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Thoughts as to whether this would do anything for blue pieces too? I have a decent amount of older Blue, Light Gray, Dark Gray, and White pieces that are in desperate need of some new life.
As for the first question; I am just using regular strength Hydrogen Peroxide and sunlight for 1:30.
3% Food Grade is what I use. I'm not a chemist, but I know that Hydrogen Peroxide degrades into oxygen and water over time and quicker in high temperatures and UV light. That is probably why lots of bubbles form all over the LEGO after it has been out in the sun for a bit. I have no idea how to test the potency of HP after each use, but I do know that it still lightened my bricks after 7 uses of the same solution.
As far as the time you should leave your parts out in the sun? I only leave them out for 1 1/2 Hours, but a standard time has not been established. I am always afraid to leave them in the solution for too long for fear of oxidation, which HP is also used for. That is why I am afraid to use a solution nighter than 3% What I have noticed while lightening all my parts is that the sun seems to be more important than the potency of the HP.
I don't know about food grade HP, but HP is unstable and they usually add something to keep it stable; like an acid or something.
I soaked discolored white elements in both a fresh bottle of HP solution and another in the same solution I reused 7 times. The result was pretty much the same. I some of the exact same elements in both solutions.
In the second experiment I poured HP solution that my elements had been soaking in; back into the bottle it came from. It is almost 90 degrees farenheit today. The solution was very warm. What I found was that after a few minutes. the bottle expanded and looked like it was going to bust open, so I poured some out. I guess when you heat up HP, it becomes volatile.
My 3rd experiment is a tad gross, but anyway...
I had a hangnail and there was a little blood, so I decided to test the solution I had used for the 8th time today. I put a little blood on on a piece of plastic and pour some solution on it and it still bubbles up like crazy.
In this thread @Aanchir posts "I wonder if that might have something to do with the "insourcing" of a lot of LEGO's production in the past several years. Note this press release from 2005, which mentions about Greiner Packaging that it "has supplied can packaging and building plates to the LEGO Group for many years." Since LEGO has reclaimed control of much of the production that had been outsourced to Flextronics over the years, the same could possibly apply to their partnership with Greiner Packaging."
The reaction is the same, but there is an enzyme in blood (catalase) that speeds the reaction up. That crazy bubbling is just oxygen being formed.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/maxx361/42746563465/
I know it works with some stains on clothes as I recently experienced this while trying to battle a nasty stain on an outfit of my daughter's (trust me, it's life or death that the stain comes out). After just 2 hours in the sun, the stain was notably lighter. After a full day, completely gone.
Regarding the Transparent pieces, I have a number of cloudy pieces that I've been toying with the idea of using HP on just to see what happened. Not sure the same chemical thing is happening in them as compared to the white bricks, but might be worth a shot?