Solution to yellowing armor

[Zugor]

Not sure if this is the correct location for this type of post but here goes. If your armor has yellowed then I have a cheap and easy solution for you. After much research and watching of videos on the subject and testing the solution. I have found that SalonCare 40 crème safely removes the yellowing from your armor.

I bought the 32 ounce bottle but you can get a much smaller bottle as I only used about a half ounce for my helmet.

and here is the dome

Using rubber gloves and a small paint brush. I slathered a layer of crème over the entire helmet and wrapped it with plastic wrap to prevent the solution from evaporating and laid the parts out in the sun.

 

[Zugor]

here are the parts in the sun. I left them out there for about 6 hours. I did occasionally turn them to make sure nothing was in a shadow. 

[Zugor]

After 6 hours I brought the parts in and washed them with soapy water. And as you can see there isn’t any yellow left on the parts.

none of the decals or paint was affected in any way. 
Hope this is helpful to other troopers out there.

[Tarok]

Wow, that’s impressive. Did you source the crème locally or online?


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[Zugor]

I ordered it through Amazon but I imagine you could find it at any salon type shop. I didn’t think to check with any of the local places and just ordered it. 

[Zugor]

The crème has a 40 percent hydrogen peroxide content so please be careful and wear rubber gloves when handling it. I made the mistake of not wearing gloves while I was turning the parts and got some on my finger tips. My fingers where turning white and had that stinging feeling within minutes. I ran in and washed my hands quickly. 

[Chopper]

Thanks for this. I've seen mention of this method in the past, but I've also seen comments that it made the plastic more brittle over time? How's it feel in that respect?

[Aradun]

Thanks Peter !


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[Zugor]

Feels the same to me. The plastic seems to be just as pliable as it was before. No sign of oxidation either, the plastic is nice and shiny. 

[spike]

UV will kill thermo plastics, keep out of the sun as much as possible. thinner the plastic the worse it is

 Auto paints will act as a shield from UV I have plastic vac formed items from the 80,s, painted and still good to go

 

 another thing that protects auto paint is a silicon polish so you may use that to help cancel some of UV damage

 cheers

[spike]

followup to my last post, you may use a mild abrasive car/auto polish to remove the yellowing and apply silicone at the same time, I use KITTEN brand

 its a cream not a hand compound.

 cheers

[Flykiller]

Hi !

I have the yellowing issue with my 3 years old biker armor.

I'm really afraid of damaging it...

Has anyone ever tried painting the armor ? ABS plastic does not support paint ?

Thank you,

Jérôme

[Chopper]

Spray paint adheres to ABS just fine. You'll need to make sure that the plastic surface is clean, then prep the surface by wet sanding with some 600-800 grit sandpaper. Once that's done, you can spray the armor using semi-gloss white, or gloss white paint. I'm not sure what spray paint brands are common in France, so you'd need to check with your local garrison to see what's recommended on that aspect.

[Flykiller]

Thank you so much for this quick and complete answer.

Hope is back 🙂

Have a nice day !

[Zugor]

There is also a product called adhesion promoter that you spray on after the light sanding mentioned above. That will keep the paint from flaking off. 

     That being said, I tested the hydrogen peroxide method out on new and old armor, old being FX TK armor and there was no damage at all. 

[rawktrooper]

the Salon Care stuff works great. You can also get a larger aquarium or clear plastic bin, add some creme to a foil pan and set it in there with the armor.. it will fume the armor and turn it white in the sun. It doesnt last forever, but it only takes a couple hours in the sun to get the yellow off.. some of the pieces of my armor yellowed while in the storage bin with no sunlight whatsoever.. so i think some plastic is more prone to yellowing and other isnt..

 

this method also works on action figures FYI.

[mikidymac]

Hello @Zugor. How is this holding up after a year?

I have some badly yellowed armor I need to try and save.

[Zugor]

On 6/5/2023 at 11:32 AM, mikidymac said:

Hello @Zugor. How is this holding up after a year?

I have some badly yellowed armor I need to try and save.

It's working great for me! I haven't had my armor reyellow yet and I have it out in the sun quite a bit all winter long. I have done it on several helmets, a bunch of armor pieces like my chest plate and back plate. Nothing appears to be weakened either, it's all still flexible like it has always been. My armor is old FX armor that has some updated(newer) parts from other manufacturers so the process works on old and new plastic.

