PlaymoFriends
Creative => How-To => Topic started by: Kenny on July 03, 2011, 19:18:12
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I purchased two Steck castle walls from DS, and they were both slightly discolored. They are a little bit brownish, rather than grey. It's really only noticable when they are intermixed with some mint condition Steck pieces I have.
My wife says I'm being too picky. :lol: Nevertheless, I thought I'd ask....
Is there a way to remove this discoloration? If so, how?
I would imagine that this question has been answered on this forum, but I can't seem to find a thread about it. Perhaps I'm using the wrong search words.... ???
-- Kenny
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You might try a search for cleaning Steck. I know there was a thread about using bleach in the past. I recently had a bunch of discolored Steck come in and used a bleach soak to get it cleaner. It got rid of much of the discoloration but not all. I left it in a little long and ended up with a bit of a white powdery look to the surface. It may well fade with use etc, and regardless it is much better than the brown color from before.
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Try searching in the sub-board "advanced customizing techniques" under how-to. Any topics that describe use of bleach and other potentially hazardous chemicals are in that board.
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I cleaned a lot of my steck using ordinary undiluted household bleach, I only left it to soak for 24 hours then rinsed it well.
It did go lighter and with a slightly mottled look that I like as I think it is more stone like.
The steck I used here was all cleaned in this way.
(http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac300/skypurr/kIRKBEAN%20PLAYMOBIL%20EXHIBITION/MEDIEVAL/medieval3.jpg)
Elaine (http://www.anchoredbygrace.com/smileys/mgqueen.gif)
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Might try that... But I have some really ancient (at least they look that way.. ) pieces.. they feel kinda.. brittle, you know what I mean?
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How can Steck coming from DS be discoloured?
That's a bit bad :no:
Damo :)
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How can Steck coming from DS be discoloured?
That's a bit bad :no:
Damo :)
Didn't read this properly, :-[ I hadn't realised that they were from DS ???
Elaine (http://www.anchoredbygrace.com/smileys/mgqueen.gif)
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Didn't read this properly, :-[ I hadn't realised that they were from DS ???
Elaine (http://www.anchoredbygrace.com/smileys/mgqueen.gif)
Yes, they were from DS. But as I said, they weren't terribly discolored. Only slightly. That's why my wife said I was being picky. 0)
-- Kenny
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I guess they could have been sitting around for a while at the warehouse. :-\
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Personally, and I know everyone has their own preferences, but I actually like some discolored pieces mixed in on a castle, because I think it makes the castle look more authentic, aged. Is that odd? :)
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Personally, and I know everyone has their own preferences, but I actually like some discolored pieces mixed in on a castle, because I think it makes the castle look more authentic, aged. Is that odd? :)
Depends on how discoloured they are! - I've got a flat two way connector that is almost yellow, and it just looks too silly to use! :P
Damo :)
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I purchased two Steck castle walls from DS, and they were both slightly discolored. They are a little bit brownish, rather than grey. It's really only noticable when they are intermixed with some mint condition Steck pieces I have. . .
As others have said, this may be from sitting around for a long time at DS, but, in that case, I would have thought they would be pristine. That made me wonder whether the plastic or the color is a different formula than before. I think the Playmobil factory has switched completely over to new machines so these walls may have been made on different machines than the original Steck pieces were. Does the plastic seem the same in all respects other than color?
Also, I would encourage anyone who uses chlorine bleach, especially for long soaks, to read this: Re: Whitening Whites with Bleach (http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=4865.msg64934#msg64934)
This is the part that tells about possible damage to the plastic from using chlorine bleach:
Here's a quote from the Retrobright website about the problem of using chlorine bleach, in scientific terms:
Chlorine Bleaches and Removing Yellowing
Some people have commented that they have managed to remove yellowing with domestic hypochlorite based bleaches containing stabilised Sodium Hypochlorite. Now, although this method works, this is a really bad idea for the plastic as I will explain. Bromine has an Atomic Number of 35 and a molecular weight of just under 80. Chlorine has an Atomic Number of 17 and a molecular weight of 35.5. This means that in simple English that a Chlorine atom is just under half the size of a Bromine atom. What this actually means is that although Chlorine is higher up in the Group VII (Halogen) elements than Bromine and can displace Bromine; the downside is that you are essentially peppering the surface with tiny holes, as the Bromine is bigger than the Chlorine that has replaced it. This translates into the plastic becoming brittle as the lattice is no longer completely filled. You also haven’t really gained anything, since Chlorine can also pull Oxygen from the air and hold onto it, making the plastic change colour, although not as pronounced as before.