Cleaning Stained Plastic/Ceramic Chips (BJ v7) (3 Viewers)

[BearMetal]

I've found a bunch of posts about cleaning plastic/ceramic chips. Mostly all of them say "oh, just a quick soak in warm, soapy water and then toothbrush will remove the surface grime". Some Scottish groundskeepers who have microscopes even showed how the ceramic chips have tiny, microscopic bumps that need to be cleaned in between. Why a groundskeeper has a microscope, I have no idea, but alas, I don't believe any posts have dealt with ceramic staining.

So, here I am. Building a BJ v7 set, and I'm having a hell of a time cleaning the $1s. Some have great crosshatching in place, some are smoother b/c they are the newer mold or they just wore down. But the issue is that some of the chips have this nasty stain on them. I've already tried the the following:

• Soak in warm water + dawn + toothbrush
• Ultrasonic for 30s in 44c faux TSP

Both methods had roughly the same result; clean chips that won't give me herpes anymore, but are still tobacco stained. It's hard to capture on the phone, but it's like looking at Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen smile. Any suggestions for cleaning the stain off of BJ v7 chips?

Chips on the left & the right are nasty stained; chip in the middle is nice and white.

 

[ChipTalker]

Whatever the answer I hope it helps me with the hybrids as well. I been having this issue for a long time with no luck.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/sunfly-hybrid-red-transfer.38077/

 

[BearMetal]

This is not what I wanted to hear; also, I was against magic eraser since my test chip came out similar to yours; faded all over, but still dull/brown (or in your case, red).

 

[Colquhoun]

 

[dpeks13]

Sticky Sticky Borgata chips. Always hated shuffling those, but always wound up at borgata when I went to AC after the Taj closed.

 

[Colquhoun]

In all seriousness, they may not be stained. It may be just the natural yellowing of white plastic, due to light and environment. Some plastics yellow faster than others, and some of those chips may have been more exposed to heat, light, pollutants, etc.
Sadly, once white plastic starts to yellow from this process, it is irreversible.

 

[BearMetal]

Sticky Sticky Borgata chips. Always hated shuffling those, but always wound up at borgata when I went to AC after the Taj closed.

Yes, I know; the suction effect of the Borgata chips is awful. And by awful, I mean sensual. And that's why I must build me a live cash set of BJ v7's!

In all seriousness, they may not be stained. It may be just the natural yellowing of white plastic, due to light and environment. Some plastics yellow faster than others, and some of those chips may have been more exposed to heat, light, pollutants, etc.
Sadly, once white plastic starts to yellow from this process, it is irreversible.

Hmm - so you think this is similar to the discoloration of plastic computer parts over time? Normally, that takes a really long time and is accelerated by sunlight. Since casinos are a dark cave of wonder and since many of these chips are the newer $1 - B - $1 - B style, I can't image they've had the time to yellow.

But it's an idea ... and if it is similar to what happens to 80s / 90s plastics, then perhaps retrobrite treatment (peroxide + UV light) would work on it?

 

[Colquhoun]

Yes, I know; the suction effect of the Borgata chips is awful. And by awful, I mean sensual. And that's why I must build me a live cash set of BJ v7's!


Hmm - so you think this is similar to the discoloration of plastic computer parts over time? Normally, that takes a really long time and is accelerated by sunlight. Since casinos are a dark cave of wonder and since many of these chips are the newer $1 - B - $1 - B style, I can't image they've had the time to yellow.

But it's an idea ... and if it is similar to what happens to 80s / 90s plastics, then perhaps retrobrite treatment (peroxide + UV light) would work on it?

It's worth considereing, but I'd be worried what it would do to the inner label.

 

[BearMetal]

It's worth considereing, but I'd be worried what it would do to the inner label.

A $1 test chip isn't so bad to sacrifice. But I agree, who knows what it would do to the label / adhesive. But I am not convinced it's a yellowing (at least not yet). Honestly I was hoping someone would come out of the woodwork and say "I used vinegar and sunlight!" or "I used Oxy and it worked great" ... but so far, no dice.

