AkBKukU

Retrobright Damages Plastics - 10 Year Test

Added 2025-11-19 20:31:49 +0000 UTC

Hello!

I was originally going to make this a TT2 video but I posted this early on my discord server for feedback and most people there seemed to think it would be better off as a main channel video since it's a big subject. So the production value on this one isn't that high, but it is something I've put a lot of time and research into, just many years ago.

I've never done retrobrighting on my channel and probably haven't mentioned it that much. That's because for a while I was doing my own research on it and conducting my own tests of different methods. My conclusion was originally that the hazardous byproducts weren't worth the trouble but I later discovered that the process is both impermanent and actually caused increased yellowing over a longer time span. I wasn't really full of interest in talking about this but I wanted to finally put my original test subject back together and thought this would be the last chance I would have to talk about it before I forget about it.

So this is a summary of all the retrobrighting tests I've done, what the results were, what I think the process is chemically, and how it doesn't matter because the long term effects are worse than just leaving the plastic alone.

Video Link: https://youtu.benWpjseCXA