[mikidymac]

Awesome, thanks for the update.

[toybiz]

I know this is an old post - but here is my experience using similar hair bleaching creams to reverse the fire retardants from coming to the surface. (from what my research found as the cause and multiple discussions about this on First Imperial Stormtrooper forums)

Interesting thing is, when looking at parts like the shoulder bells, the INSIDE of the bells are white, the OUTSIDE turn yellow - or IMO the side that is stretched when vac forming. Does this have anything to do with the cause of yellowing? 🤔

I have done this twice with my TK with the first time back in 2019, it brought it back but not completely to the original white. My armor is kept in a bin, in the garage away from any direct sunlight. I religiously used marine grade UV plastic protectants over the armor before and after every troop.

Like everyone here states, the process appeared to not cause any physical damage to the plastic. Unfortunately, the armor started yellowing again but not like overnight but over time. The pic below shows what it looked like in 2021 after the doing the process the first time and only after 4 troops (due to Covid). The after doing this hydrogen peroxide process once again is on the right. I used a UV spot light this time and sunlight. (the sun is intense here at 4,500 feet above sea level in the Sierra Nevada Mountains)

So my findings - yes using the hydrogen peroxide will reversed the fire retardant yellowing but from what I researched, it doesn't remove the chemicals but pushes them back into the plastic. I could be wrong. The problem is in 2023 my last troop at Star Wars Day for a local baseball minor league event, my armor was already showing yellowing when compare to another TK, I was standing next to. This was only three troops since the 2nd hydrogen peroxide treatment below. 

So IMO - using this process only increased the rate at which yellowing occurs post treatment. Painting may be the only permanent recourse. I'm not sure if clear coating will help over new armor. Interesting thing, my ESB hand plates were made from vac formed PVC and it is still bright white - 10 years later! 

YMMV - and like the veteran TK members say, "All TKs eventually become TDs" for this very unavoidable reason. 😊

[Chopper]

17 minutes ago, toybiz said:

I know this is an old post - but here is my experience using similar hair bleaching creams to reverse the fire retardants from coming to the surface. (from what my research found as the cause and multiple discussions about this on First Imperial Stormtrooper forums)

Interesting thing is, when looking at parts like the shoulder bells, the INSIDE of the bells are white, the OUTSIDE turn yellow - or IMO the side that is stretched when vac forming. Does this have anything to do with the cause of yellowing? 🤔

I have done this twice with my TK with the first time back in 2019, it brought it back but not completely to the original white. My armor is kept in a bin, in the garage away from any direct sunlight. I religiously used marine grade UV plastic protectants over the armor before and after every troop.

Like everyone here states, the process appeared to not cause any physical damage to the plastic. Unfortunately, the armor started yellowing again but not like overnight but over time. The pic below shows what it looked like in 2021 after the doing the process the first time and only after 4 troops (due to Covid). The after doing this hydrogen peroxide process once again is on the right. I used a UV spot light this time and sunlight. (the sun is intense here at 4,500 feet above sea level in the Sierra Nevada Mountains)

So my findings - yes using the hydrogen peroxide will reversed the fire retardant yellowing but from what I researched, it doesn't remove the chemicals but pushes them back into the plastic. I could be wrong. The problem is in 2023 my last troop at Star Wars Day for a local baseball minor league event, my armor was already showing yellowing when compare to another TK, I was standing next to. This was only three troops since the 2nd hydrogen peroxide treatment below. 

So IMO - using this process only increased the rate at which yellowing occurs post treatment. Painting may be the only permanent recourse. I'm not sure if clear coating will help over new armor. Interesting thing, my ESB hand plates were made from vac formed PVC and it is still bright white - 10 years later! 

YMMV - and like the veteran TK members say, "All TKs eventually become TDs" for this very unavoidable reason. 😊

Yellowing is a problem for most white plastics and how much yellowing occurs can vary widely by plastic type and specific batch formulation and storage conditions.

With painting, I've found that clear coats tend to yellow more than uncoated white paint, so clear coating armor would likely not be much help.