Hot take: spending $200 on a retro-bright kit vs DIY peroxide paste

I spent about $200 on a complete retro-bright kit for my yellowed Commodore 64 case last summer. It came with the UV lamps, hydrogen peroxide gel, and all the plastic wrap, but the gel dried out after one use. Meanwhile my buddy used $15 worth of salon creme peroxide and a trash bag in his backyard, and his case came out just as white. I'm not saying the kit is a scam, but I could have bought three more Commodore 64s for what I paid. Am I wrong, or is DIY the way to go for yellowed plastic restoration? Has anyone else dropped serious cash on specialized kits and regretted it?

2 comments

2 Comments

thead441mo ago

Wait, wait - $200? For real? I just skimmed past that number and had to double back. Two hundred American dollars for something you could basically whip up with stuff from CVS and a sunny afternoon? That's bonkers. I mean I get that the UV lamps are nice and all but my god, for that price the gel shouldn't just dry up on you after one use like that's just insulting. Your buddy's method sounds exactly like what I did with my old Super Nintendo shell and it came out perfect, cost me maybe ten bucks total.

palmer.henry1mo ago

Two hundred bucks for nail polish that dries up, that's like paying for a Netflix subscription and only getting the loading screen.