Has anyone successfully restored an old, original, stained, plastic windshield washer jug to look somewhat new again? I know reproduction ones are relatively inexpensive, and plentiful, but I have an original with the original mounting bracket, so I was wondering about methods of restoring the plastic that others may have used.
-Impossible
No, Plating, Painting, Wrapping, Coating, Blasting, Oiling, Rubbing, Scrapping, Polishing, Molding, or known Caring Method has ever proved successful in rejuvenating these. I imagine one could use SEM vynil-plastic paints to attempt to duplicate a painted repair but not sure how to obtain that very unique fresh-molded plastic appearance.
My Advise: Look at a swap meet for a takeout replacement that another owner felt was beyond acceptable yet might still be in good enough shape for a fluff or just bite the bullet on a repop or source a service item.
Quote from: 169INDY on November 09, 2026, 11:08:47 AM-Impossible
No, Plating, Painting, Wrapping, Coating, Blasting, Oiling, Rubbing, Scrapping, Polishing, Molding, or known Caring Method has ever proved successful in rejuvenating these. I imagine one could use SEM vynil-plastic paints to attempt to duplicate a painted repair but not sure how to obtain that very unique fresh-molded plastic appearance.
My Advise: Look at a swap meet for a takeout replacement that another owner felt was beyond acceptable yet might still be in good enough shape for a fluff or just bite the bullet on a repop or source a service item.
The bullet is small,...reproduction washer jugs with the brkt are relatively inexpensive. And I wouldn't need the brkt, since I could easily restore the original I have. I just wondered if anyone had successfully restored the plastic jug. Thought maybe someone experimented with bleach perhaps, or other solvents, or even with mild abrasives to bring back the original look,....so I wouldn't have to....lol.
NOS are available. I'm sure more than one if you look.
I wonder if the "retrobright" process using hydrogen peroxide + UV will work here?
Quote from: KevinW on November 11, 2026, 08:22:38 AMI wonder if the "retrobright" process using hydrogen peroxide + UV will work here?
Do you have the steps to that process? I'm not going to use this OEM jug I have unless it cleans up, so it doesn't bother me if it gets messed up with a method that doesn't work.
Never heard of it, but from the Interwebz:
Retrobright
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrobright
On Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJZSrRU1xt4
Seems to be popular for restoring old PC cases