Reversing Retrobright Bleaching on a Macintosh 512k Mouse

[SilverStreaks]

I made a stupid mistake. For some reason I thought the 512k was supposed to be white instead of beige so I ended up soaking my mouse in 3% peroxide over the course of a few days, trying to get rid of what I thought were uneven results. Turns out I just bleached the hell out of it! Does anyone know a way other than sanding/polishing to reverse the bleaching? I've heard of soaking it in vinegar, but not sure if that would work.

 

[AeSix]

I made a stupid mistake. For some reason I thought the 512k was supposed to be white instead of beige so I ended up soaking my mouse in 3% peroxide over the course of a few days, trying to get rid of what I thought were uneven results. Turns out I just bleached the hell out of it! Does anyone know a way other than sanding/polishing to reverse the bleaching? I've heard of soaking it in vinegar, but not sure if that would work.

I've not heard of 3% peroxide bleaching much of anything other than my sister's hair back in the 80s. (and of course my friends' hair in the early 2000s) The true color should be visible on the inside portions of the mouse cover. Maybe it's not quite as white as you think, only compared to the yellowish it was before? If you can, take a picture of the mouse on a piece of white paper next to the keyboard, with a good source of light? (and upload it here)

Other than that, maybe take it to poker night at the local VFW for the next few weeks? (that's a terrible idea, please don't, those old guys are baaaad influencers!)

 

[SilverStreaks]

I've not heard of 3% peroxide bleaching much of anything other than my sister's hair back in the 80s. (and of course my friends' hair in the early 2000s) The true color should be visible on the inside portions of the mouse cover. Maybe it's not quite as white as you think, only compared to the yellowish it was before? If you can, take a picture of the mouse on a piece of white paper next to the keyboard, with a good source of light? (and upload it here)

Other than that, maybe take it to poker night at the local VFW for the next few weeks? (that's a terrible idea, please don't, those old guys are baaaad influencers!)

Images attached with the 512k case as I received it and a sheet of blank paper for comparison. The mouse was originally the same color as the computer casing shown in the picture. As far as I can tell its definitely bleached! (Its also quite blotchy, but its hard to make out in the photos.)

 

[AeSix]

from what I can actually see (I'm unable to load the images to be larger, and the third is blank?) (annnnnd as I finished typing that, it loaded)

It looks like you did not mess up. Of course, the comparison to the inside, wouldn't matter, since it too was RB'd... would had been useful info /before/ you RB'd the mouse lol. Check the keyboard though?

I'm thinking the stuff is in need of retrobrighting. I could be wrong, but seems he mouse is the right shade... maaaybe a little on the lighter side, but from what I recall, the older stuff wasn't much darker than lined notebook paper.

Here's some real questions though:
Are you planning to sell it, showcase it, or give it away to someone who would know it's wrong?
Aside from feeling like you messed up and potentially ruined a piece of history (you didn't!), are you upset with it?
And, Do you mind making the rest of the system match the mouse?

If you said no to everything above, then go with it! It's yours now, it's yours to enjoy, and to make your own. Besides, if the true color is darker/beige... it'll come out in time.
if you said Yes to any of the above... if you want to try the vinegar thing... do the inside of the mouse, just in case

 

[cheesestraws]

Bear in mind that these things came in two colours, beige and platinum. They look fairly close when yellowed. It's entirely possible your mouse was actually an incredibly yellowed platinum one.

 

[s_pupp]

I agree with cheesestraws. That mouse very much looks like it’s from a later (platinum) Mac Plus.

Would you mind posting a picture of the bottom of the mouse, and also the mouse button?

 

[SilverStreaks]

Bear in mind that these things came in two colours, beige and platinum. They look fairly close when yellowed. It's entirely possible your mouse was actually an incredibly yellowed platinum one.

I agree with cheesestraws. That mouse very much looks like it’s from a later (platinum) Mac Plus.

Would you mind posting a picture of the bottom of the mouse, and also the mouse button?

I'm fairly confident that this isn't one of the platinum mice. The ball cap is black, one screw on the bottom, dark button, and the cord is beige. I haven't seen any pictures of platinum mice using the older design.

 

[SilverStreaks]

from what I can actually see (I'm unable to load the images to be larger, and the third is blank?) (annnnnd as I finished typing that, it loaded)

It looks like you did not mess up. Of course, the comparison to the inside, wouldn't matter, since it too was RB'd... would had been useful info /before/ you RB'd the mouse lol. Check the keyboard though?

