Mild soap is good, not the harsh soap used in laundry and dishwasher detergents. I also use alcohol to clean dirt that does not come off with soaps. 91% isopropyl is good because the water evaporates with the alcohol (important for electronic components). The retr0brite documentation recommended waxing the plastic with UV absorbing wax. That's probably a good idea, but definitely use a wax designed for plastics. It's not the wax that's the problem, but the solvent the wax is disolved in. On Tue, 27 Jul 2010, B Degnan wrote: > > It's good to hear from someone who knows about the chemistry related to this > subject. I tend to leave the cases as-is, or just wash with soap and water. > I store computers out of the light. > Bill > >> >> >> I have looked at the retr0brite website, and gone throgh all the >> information there. >> >> It is my opinion that this procedure has not been adequately tested, and >> there is a possibility that this procedure may cause long term damage to >> the plastic. >> >> I am a chemist and have some experience testing resins. >> >> The retr0brite information mentions a white "bloom" on the plastic from >> over treatment. This condition is permanent. It also represents chemical >> damage to the plastic. >> >> A common procedure to determine the chemical resistance of polymers, is to >> put various reactive chemicals on the surface and determine whether, and >> how much time it takes for noticeable chemical damage to occur. This >> usually shows up as a white "bloom", but this is not the only damage. >> Polymers can also suffer damage that is not visible, but causes the polymer >> to lose its strength and prematurely "age". >> >> The retr0brite information says that you should be careful not to over use >> the chemicals so that the white "bloom" does not occur. But this does not >> necessarily mean that chemical damage has not occured. If it takes x >> amount of time to create the white "bloom", then using it for half that >> time probably means that half the damage has occured. Whether the damage >> is visible is not the real question here. >> >> It would take aging tests to determine whether the plastic is damaged from >> the retr0brite procedure. I do not see any indication that retr0brite >> treated plastics have been subjected to aging tests. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, 23 Jul 2010, Bill Degnan wrote: >> >>> >>> Search for "retr0brite project" >>> Bd >>> >>> >>> >> > > > > Message was sent through the cbm-hackers mailing list > wlevak@sdf.lonestar.org SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org Message was sent through the cbm-hackers mailing listReceived on 2010-07-28 04:00:15
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