Whitening your yellowed Famicom

[battra92]

Thanks for the advice guys. I have not done anything to it yet.  I think I will leave the piss colour yellow until I find a donor case.

I do have a broken Famcom I'm debating on parting out if I can't fix it. Unfortunately it's not too white either. Apparently tobacco is/was popular in Japan as a lot of the Famicom stuff I've gotten have tobacco gunk on it. 

Actually, tobacco is never the fault of permanent discoloring. It is always the plastic itself. Look at all the Super Nintendo consoles. Sometimes, it is only the top that is perfectly discolored, or bottom, and the other half is perfectly, not discolored. Tobacco smoke would not only affect one half, but everything. Apparently, a certain chemical was added to the formation of the plastic, that made it stronger against fire, or something, and that chemical, with age, affects the color of the plastic. I assume this is the same reason for all discoloring of plastic, including the Famicom consoles. So don't blame the tobacco, blame the aging chemical, or chemicals, used in the formation of the plastic, to make it stronger against fire, or something. I don't remember all of this exactly, but this is the basic idea.

Anti-flame Chemicals don't leave a nice sticky film on the console like tobacco tar does. Believe me, I know the difference.

[133MHz]

Yeah I sometimes do computer repair and it's amazing what tobacco smoke does to the cases, fans and heatsinks.

[MarioMania]

I'm tempted to paint my DKC Cart Yellow...

[michaelthegreat]

I'm tempted to paint my DKC Cart Yellow...

Oh just get out your mad sewing skills and make a "slip on"

http://cgi.ebay.com/Nintendo-64-Donkey-Kong-Country-Promo-Banana-Controller_W0QQitemZ190197979930QQihZ009QQcategoryZ187QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Mo]

It would be nice to get a Skin Sleeve for the Famicom in the original White 

[MaxXimus]

I would totally rubberise my famicom.

[133MHz]

I snapped this pic two days ago, for those who don't believe in the plastic yellowing power of tobacco smoke:


It's my sister's computer, notice the ashtray under the left speaker.

[kite200]

i thought people who smoke nowadays are smart enough to not smoke in the house.

where i live in california, smoking in the home is illegal if you have a child under 18..

i'm all for bhutan though where the sale, smoking, and import/export of tobacco products such as cigarettes is 100% illegal and jailable

[133MHz]

Me too, but I live in Chile, where the one with the most money makes the rules.

[JC]

So, a friend and member of this forum says he's figure out how to whiten yellowed Famicoms. But he won't share the so-called secret. Anyone got any ideas about how to do it? I'd love to experiment, but I don't have a yellowed Famicom.

Bleach?
Teeth whitening products?

What would do the trick?

[turbo D]

I've always recommended against bleaching white video game consoles. My theory is that the bleach will only perform a temporary whitening while in turn weakening the plastic. The weakened plastic will then age twice as fast. This was a true event for my friends pickguard off of his strat. However, there are many game console bleaching enthusiasts out there who claim it to be a godsend. My good pal Black TIger has made a tutorial on how to bleach a PC-Engine. I imagine you could do the same for a Famicom. Here is a link to his page:

http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/cleaning_a_pcengine.html

[JC]

Well, he says he doesn't use bleach, but I found this old thread (now above) that also recommends bleach. I wonder...

[PatMan33]

I've used this page as my bible for maintaining my things and possibly making them better. Looking back, it appears that someone else also posted this link. Take this as a second opinion: it rocks.

If you read on the author goes on to back up what Turbo D has said. Using chemicals will more-than-likely eat away at the plastic in order to expose the unoxidized layers. If your friend really does have a safe way of restoring the color he'll make a fortune.

My own personal choice is to use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. They are a gift from the gods. Apply a little water and ring it out, then wipe away marker stains, dirt, grime, and anything else. As long as you're careful around the labels you should be golden.

[NintendoKing]

I have bleached a famicom before; it worked decently.

[133MHz]

If I were to bleach my Famicom's case, would I need to worry about the stickers and the front red logo?