 

[allforcharity]

In all seriousness, they may not be stained. It may be just the natural yellowing of white plastic, due to light and environment. Some plastics yellow faster than others, and some of those chips may have been more exposed to heat, light, pollutants, etc.
Sadly, once white plastic starts to yellow from this process, it is irreversible.

Not true. @Potsie1 had some good success with brightening environmentally damaged white base Big Easy $1s using a peroxide bath with UV light.

 

[Potsie1]

Not true. @Potsie1 had some good success with brightening environmentally damaged white base Big Easy $1s using a peroxide bath with UV light.

Yap. I would stop just short of saying fully reversible. Pain in the butt but reversible if its just yellowing of the plastic.

 

[Potsie1]

I found my thread.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/whitening-yellowed-bud-jones-chips.53181/

Edit: always test a single chip and proceed with caution.

 

[Colquhoun]

Yap. I would stop just short of saying fully reversible. Pain in the butt but reversible if its just yellowing of the plastic.

Yeah, it's always been my experience that you can make it better, but it's never fully restored.
Kind of like oxy-clean on a used, white clay chip...whiter, but never really white.

 

[philhut]

I've found a bunch of posts about cleaning plastic/ceramic chips. Mostly all of them say "oh, just a quick soak in warm, soapy water and then toothbrush will remove the surface grime". Some Scottish groundskeepers who have microscopes even showed how the ceramic chips have tiny, microscopic bumps that need to be cleaned in between. Why a groundskeeper has a microscope, I have no idea, but alas, I don't believe any posts have dealt with ceramic staining.

So, here I am. Building a BJ v7 set, and I'm having a hell of a time cleaning the $1s. Some have great crosshatching in place, some are smoother b/c they are the newer mold or they just wore down. But the issue is that some of the chips have this nasty stain on them. I've already tried the the following:

• Soak in warm water + dawn + toothbrush
• Ultrasonic for 30s in 44c faux TSP

Both methods had roughly the same result; clean chips that won't give me herpes anymore, but are still tobacco stained. It's hard to capture on the phone, but it's like looking at Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen smile. Any suggestions for cleaning the stain off of BJ v7 chips?

Chips on the left & the right are nasty stained; chip in the middle is nice and white.

View attachment 1163594

View attachment 1163596

Think of your lungs for a bit when looking a those chips.........maybe it's time and the money saved can be used for a new set of poker chips.

 

[BearMetal]

Think of your lungs for a bit when looking a those chips.........maybe it's time and the money saved can be used for a new set of poker chips.

I'm a bit confused; what do my lungs have to do with this? Are you saying that the staining is from nicotine? If so, I really don't think it's going to get me since it's already on the chip

 

[BearMetal]

Yap. I would stop just short of saying fully reversible. Pain in the butt but reversible if its just yellowing of the plastic.

Right, I don't need it 100% white... I just don't want it to look gross next to the other chips that have remained white.

I don't think it will be too bad to do. Put it in a 12% peroxide solution and leave it out in the sun for a few hours and see what happens.

 

[dpeks13]

Too bad we aren't supposed to get much sun tomorrow

 

[upNdown]

Yeah, it's always been my experience that you can make it better, but it's never fully restored.
Kind of like oxy-clean on a used, white clay chip...whiter, but never really white.

You sir, might not be using enough oxi.
Of course if you do, you’ll fade your edgespots.

 

[Colquhoun]

You sir, might not be using enough oxi.
Of course if you do, you’ll fade your edgespots.

Yeah , I made it strong, and did 3 separate 20 minute soaks for the used primary HSI chips. I tried to get them WHITE.
The edgespots (and my hands) definitely suffered for it, but a small amount of oil helped.
However, they never got to where they were as white as new.

 

[upNdown]

Yeah , I made it strong, and did 3 separate 20 minute soaks for the used primary HSI chips. I tried to get them WHITE.
The edgespots (and my hands) definitely suffered for it, but a small amount of oil helped.
However, they never got to where they were as white as new.

