Another branch on the yellowing tree; these two Hippos are from the same batch, and their UHMWPE blend stems yellowed a bit in the jar.
I’m putting holes in all of them to be safe.
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My hippos are fairly yellow too. I imagine the stems are like hippo teeth and get yellow with age. 
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You’re making me concered about my switches in [plastic] jars, but at the same time switches are sold and stored in sealed plastic bags, so what is different here?
I have some Boba samples sitting in a plastic bag for over a year and havn’t yellowed, should I poke some holes in their plastic bag and in the jars?
It’s the sunlight that affects colors. Homes have windows through which sunlight comes in and fills by reflecting. Inside warehouses, not as much sunlight. Just move your jars and bags away from windows or keep them covered to slow down yellowing.
That said, I’m not sure what the story behind GMK Bleached yellowing is given that other keysets in similar condition yellows much more slowly.
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The majority of plastic bags don’t have an air-tight seal, which I think allows enough gas exchange to avoid the yellowing (all other things like lighting conditions notwithstanding).
My mason jars have pretty imprecise / loosely-formed threads so I tend to tighten the lids, which does make a completely air-tight seal. You might do a test with your plastic jars; put some water in one and close the lid all the way - if it doesn’t allow any drops of water through it creates a seal.
Since the plastic jars have more clearly defined threads, you can probably just loosen the lid a quarter-turn or so - I’m thinking that should hold the lid on in the event of a fall but also allow enough gas exchange to prevent the greenhouse business which seems to accelerate the yellowing.
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This thread is my keyboard version of the epoxy hotdog
Except the hotdog is doing better than the keycaps
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So the OP of this thread, @Jofzar , also posted this thread on Reddit in the recent GMK Production Update post by GMK_Andy (an employee of GMK)
I’m really hoping we can get an answer about this at this point to see what happened and if there might be certain GMK colors/keycaps we might want to avoid in the future due to yellowing
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Got a response, reported to dailyclack, see what they say/report to gmk.
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If anyone is interested, I’ve asked Andy if GMK ever considered using PBT, I was surprised he answered I was sure he would be bombard with messages, this was his response:
We have certainly considered additional materials, PBT and even some custom eco-friendly ones as well. We will certainly put more time back into R&D here when the que clears up. I can assure you though, we certainly know things like materials, stabs, etc, can be added to the lineup : )
GMK going double-shot PBT would be a great step up for basic colored sets, though ABS caps does sound nicer sometimes.
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Totally agreed. For the most part, my favorite sounding (and feeling) sets tend to be ABS - but my workhorse keebs almost always wear PBT. There’s a few colorways I’d love to have in high-quality double-shot PBT - or even dyesub if it’s done well and on the up-and-up with creators a-la PBT Taro.
I’ve got my show keebs that probably won’t see enough mileage to shine anything but the spacebar, and a few sets have colors that I don’t see happening in PBT - but if science somehow advances to the point of richly-colored, reliably-flat PBT spacebars… well I’d want a lot of those around.
As a side note; I feel like high-end ABS kits should come with a spare spacebar. I know most GBs have an optional spacebar kit that covers a bunch of layouts and usually does include a spare 6.25u - but darn, sometimes I don’t wanna throw that much dosh towards single non-artisan key, even if it is the biggest one. 
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I’d settle for one perfectly straight ABS spacebar like in the days of yore 
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That cable-caddy is the mood for this whole photo… oof x__x
It seems like off-gas exposure is responsible for the Bobas going yellow - I have one super-yellow one that was in a tightly sealed jar by itself.
Honestly spitballing but maybe try that with the one white key; put it in an air-tight container that gets some mild sun and check on it regularly. That might be easier than retro-brighting the whole set, depending on your priorities. 
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I might want to run that through an ultrasonic cleaner.
Does going yelow affect the switch? (as in plastic deteriorating)
Before I sold my Bobas I could swear they weren’t as pearly as they were but a sealed sample was the same color so i waived it, maybe they both got a bit yellow…
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Retro brightening. But it comes with a risk so do your homework.
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Not as far as I can tell.
Comparing side-by-side, the top housing clips seem about the same flexibility, and the switch itself doesn’t appear to sound, feel, or behave any differently. It just looks like sun-baked, brittle plastic.
Was there ever any resolution for the yellowing keycaps? I just pulled my set out from storage in the original packaging and am seeing some really bad yellowing.
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I do not think so, although it may be worth reaching out to GMK or one of it’s representatives. The amount of yellowing I’ve seen on some sets of Bleached & other sets that used WS1 is wholly unacceptable IMHO. Also if you do reach out it would be worth mentioning that there are some people out there who’s sets have not yellowed. I’m still convinced GMK ended up using 2 different batches of ABS for Bleached. I’m one of the lucky ones who’s set has not yellowed at all even though I have had some of the set on display. I never had the caps in direct sunlight, but also never tried to protect them from it either. I’d be more than willing to send you or GMK current pics of my set if they’d want them after you talk to them. Just PM me on here if you’d need any info from me.
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I was considering a GMK set (not Bleached), and although this is an old post, it makes me very reluctant to make the purchase. They’re just too expensive if they aren’t going to last very long.
I’m grateful for the discussion because I realize that I need to store my keycaps and switches differently. I had thought that airtight containers were best.
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