I know .. not another D'Lite post !
I did a search, nothing on this came up, honestly !
I think my D'Lites are getting darker, and I don't mean the LEDs. (although yes, they too are getting a little less bright as the battery drains)
I carry these with me all the time, one in each front pocket, and I was curious if anyone else had noticed them changing to a darker skin tone. Mine are now so dark they're practically the afro-american shade. In really dark settings this doesn't matter of course, but in some situations it's just too much. I'm not even sure why it happened. Oil from my skin and frequent use maybe ?
Any recommendations for getting them back to their original tone ?

They're $5 each! Get new ones! Honestly, I don't think it's worth doing anything to them. Get new ones and you'll fix the skin tone colors and new batteries! Trust me, doing anything else to them wouldn't be worth it!
Good luck

Its because you carry them in your fron pockets.. All the dirt and random things coming in contact with them. Get a little case.. And I guarantee they will last you 3 times longer and wont turn black on you.. Even if they wont be in different pockets when you start, its worth salvaging them and taking them out of the case peior to doing it..

I didn't really originally want to have them in a case, as I wanted to be spontaneous with them, but yeah, it looks like I might not have much choice.

dearwiseone, where do you find them for $5 ? Once in a while you might get lucky on eBay and get them cheap (I have before) but I've never found a steady source where you can get them for that little.

Mystician,
Did you try cleaning them? Maybe alittle Formula 409 on a paper towel and wipe them down. I agree with Eric, they are becoming dark due to expersure to skin oil and dirt. The one DearWiseOne is talking about are not "real" delights. Franco-AMerican (yes the makers of Spagetti-O's) sales a $5 version.
Edd

Hi Wizardofsorts, (I like the name
To be 100% honest, no, I haven't tried regular cleaning yet, but only because I was assuming it probably wouldn't do any good.
I haven't tried anything yet, but I was thinking all kinds of possible things, like pulling out the guts and soaking the tip in hydrogen peroxide, for one example ;-)
In any case, I'm sure they'll have to be cleaned inside as well as outside.
I may as well give a regular cleaning a good try, maybe soak them in dish detergent or something too.
That's when I decided to post here and see what the consensus was.

Containers don't have to be a negative thing... A camera film canister is perfect for it..one in each pocket..easily openable (is that a word?) and you could even take it out and use it as part of the trick.. like "i keep something special in here...look"

then at the end you replace the light it its box..and put it in your pocket... or ditch them in the container in your pocket that's open..

If its the older version of d lite with the "paperclip" type button.. they come out if the thumb and you can clean your thumbs without fear of damaging the gimmicks..

Yes, I had the same problem. I cleaned them as mentioned above AND I also took some fine grit sandpaper and sanded the entire tip and used some of my wifes lipstick (redish) and put a few dabs on the tip. Wipe it down well. The sanding cuts down on the shine from the smoothness of wear and the red tint blends in with the natural skin tone variations. I use this method on my non-D-Lite TT as well. Hope this helps
David Paul

Thanks DP, that sounds like a plan ! The lipstick idea sounds original, I haven't heard of that before, but it sounds like a great idea.
I take it that the "wiping it down well" part eliminates the danger of the lipstick rubbing off on your finger, the inside of your pocket or container, etc ?

M&M Minis Containers!!!! they fit 2 d'lites or tt's.... Ive been using those for years and years!!! here the link to the product http://us.mms.com/us/about/products/minis/ you can see the tube

When you purchased you d'lites they have a life time warranty send them back to d'lite. cover the shipping and the minimal replacement charge and your set.
checkout either dlite.com
or 201 444 6267 (d'lite hotline)or you can find that information on your box.
Joe

(see 3 posts up)

Mystician,
You are correct in regards to "wiping it down well" of the excess lipstick. Also you can do this several times to darken the color if you choose. You can almost perfectly match the TT to your skin tone by getting the proper shade and experimenting. Some TT s don't match at all. (some will say it doesn't matter) and I agree to a point, but I feel more confident with a TT that matches my skin color.

I want to thank everybody who's posted, I got a better response than I anticipated !
Let's see... who's first..

kirko, neat idea with the M&M container, thanks. I will bookmark that. I would prefer, however, to have one in each pocket, and I found two so far that work pretty well: The first thing I tried was a film cannister, it's more of a flattened shape, not perfectly round, and fits the tip pretty darn well. It's still kind of inflexible and big though. In the other pocket, I'm using my vernet XXL tip as a case ! This thing is way too big for my thumb anyway, and I've finally found a good use for it, although it's actually still a little on the large side. Which begs the question, why doesn't vernet make an XL size ? The king size is just longer than a standard. What's up with that ?
Anyhoo, this enables me to stick my hands in my pockets at any moment and come out ready to play, and affords some protection as well. I just need some kind of "filler" for the gap between the inner diamter of the XXL and outer diamter of the D'Lite.

David (davidpaul$): I did the cleaning (although just detergent and water) and a light sanding, it helped a little. The sanding takes all the gloss off and gives it more natural skin tint for sure. Still too dark though... maybe I should try the 409. I didn't do the liptstick yet, but even rubbed down into nothing but the cracks, isn't that still going to smear and stuff ?

Joe (Rindfleisch): Thanks man, I did not realize that !! I might just give this a go, if they cover it. I wonder how much that "minimal replacement charge" is going to run.

Thanks again

I've cleaned mine with success but you will still end up buying new ones. I do agree that you want them to be spontanious but you gotta keep them in something other than just your pocket. you may be able to try a 35mm film holder. they seem to hold just about all normal size thumbtips. I have one in my coin pocket of my jeans and keep a TT in there all the time. yes I put the cover on. it's nothing to just remove the cover a few moments before you need the tip.
enjoy!!
Joe Comet

Well, here I was on the laptop, while the TV was on, and on comes this weird commercial for a light based tooth whitening system. I hadn't heard of that before, and it occurred to me that it must be based on UV. Afterall, we all know if you leave items out in the sun long enough they will fade, and that's due to the ultraviolet.
Blacklights emit strongly in the UV spectrum of course, and that gave me an idea:
I'm going to place one d'lite in an enclosed box with one of my many blacklights (fluorescent, not incandescent, which are worthless) and let it sit in there for quite a while, then compare it to the other one, to see if the rubber has faded any.

If this works, I've found a good way to lighten any TT, since to me, they're all a little too dark.

Another idea I had was to use bleach, but I don't know if that would eat the rubber/vinyl away or not.

Might as well get a new set of d' lites.

Dearwiseone
Could you provide a link that has them for 5 dollars each? And are these the red or blue ones?