Author Topic: Does anyone know what causes yellowing without sunlight?  (Read 1214 times)

jipsy

Re: Does anyone know what causes yellowing without sunlight?
« Reply #15 on: March 27, 2025, 01:10:09 am »
Just skimmed through the thread so forgive me if this has already been mentioned, if anyone ever smoked in the house or if anything was burned inside for that matter (candles, incense, etc it could lead to some yellowing of the plastic.
Nase

Warmsignal

Re: Does anyone know what causes yellowing without sunlight?
« Reply #16 on: April 30, 2025, 07:54:41 pm »
I've raved about this for ages. It's the nature of paper when it's a pure white variety. Over time, with environmental factors accelerating the issue, the chemical compound of the paper breaks down and looses it's vibrant white appearance. It doesn't necessarily turn yellow, it just becomes less and less vivid as it breaks down and becomes less stable. Compared to the white plastic of the case, it will look like a different color eventually.

Has happened not only to my Wii artwork, also my Sega Saturn artwork, Dreamcast artwork, the white banners on Xbox 360 games, PS5 games, etc. Anything vivid white, will eventually become dingier white over time. A lot of my PS5 games are already doing this. I live in an environment where air humidity levels tend to fluctuate from dry to normal-borderline damp, and that's a nightmare scenario for thin little slips of high gloss paper. Hell, all of my handheld console screens turn yellow over time too, because of these dry to damp shifts. It's a common problem in Japan due to their climate conditions as well.

You have two options. Just accept this shit will turn dingy and look bad, because you know it's something that happens outside of your control. Or, use a scanner to do high-res scans of all of your artwork (avoid the low-res crap found on most websites, because it'll look like a cheap counterfeit), photo edit to tweak the dingy tint back to white, then reprint all of your artwork. It'll be good for a while, but it'll just happen again eventually. Still, you can do a refresh as many times as you'd like ones you've got all your stuff archived...

A third option, buy some cream colored DVD cases?

sworddude

Re: Does anyone know what causes yellowing without sunlight?
« Reply #17 on: May 01, 2025, 12:06:59 pm »
I've raved about this for ages. It's the nature of paper when it's a pure white variety. Over time, with environmental factors accelerating the issue, the chemical compound of the paper breaks down and looses it's vibrant white appearance. It doesn't necessarily turn yellow, it just becomes less and less vivid as it breaks down and becomes less stable. Compared to the white plastic of the case, it will look like a different color eventually.

Has happened not only to my Wii artwork, also my Sega Saturn artwork, Dreamcast artwork, the white banners on Xbox 360 games, PS5 games, etc. Anything vivid white, will eventually become dingier white over time. A lot of my PS5 games are already doing this. I live in an environment where air humidity levels tend to fluctuate from dry to normal-borderline damp, and that's a nightmare scenario for thin little slips of high gloss paper. Hell, all of my handheld console screens turn yellow over time too, because of these dry to damp shifts. It's a common problem in Japan due to their climate conditions as well.

You have two options. Just accept this shit will turn dingy and look bad, because you know it's something that happens outside of your control. Or, use a scanner to do high-res scans of all of your artwork (avoid the low-res crap found on most websites, because it'll look like a cheap counterfeit), photo edit to tweak the dingy tint back to white, then reprint all of your artwork. It'll be good for a while, but it'll just happen again eventually. Still, you can do a refresh as many times as you'd like ones you've got all your stuff archived...

A third option, buy some cream colored DVD cases?

I think there is definitely some control

cause in most cases wii covers are still white. this is not the normal, maybe after a hell lot more time has past but not in the current era.

even with people that don't give a shit and treat wii poorly covers are still white in  most cases. I don't think wii covers are as fragile as comic books or some of that old toy cardboard. let alone ps2 covers in europe which all have white backsides. most if not all are still white. only time they get yellowed is when people actually get dirty with em. smudge insane sun damage etc didn't happen by itselves.

if this was an actual issue that happened out of nowhere people be complaining for days. just ain't it. poor storage, maybe said guy living in a humid enviroment it definitely didn't happen out of nowhere
« Last Edit: May 01, 2025, 01:36:58 pm by sworddude »
Your Stylish Sword Master!