I'm thinking the stuff is in need of retrobrighting. I could be wrong, but seems he mouse is the right shade... maaaybe a little on the lighter side, but from what I recall, the older stuff wasn't much darker than lined notebook paper.

Here's some real questions though:
Are you planning to sell it, showcase it, or give it away to someone who would know it's wrong?
Aside from feeling like you messed up and potentially ruined a piece of history (you didn't!), are you upset with it?
And, Do you mind making the rest of the system match the mouse?

If you said no to everything above, then go with it! It's yours now, it's yours to enjoy, and to make your own. Besides, if the true color is darker/beige... it'll come out in time.
if you said Yes to any of the above... if you want to try the vinegar thing... do the inside of the mouse, just in case

Nah its definitely bleached. I have a copy of the original owner's manual with pictures of how its supposed to look. I can post a picture later.

The reason I'm retrobrighting is for personal reasons, I don't plan to display it or sell it, just want to get the original experience if you know what I mean!

 

[s_pupp]

I agree - from your description, it does seem to be a really, really bleached mouse.

I wish I had an answer to restoring the original color. The Macs, keyboards, and mice I Retr0brited have yellowed somewhat with time (11 years), but nowhere near where you would need it to be.

 

[olePigeon]

@SilverStreaks If you're unable to reverse the bleaching, you could always paint it. Apple painted several of their machines (Apple II, Quadra 900, etc.), so it's not out of the ordinary. You can either paint it official Apple Beige, or use a store brand paint like "Heavy Hammock," which is very close to the original Apple Beige Pantone 453 (and much cheaper than paying for color matching.)

I don't know if stores still offer free paint samples or if they charge for them now, but I bet you could get away with just a sample can for something as small as a mouse.

Check out this thread:

Official Paint Color of Mac 128/512/Plus?

What is the official color code (is that a Pantone number?) of the Mac 128/512k/Plus? Looking to 3D print a case/holder that will sit next to the Mac, and want the colors to match. I have seen it called "beige" and "putty" but wondering about the specific code for realistic match. Or is there...

68kmla.org

 

[cheesestraws]

I'm fairly confident that this isn't one of the platinum mice. The ball cap is black, one screw on the bottom, dark button, and the cord is beige. I haven't seen any pictures of platinum mice using the older design.

Yeah you're probably right, then. Well, on the bright side, now you've got a platinum mouse of the old design? :-D (Sorry, I must stop being deliberately unhelpful)

 

[davidg5678]

Here's another possible solution: let the mouse sit untouched for a couple of years. Some of my earlier retrobrite disasters (and successes) seem to have reverted to their prior condition after sitting for about six years in storage.

 

[Juror22]

I've tried to make the best of the exact same situation. (the mouse was one of my earliest experiments with retrobrighting, before I learned moderation (not everything needs it) and patience (any of the fast methods can also go wrong very quickly).
btw - this seems to keep away the re-yellowing (still in testing for me, but the results are promising)

Anyway, I still have the original tragically over-whitened mouse and it is still over-bleached many, many years later - waiting will not help.
The blotchiness will not improve either - basically, that only gets worse. I did not go the paint route, but I did try to make lemonade out of lemons, as they say. A while back, I obtained a good condition mouse, which had a bad cord, and transferred the internals/cord from between them to make one good mouse and one parts mouse. It worked for me.

 

[olePigeon]

@SilverStreaks I think @Juror22 has a good idea. Look for a broken beige Mouse on the cheap, and just replace the innards with your bleached one.

 

[SilverStreaks]

Update:

I tried soaking the mouse in household distilled vinegar for over a week; no results! I ended up just buying another one off of eBay. Lesson learned. I think I'll just go ahead and finish fully bleaching the other one so that the results even out.

 

[thellmer]

Try a magic-eraser mica-sponge with some soapy water. I did this accidentally to an SE/30 case I forgot and left in the gel/solution too long and it was a bright white in some areas and just overly white in others. The bleaching is only on the surface so the magic-eraser is like a very fine sandpaper and if you use it wet (soapy water works best) and don't go too long in one place you will sand that thin bleached layer off and back to the real color underneath. I didn't really lose any of the texture pattern either or if I did it was evenly removed across the whole case and still looked normally textured.

 

[SilverStreaks]

I'll try that, thanks!