Sunscreen?

[smrieck511]

Possibly a dumb/crazy idea, but has anyone ever tried using a light amount of sunscreen to keep retrobrited plastics from re-yellowing? Not understanding the chemicals involved, it might be more harm than good, but just wondering as this thought popped into my head while driving yesterday.

 

[TRyanPA]

Sometimes when you are driving, the best ideas come to you. Definitely one worth exploring. I've heard people say that Renaissance wax used by museums and antique dealers might do something similar, but without the SPF.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Doesn't that stuff wear off pretty fast? If you're outside, you reapply every few hours.

 

[smrieck511]

well, I was thinking after its been retrobrited to keep it from re-yellowing overtime. A very thin layer of sunscreen might help. It's designed to block UV of course.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

I'd be worried about the effects on the plastic, and I'm pretty sure that the effectiveness only lasts a few hours right?

 

[smrieck511]

Yeah, I agree with that.

 

[TRyanPA]

Doesn't sunscreen wear off because of sweat and swimming in the pool? I would imagine there are UV coatings for a variety of industrial applications, but are there reversable UV coatings. Every once and a while someone says they'll try clearcoating a Retrobrite situation, but real science-y trials are hard to come by. Hear me out: if clearcoatings are often too difficult to remove, but sunscreen comes off in water, this might be a good solution if the sunscreen doesn't hurt the plastic. Now, my wife has makeup with SPF and she is very much alive and healthy. So, this crazy idea might be more possible than I initially thought.