I just went to look at my solid whites, because the heavy oxi soak results have been amazing. But you’re right, they’re not all perfect - you can tell they’re not all mint. I feel like I’ve gotten them to 90+% whiteness and that’s great for me. But yes, fair enough, not mint.

 

[CraigT78]

A soak in Busch Light Peach will do the trick. It's all that is good for.

 

[Jawnie]

Are borgata v7 meant to have a texture. I had a rack once that about half were textured. I thought they had been sandwitched between textured ceramic blanks for a while

 

[philhut]

I'm a bit confused; what do my lungs have to do with this? Are you saying that the staining is from nicotine? If so, I really don't think it's going to get me since it's already on the chip

The same stuff that contributed to the yellowing of your chips was also circulating in the air.....
Stoping smoking would save a lot of $ so to avoid cleaning in the future and to make more $ avail for a new set I suggest stopping smoking.
If your not a smoker, dont let others kill you or stain your chips. Make them do it outside.

 

[dpeks13]

The same stuff that contributed to the yellowing of your chips was also circulating in the air.....
Stoping smoking would save a lot of $ so to avoid cleaning in the future and to make more $ avail for a new set I suggest stopping smoking.
If your not a smoker, dont let others kill you or stain your chips. Make them do it outside.

I think it's ambitious to have everyone at a casino stop smoking, but I applaud it. NJ has cut down on it a lot, but there are still smoking sections in casinos. Sucks

 

[BearMetal]

Are borgata v7 meant to have a texture. I had a rack once that about half were textured. I thought they had been sandwitched between textured ceramic blanks for a while

I would like to know this as well. From what I can see some of the really white $1 - $1 - $1 - $1 denom rings in great condition are smooth; no sign of a texture. While the $1 - B - $1 - B denom rings definitely have a texture. Some of the cross hatching is in great condition still, and some chips have it worn down, but you can still see/feel it. So, this makes me think that there are molds without it.

The same stuff that contributed to the yellowing of your chips was also circulating in the air.....
Stoping smoking would save a lot of $ so to avoid cleaning in the future and to make more $ avail for a new set I suggest stopping smoking.
If your not a smoker, dont let others kill you or stain your chips. Make them do it outside.

Nobody smokes here, and the casinos in NJ are only 25% smoking. Since these chips are relatively new and there's very little smoke at the Borgata, I'm not sold on the idea that the staining is from smoking.

I think it's ambitious to have everyone at a casino stop smoking, but I applaud it. NJ has cut down on it a lot, but there are still smoking sections in casinos. Sucks

It would be nice for sure; last time I was in AC it was a LOT better. Only 1 section was smoking. Compare that to a place like Foxwoods where it's a thick cloud everywhere you walk.

 

[dpeks13]

I'd agree. It got a lot better over the years

 

[ChipTalker]

I live in North Jersey and my goto has been resorts World Catskills ... is it as good of a casino as Borgata or even Wind Creek (old PA Sands)?, of course not. However it is a lot closer and there is no smoking in the casino at all anywhere. The brand new poker room at Wind Creek is non smoking but the smoking section is right outside the room and smoke filters in so still kind of sucks.

 

[dpeks13]

I live not too far out from Philly, so I've been hitting Live out of pure convenience. 15 minute trip over a bridge. I hate it though lol.

 

[BearMetal]

I rewatched some retrobrite videos from The 8-Bit Guy and I was surprised to see that a no-soak approach where hydrogen peroxide is combined with heat + UV had a positive effect in reversing the yellowing. So, I've currently got a single Borgata $1, suspected with magnets, baking outside in a container half filled with h2o2. We'll see if there's any effect ...

 

[CraigT78]

I rewatched some retrobrite videos from The 8-Bit Guy and I was surprised to see that a no-soak approach where hydrogen peroxide is combined with heat + UV had a positive effect in reversing the yellowing. So, I've currently got a single Borgata $1, suspected with magnets, baking outside in a container half filled with h2o2. We'll see if there's any effect ...