Whitening A Dreamcast Without Retr0brite

A yellowing Dreamcast is a sad sight indeed. Its once gleaming white shell turned a grimy shade of mustard, a reminder of the fun that it has given to countless gamers over the years. Tired, worn out, the end of the road. It doesn't have to be like this though, oh no. As many, many a collector will attest, there is a magical formula known as Retr0brite that involves almost Merlin-esque alchemy knowledge to mix it's caustic formula. Eye of newt, half a quart of hydrochloric acid, the soul of a defeated shaman and some peroxide mixed in scientifically accurate measures, and then spread evenly over the shell of even the most yellowed system (it doesn't have to be a Dreamcast, by the way) will magically turn it back to its original colour in a few hours.

As documented here at the 'Yard on many occasions though, this gamer is a bit thick and has quite a short attention span. That, and the whole Retr0brite thing just seems a bit like too much trouble as the ingredients (the actual ones) are a little difficult to get hold of here in the good old UK. Imagine my interest then, when I discovered that there is a product available to buy for little more than a few pounds here in my homeland, that promised to yield the same results as those bizarre US-only hair serums and the fabled Retr0brite. Yes, it costs just £1.69 a bottle and is available from both Superdrug and Boots. Before I go on, I'm aware that these two stores may not operate in your country, but the product I'm about to share with you is available through Amazon too, so fear not. It's this:

Jerome Russell Bblonde Maximum Lift Cream Peroxide. I must admit that I first stumbled across this after watching (recent DreamPod guest) Adam Koralik's video on the subject of console whitening, but being annoyed that the product he tested out wasn't readily available in the UK. After noting down the particulars of the product (40 Vol 12% peroxide...whatever that means), I quickly discovered that an alternative  - the thing listed up there - was easily obtainable from most UK pharmacies for less than the price of a lottery ticket...and if you'll excuse the piss-poor segue, once you see the results garnered from using this stuff on one of my Dreamcast shells, you'll think you've hit the jackpot. See, I told you it was poor.

So, with much trepidation I stripped down my most yellowed PAL system and gave the shell a good old scrub with a sponge and some warm soapy water so get rid of all the accumulated gunk and dust collected in the assorted grooves and divets. I left it to air dry for a few hours and then once all the water was gone, I set to work liberally dousing the thing in the Jerome Russell stuff. Weirdly, it doesn't actually smell of anything - I was expecting the pungent aroma of regular hair dying kits...but no. Using a thin paintbrush I smothered the Dreamcast shell in a moderate coating and then wrapped it in cling film to stop it from drying out before the peroxide could do it's thing.

Merry Christmas!

The process of whitening actually requires the very thing held responsible for the yellowing in the first place - sunlight; so I placed the two parts (and the controller port section) on a sunny windowsill. The UK is notorious for how shit the weather is, and today wasn't really any different - the day was overcast mainly but there were odd breaks where the sun came through so I just left the case in various places where I thought the sun would best catch them in a bizarre reverse-tanning situation. I left the bits of plastic for around six hours and I have to admit that I was dubious...but I needn't have been. The results are incredible considering the initial outlay of the product used.

Bet you've never seen a Dreamcast sun bathing before!

Before (the left is the one I whitened)

After (the left is the whitened one, with the sticker replaced)

You can't really tell from these shots, but this system was really yellowing - especially on the rear left, and it was steadily moving across the GD lid too. After the application of the Jerome Russell (and several hours in moderate sunshine, and then washing it off), it looks like it just came out of the freaking box in October 1999!

So there you have it. If you want to whiten your Dreamcast for less than £2 and don't have the knowhow required to knock up a batch of Retr0brite...get yourself down to Boots or Superdrug (or Amazon UK) and treat yourself to a bottle of Jerome Russell Bblonde Maximum Lift Cream Peroxide for £1.69. Alternatively, you could buy all the ingredients for a Retr0brite mix for more than the price of a used, yellow Dreamcast.