usually my garage on a heating pad that is adjustable from 120F-150F). Since the liquid and the bags are clear, the whitening progress can be easily monitored until in reaches the desired stage.
Bubbles will form, and their size and number can provide a rough indication of how the reaction is progressing. So far I’ve had no issues with any of the bags over-inflating or bursting due to gas production.
I’ll be continuing to refine my process as I learn more about it and definitely could not have gotten this far without all the work other members of the retro computing community have put into this process.
Thanks!