How to fix yellowing pins?

[teaheehee]

Hello! I collect 101 Dalmatian pins and over time the white enamel starts to turn yellow - I think from UV light or something? I live in a smoke-free home. When you have a dalmatian collection and it is mostly white it becomes really obvious when some of the puppies are yellowing even a small bit.

 

So my question is I would like to know if there's any way to reverse the yellowing? Thanks!

[sithathoriunet]

I'm not aware of any way to reverse the yellowing.  The good news though is that the recent pins don't have the same yellowing issues as, for example, pins from the 90's.  

[buzz2001]

I have a few also.  Its too bad that there is nothing to reverse it.

 

[momin.ator]

I bought an older pin awhile ago that was yellowed.  People still wanted it because it was difficult to find.

 

Some of my Countdown to the Millennium pins are doing this.  I don't think there is a way to fix it.  I

think it does help to keep plastic covers away from the pin.

[sonicman]

I collect many older pins, the white ones yellow over time but I love that look

[pretty_omi]

So I have not tried it myself, but someone I know took some of the older style pins that have the epoxy on top, lightly brushed on some peroxide, and then let it sit in the sun for a bit and it got less yellow. If you want to try it, I would try with something easily replaceable or "cheap". I've seen some people on Reddit say they used this method, but again, have not tried myself so use at your own risk. I would avoid trying it on any pins with screen print, as the peroxide will probably lift the printing off.

[michaelmichael]

Seconding Omi--I had been considering making the peroxide-UV suggestion as I've heard of this being a solution used for restoring yellowed My Little Pony figures (in fact, upon research it appears that retrobrighting is a technique used in a lot of hobby scenes). The process erodes the topmost layer of yellowing, so that can negatively affect surface-level features like paint and glitter. I'm also not sure if the material matters for the process; as a pony restoration-adjacent person I've only heard of it used on vinyl.