If you happen to be in possession of an old console that is white, or close to white, you’ll probably have the same problem: a console that looks like it just had a bath in nicotine. I’m going to bet your SNES, Famicom, whatever is doused in that same veneer as your chain-smoking Grandma’s ceiling. Want to know how to make it look brand new again? It’s either voodoo magic or this crazy formula. I don’t know if I can tell the difference between the two…
It’s called RetrOBright and it’s a terrifying mix of Hydrogen Peroxide, Vanish, and a whole heap of other stuff I won’t be ingesting any time soon. But it works! By Jeeves it works…
This series of pics proves it!
Amazing. Apparently, once you wipe off the residue on the buttons it’s as good as new.
Head here for more info on this wacked out voodoo magic!
Thanks James!
Comments
38 responses to “This Voodoo Magic Makes Your Old Consoles Look New Again”
WOW. As an eccentric ‘clean-freak’, I am very impressed. That said, I’m not sure that covering your electronics in a thick paste is a great idea. Might be safer to dismantle the case and clean it separately instead.
Agreed. Also, the power/reset buttons look ruined now.
lol probably should have actually read the whole article.
Although I am not sure why they posted an image with the residue still on there :s
I once thought this, but in emailing guys who specialise in refurbing old consoles, they said to never open the case if possible.
Apparently they’re super static sensitive and can easily be buggered.
Is it just me, or do the power and reset buttons looked like they ended up getting the treatment as well? I agree with jazza that I’d probably separate the case from the rest to perform the act.
Power and reset buttons have definitely been bleached. To be honest though the before shot looks terrible, none of my old consoles look anything like that.
Yep, the purple has been stripped out well and truly from those buttons. Shows it works, but in that instance working is ruining.
Sometimes it pays to read.
You cant strip the colour out of coloured plastic, the buttons are purple plastic, not painted purple.
“Amazing. Apparently, once you wipe off the residue on the buttons it’s as good as new.”
That’s right there. Just up a bit. Below the picture. In the piece.
OK, looks like they might be fine (not sure why you’d use that pic before wiping residue off). There’s a better picture on the website, not sure why that wasn’t shown here. And piat, “You cant strip the colour out of coloured plastic” is a pretty naive statement, of course you can strip colour out of plastic. Have you never seen what happens to plastics (particularly red ones, but others as well) that have been left out in the sun? Dyes are chemical compounds, and not many chemical compounds are impervious to breakdown/decay/chemical change.
Re-read the article, it’s just residue from the clean.
its a bit suspiscious that the final comparison shot is done in a different location with different lighting
I had that same thought as well.
Plus there’s blood in the bottom right corner of that final pic…
“Hey! That’s not the same console!”
THWAAACK!
“….Yes it is.”
Not really suspect at all, the process probably takes some time, so it was first shot and coated, then wrapped and moved out of the way to process then unwrapped and shot. Would not be unreasonable to assume that the process took place in as many as 3 locations.
^this
I’d be suspicious if the guy was in a position to make some money.
Nah it’s just the white balance has been adjusted on the camera.
Weird why they did it though. Makes it impossible to compare properly.
You answered your own question. It does make it impossible to compare properly. That is why they did it.
I don’t think it’s done purposely. But hey, you wanna see a conspiracy in everything, that’s cool too.
Me personally, I’m not putting paste on my 1994 SNES. That thing is priceless now.
It’s probably not deliberate. Most people just use Auto WB on their cameras. A small change in lighting can swing the WB way out of wack.
The same spot as before if you look at the counter under the chopping board. He didn’t want the bleach eating the stone counter top. But the change in colour makes the white balance on the camera give you different levels notice the counter is washed out in the second photo for the after bleaching.
To give a fair idea of the change he should have set the camera to manual before taking the before and after. This would give the same white balance on each photo instead of washing out the counter. As for light the sun would have moved between the start and end of the process. again to be fair he should have taken the machine to a room with only a set light source or at least waited till the next day to take the photo in roughly the same light conditions.
Then again most people on the internet who think they are showing you something new rarely put more than a few minutes of effort into documentation and experiment control.
damp cloth wipe with Jiff, wipe off with second damp cloth.
I can’t believe it’s not butter!
YEAH, looks more like spunk
Colour balance of the before and after pics looks totally different which makes it rather hard to see if it is actually appreciably whiter.
I’ve heard that good old lemon juice and some sunlight does more or less the same thing. Never tested it though.
I have a Dreamcast that looks like the wall behind a deep fryer. It needs a clean.
Curse you Serrels! Just when I was just about to patent my secret PorridgeSparkle™ Console Cleaning Formula!
I’ve always wondered whether this is a perma-fix or if the [I forget what it’s called] just leeches out again over time and eventually it yellows again.
Seeing as it uses varnish I imagine this just eats off the top layer of plastic and so it would yellow again, which would also account for the below comment of the markings being removed if done more than once
Yes it will yellow again over years. This or a similar peroxide bath is a common technique in ‘restoring’ old action figures from the 80s – 90s. It will lighten coloured plastic and can leave a swirly or blotched finishes sometimes so it is a bit of a gamble.
I’ve use this stuff on an old NES last year, and it really does work… however depending on the level of yellowness you’re going to need several applications. It’ll also start to strip away console markings and things, like the writing on the front hatch of the NES.
Source your resources you thieving prick. Stop ripping off Reddit for your “news”.
Jizzing all over your SNES cleans it?
Bukkake anyone?
WARNING! I took the original image and dropped the colour temperature in photoshop and ended up with something which looks a lot like the after photo.
I’ve seen this same concoction used to clean up yellowed soles on sneakers. Pretty heavy stuff!
I’m sure it works but the white balance on the ‘After’ picture makes that SNES look better than it actually is.