ROYAL screw up - can I recolor black Lego parts?

[earl9371]

So I just bought a beautiful yet dusty UCS 10175. I took everything apart to wash the pieces, and made a mistake of using an oxygenated bleach cleaner. The grays all looks great, but the blacks definitely look washed out by the bleach. I saw something online about boiling parts in RID dye but it seemed questionable. Does anyone have any insights into how I could get the color back into these black plates? Any help would be VERY much appreciated!

[EvilBlackSheep]

I'm far from an expert on the matter but I've recently done some research on how to clean my old legos and for all I've read, I'd say DO NOT boil them. I keep reading everywhere that the water in which you clean your brick should never be over 40°C or they may loose their shape/grip.

I've seen people painting their bricks back but I'm not sure if the method is advisable or not, i'm sure better experts will stop by and help you. Good luck!

[Modelmaker]

There is a way but not recommend if you have never done it before. and it involves harmful chemicals.

Basically you need a liquid glue like MEK or Poly weld and you paint the brick or part

The glue melts the top layer an reveals the colour underneath.

But you have to do it quick and not apply to much glue or you risk melting or warping the part.

It takes a lot of practice to get it right.

[dr_spock]

You could try a black color vinyl dye for plastics.

[talos]

I would just replace all the black with new..

[Chills]

I would just replace all the black with new..

Yeah, that would be my suggestion. I don't know much about getting color back, but if I bleached out some black pieces I'd probably write them off.

Get on BL and see what you can find. I don't have the set so I can't vouch for how many rare parts it has, but looking at it on Brickset, it looks like the black pieces are fairly common. So they shouldn't be too pricey.

[splatman]

Also on Bricklink, you can sell the bleached black bricks. Make sure you say so in the description. Probably sell them all as an unsorted lot. Someone will buy them for filler (internal structures, etc.).