June 14th, 2006
Nail Polish Remover Fixes iBook (and Possibly) MacBook Discoloration
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
There is a giant thread on Apple’s website about the problem many Macbook owners are having with discoloration. The white plastic where your palms rest while typing urn an ugly yellow color that has many users up in arms. After all - why own a Mac if it isn’t pretty? To cut to the chase, one California woman named “Gavers” (with a cat pic in her posting) found the magic solution: nail polish remover.
I had this same problem, except my machine was discolored in the first few days. I tried 409 and Clorox bleach with little success. I found that Non-acetone nail polish remover cleans it up nicely. Only problem, my fingers feel like sand paper after using it. You should use clear, or blue colored Non-acetone nail polish remover. If you use another color it will slightly tint your MacBook that color. Do not use acetone based, or isopropyl alcohol, those may damage the plastic. Source: Apple Discussion Board
We Say: Looks like the key is Non-Acetone nail polish remover. And here’s a guy who posted a before and after set of pics. It really works. Or you could just wash your hands more! Or buy a ThinkPad. Once you go black…
Update: The thread is going back and forth on whether the MacBook will benefit from this or not. Some say yes and some no. For iBooks it is clearly thumbs up. I will update this as more is known. Thanks to RTN reader “Singh” for giving me a MacBook pic!
Charles says:
“After all - why own a Mac if it isn’t pretty?”
hahahahahaha… Nicely said, given that it’s one of the more prominent reasons Mac folks justify the cost of thier hardware.
Still, I have a Dell that has a similar problem, so maybe I’ll try it out on the gray plastic.
June 14th, 2006 at 11:27 am
Andrew of the Macstore says:
That an “IBOOK” just so you KNOW no a “Macbook”
June 14th, 2006 at 11:30 am
MG says:
Really, get over yourself. It’s obvious from this and previous articles that you’ve written that you don’t like Macs. Why do you bother?
June 14th, 2006 at 11:31 am
Another Charles says:
I just read the first comment and I thought I had blacked out for a sec or something, since that post was written by a “Charles” and said almost verbatim what I was going to comment… crazy
June 14th, 2006 at 11:36 am
MG says:
“hahahahahaha… Nicely said, given that it’s one of the more prominent reasons Mac folks justify the cost of thier hardware.”
Right, because everyone knows that no intelligent person ever buys something expensive and takes into consideration how it looks. I know I won’t care what my next house, car, boat, or other expensive purchase looks like. Just give me whatever piece of crap is available.
June 14th, 2006 at 11:36 am
Singh says:
The iBooks are made from different materials. The above does not apply to MacBooks.
Sigh…
June 14th, 2006 at 11:39 am
Alice says:
I just bought a Mac Mini so I am trying! But I thought the info was handy for anyone with a discolored MacBook, or lighter-colored PC laptop. (My Vaio is “silver” and isn’t looking too good, although water works fine for me.) And yes - wrong pic, but the pic I chose was a good example of what the staining looks like. It was that or a shot of nail polish remover.
June 14th, 2006 at 11:40 am
Sola says:
I also found that a plain white art eraser does the job nicely, at least on iBooks. Also gets up a lot of the finger grime from the trackpad and removes small smudges from the titanium powerbooks.
June 14th, 2006 at 11:47 am
singh says:
Alice-
There are plenty of photos of ’stained’ MacBooks out there now. Folks have tried everything to remove these stains to no avail. As of now, it seems that the plastic is actually changing color.
S
June 14th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
Geoff says:
Will this work on Toshiba laptops as well? This is not just a MAC issue…
June 14th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Alice says:
Thanks Singh - I posted a pic and thanked you in the posting. –A
June 14th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
alec says:
Alternate remedy: pour all nailpolish onto keyboard, and let the good times roll.
June 14th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Tony says:
Nail polish doesn’t remove it on the MacBook for me.
June 14th, 2006 at 1:13 pm
Arielle says:
I’ve also tried Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, which works like a charm. I don’t know whether it is bad for the plastic, but it doesn’t seem to have caused any problems so far.
June 14th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Jonathan Grynspan says:
That’s clearly a MacBook in the photos. The keys have the distinctive spacing between them–something an iBook keyboard doesn’t have.
June 14th, 2006 at 2:54 pm
auntie myrtle says:
An ounce of prevention: get very thin sheets of non-permanent-self-adhesive clear mylar or acetate (available at art stores or paper supplies or internet) and place it over those areas when you first unbox it. It’s practically invisible when done properly and replaceable. Nothing will stick to it (even permanent marker), cuts to fit easily, and keeps your blatant disregard for common sense looking great for years.
June 14th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
Charles says:
MG… Relax. Appearance is always taken into consideration with performance and price. No one criteria is more important. Although for me, appearance will usually take a back seat to performance and price.
That said, if Macs were ugly as hell, and Dells were the coolest looking laptops ever, how many OSX users would switch to XP? Oooohh, I bet not too many, but certainly a significant number.
Long live the matte black ThinkPad! Cool looking without the designer price.
June 14th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
JaJa_ says:
Sorry to be so picky but:
MAC stands for Media Access Control (address).
‘mac’ is a kind of raincoat.
The computers are Mac.
Uppercase ‘M’, lowercase ‘a’ and ‘c’
Thank you.
(Mainly at comment #10)
June 15th, 2006 at 4:08 am
Khyros says:
There are so far 16 people that have reported this problem on Apple discussion forums. I have made a website to try gather all the people affected and try to pressure Apple into recognising this problem exists.
I tried some nail polish removal and it did NOT help.
Seems like the depth of damage depends from macbook to macbook.
Personally, I have tried Mr Clean Magic eraser just dry, and damped in water, ethanol, isppropyl alcohol, nail remover (acetone-free), and water with soap, and no success.
It is NO normal or expected that a MacBook turns that DAMAGED after 1 or 2 weeks of normal usage. Most of us are clean people who wash their hands often (otherwise, would we care how filthy our Macs looked!!!?)
the website is http://www.stainedBook.info - please come and sign up if you are affected
Jose.
June 15th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
Dan says:
why the hate for Mac’s? Usually, products that are better cost more - do you expect a BMW to be the same price as Chevy?
June 16th, 2006 at 6:35 am
Charles says:
Just saw the the ‘Smug Alert’ SouthPark episode about hybrid cars. I think the same applies to the Mac community.
OS debate aside, the question is, does the benefit justify the additional cost? Is a BMW 540i worth twice (or more) the price of a Nissan Maxima? That’s for each to decide.
Personally, the issues I have with ThinkPads would not be addressed with a Mac. PLUS, the Mac keyboard would be a downgrade.
June 16th, 2006 at 10:08 am
Babs says:
Checka — Apple has acknowledged this as a defect and will repair it.
July 23rd, 2006 at 4:33 pm
nate says:
I was wondering if the non acetone nail polish remover got all of the discoloration off.
I was also wondering how to request service for the macbook on apple.com, because I looked for a long time and found no link for it. Please tell me the link if you find it!
August 1st, 2006 at 7:17 am