Help with yellowing/sun stained interior plastics 272
 

Tired of looking at my yellowed/sun stained compass, radio bezel, and other interior plastics. Has anyone painted them f so pics? or does everyone just replace them? Thanks

Try wiping them with acetone. It will remove a thin layer of the plastic.
Sure you can paint them as well.

Thanks I'd be interested to see if anyone has a pics of they're stuff painted

Might try reaching out to SHUNTER2005, he was working on same problem. Don't remember his results.

I had the same problem with my trim tab gauges. You can bleach them. Works pretty good. They aren't completely white, but I don't know that they ever were. I just know they are much, much whiter now than before. You can also do this for stuff in your house, like bathroom vent covers, a/c duct covers, yellowed smoke alarms or most anything plastic.

Go to a beauty supply store and buy some Salon Care Volume 40 Creme (brand doesn't matter, just so it's volume 40). I bought a big bottle, but usually a small bottle will get the job done. It's what hairdressers use to bleach hair. If you can remove the pieces you need to clean up it makes it much easier, but you can do them on the dash as well. Just tape them off real good before you start. Anyway, take the creme, brush it on liberally and put it out in the sun for a day or maybe two (you can reapply as often as you like, as long as the creme stays moist). You might put a piece of a clear plastic bag from the cleaners over the dash loosely and tape that down to keep the creme from drying out. If you take the pieces off the dash, apply creme and put them in a clear plastic bag and put in the sun. Once done, clean them up and re-install them and you are done.

I have some pics but can't post them. If you want to see pics, I can email some to you.

I had the same problem with my compass. I just sanded it to take off the top layer. Turned out pretty good. Pics on page 12&13 in my thread.
https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...outlaw-12.html

in France I used OWATROL POLYTROL for all rooms discolor by the sun, voyer internet to buy

My the exterior plastic trim rings for the cabin windows were yellowed and dry. Sanded and rattle canned with Dupli-Color Metalcast system which as a ground coat with color coat over the top. Looks like the day I did it 3 yrs. later; however, the boat is always covered unless being used.

Keith

I'll second the method Shunter outlined... This method has been used for years by people that restore old electronics cases and toys. The method is not depreciating to the part like sanding, acetone (be very careful using acetone, as it eats plastic and vinyl quite easily), nor does the bleaching method add any layers of coating like painting (potential flaking)

I've used this method over the years with nothing short of excellent results on yellowed plastic pieces around the boat... It works like a charm!

Shunter's description of the process and materials needed are spot on! - Simply remove the pieces, clean to remove any wax or residue (diluted super-clean works great for this), get some bleach cream from a salon supply store, apply liberally, wrap in clear plastic (or baggie) to keep the part moist and set it out in the sun (for best results, rotate the part every couple of hours) you can repeat the process till you get the desired result. No scrubbing, no sanding, no painting, let the sun do all the heavy lifting! - The most yellowed part I had took three applications over two sunny afternoons to get white as new. All others took one or two applications.

As you can see, Shunter specified the exact same product I have used myself. If you can;t find it locally, you can find it online quite easily.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...e2afd24021.jpg