I have a question about yellowing rubber. I am a shoe collector mainly jordans. There is a problem with a few shoes with yellowing rubber on certain parts of the shoes. example on the pictures below

 

here are some pictures of what they look like brand new

 

and here is some pictures of what they look like when the rubber is yellowed

 

it has been said that the yellowing is caused by a reaction with oxygen. i was wondering if anyone knows a way to get the yellow out of the rubber. i heard the oxyclean works but have never tried it. if anyone could find an answer to this problem they would be a hero to thousands of shoe collectors.

It may be oxygen or it may be what you have used to clean them with.

Looks like maybe the rubber is oxidizing. The only way to prevent it is to store it in an inert atmosphere such as argon or mineral oil. I have a feeling you would prefer not to keep your shoes under mineral oil though. Either way, the process is irreversible without ruining the shoes.

How old were the shoes when you noticed they were starting to yellow??

that hasnt happened to my shoes yet. but i would quess that it takes a few months before they started getting yellow

I`de opt for Oxidation certainly, it may not be atmospheric Oxygen either, the other plastics could be giving of gasses that can attack certain organics like rubber too, UV (light) exposure can also excellerate this process, it`s impossible to determine (without a sample) to know if it`s cosmeticly reversible or not, eitherway the damage is already done, even though you could make it LOOK otherwise. a cool, dark, well ventilated environment should be the ideal storage conditions.

Looks like maybe the rubber is oxidizing. The only way to prevent it is to store it in an inert atmosphere such as argon or mineral oil. I have a feeling you would prefer not to keep your shoes under mineral oil though. Either way, the process is irreversible without ruining the shoes.

 

what about just putting the soles of the shoe in a small puddle of mineral oil because that is wear most of the rubber is or putting some of it on a cloth and whiping it on. the yellowing is only on the soles and a small section on the sides.

do NOT put them in ANY sort of mineral oil unless you want to ruin them!

even neoprene rubber will only stand for so much oil based exposure before it starts to break down. oil is BIG no no!

ok but does anyone know any other ways ?

any one ?

IIRC, there is a spray that`s used in shop windows to prevent sun bleaching and yellowing of show products, I don`t know what it`s called or where you get it from, but if you Can, that should do the job