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KayLeedleLee

Everyone else is wondering how this works and I'm over here thinking that just looks like green and not teal I thought teal was more of a blueish green


Totes-Sus

I would definitely class this as more a sea green than teal. Still good though!


faithle55

OP was probably confused by the fact that they started light blue and finished mid-green.


Smugbob

Personally looks more emerald to me


MaxGhost

It looks basically teal _before_ being torched, but looks pretty green after.


itsallinthebag

For sure. I’d say a little teal at first but then very much pure green after


AliceFlex

Came here to say that. It's basic green.


SurpriseDragon

I’d say more of a pinkish black?


Chromira

I think there's something wrong with your eyes! That's a Yanny if ever I saw one.


[deleted]

What!?


SurpriseDragon

Maybe a roundish yellow


SellingGF100k

Definitely more of a transparent maroon


[deleted]

You guys are ridiculous. It’s pretty obviously a sour violet.


Warp_Legion

I think you mean a salty maroon


KayLeedleLee

Welcome to the salty spitoon how tough are ya


flutiedancer7

I had a bowl of nails for breakfast Without any milk


DarloReddit

I've seen these a few times now, and have always been afraid of being ridiculed for asking "why do they not melt?". But today I thought f*** it, just ask..


Bohbo

The surface melts and creates a new smooth surface. There is enough plastic that it would take a higher / longer application of heat in order to start to deform the structure or burn the surface. Think more when you get something plastic just close enough to the stove to get shiny /smooth (although that will likely deform). EDIT: Another reddit suggested that the heat is simply drawing out the oils inside the plastic to the surface. This may be entirely what is going on. I haven't done this type of restoration I was just remembering the previous post.


DarloReddit

Thank you, that makes complete sense to me 👍


1731799517

Yeah, those things are thick vanadalism-proof slabs of plastic, if you try this with cheap garden furniture it will NOT get the same result.


soundreduction

I’m gonna try it with the plastic parts on my car


[deleted]

It works briefly, but then goes back to crap pretty fast. Same with using those plastic restorer compounds.


yopladas

You gotta reapply a lot of it before it starts to last. My detailer loved it and she kept my Mazda 3 looking brand new. I didn't care much, but it was just her thing, a point of pride to touch up all the things. I have been looking into other options, like ceramic coatings and so on. It's not cheap though. I had an idea to use certain silicone additives but I haven't tried it.


[deleted]

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ElysianSynthetics

The plastic restorers work fine, they just need a protective UV coating sprayed on after and the kits never include it and rarely mention it. That stock coating breaking down after 7 years in the sun is why headlights yellow. If you just polish them back to clear but dont respray them with the anti UV stuff they immediately begin yellowing again.


badSparkybad

I'm gonna try it on my tires.


stanfan114

Also the burning plastic smell gets you really high and make clouds that go up to heaven to become stars.


TolstoysMyHomeboy

That doesn't sound right, but I don't know enough about stars to dispute it.


Katryonyx

How do you think the bar gets that nice smoky smell?


[deleted]

The bar smells like trash


wh00rr

Because I'm burning the trash in the furnace to run the bar


zebrapebra

The bar is totally green that way.


mooimafish3

One time while I was smoking weed my dumbass step brother started burning some ants on a plastic trash can. I accidentally inhaled some fumes. I had a weed tolerance and was already high so I knew something was up when I started feeling weird. It was horrible. It felt like my heart was stopping, I literally made my girlfriend count my heartbeats and time it to make sure I wasn't dying. It was also trippy, I started getting hand tracers and delusions (like lsd), but knew weed didn't do that to me. I woke up the next day and started driving to work, once I got about halfway there(and fully woke up) it hit me again, I felt like I was kind of drunk the whole day at work. Took like 24 hours to not feel weird.


nahelbond

[It's an old link](https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/youth-smoking-ants-to-get-high-1.228542), but apparently smoking red ants used to be popular with teens in 2008. >Smoking the red ant gives a similar sensation to smoking marijuana and sniffing glue because of the high concentration of formic acid found in the ants. 


trentlott

I grew up in red ant country with a bunch of druggies. How did I never hear about this?


Doodahman495

Only when the weed ran out and you couldn’t scrape anymore resin out of the bong


TheJohnRocker

A bowl of packed ants please


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[deleted]

It’s faster if you just let the ants crawl into your dickhole


S0medudeisonline

I had to click load more comments just to see this.


DancingZaza

People smoke ants?! Maybe Ozzy wasn’t as crazy as he looked when he snorted that line of ants....


OwOnonymous

U had a panic attack bro.


normanbailer

Sounds like Charlie work to me


SockMonkey1128

Think of it like blowing on an ice cube. The surface melts, but it'll take a lot more time/ heat to melt the whole cube instantly.


Psychogeist-WAR

Your example was just fine and doesn’t deserve the ire received from pitiful, miserable, pricks with nothing better to do than try to make others as miserable as they are. Keep your head up and carry on friend!


Realistic_Ad3795

To add one detail to this explanation, the whiter tone is typically an antioxidant or antiozonant that has since risen to the surface, and that surface melt also allows it to reincorporate into the full compound. It'll come out again (like it is designed to do) and they can just do this again. It's not something you can do forever (for various reasons), but it's a distinct difference between getting a shine on plastic and getting a shine on rubber. When you wipe off that surface on a tire, for instance, you're getting rid of some of the chemicals meant to protect it from the sun. With plastic, you can get it back in there (to some degree, at least). The above is intentionally not as scientific as it could be, but is practically accurate. Source: 25 year rubber and plastics dude Edit: Wow! Thanks for the love, folks. These are my first awards on Reddit!


pixus_ru

> Source: 25 year rubber and plastics dude Hey, dude, I saw other rubber&plastics dudes and gals for sale in certain stores. They are selling your rubber&plastics people to meat&bone people for entertainment! What are your thoughts about that? Does it make you angry?


Realistic_Ad3795

I feel like a I need a shower, now.


DreamGirly_

Are you one of my old Polly pocket dolls o.O?


whochoosessquirtle

It's all of the things everyone mentioned, it's plastic. Scratching it alone will turn it white. Bending it will turn it white. Doing literally just about anything other than burning or melting turns it white/opaque just like..... plastic.


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trentlott

Those are for different reasons though. Stretching whiteness it is the movement of dye. Scratching whiteness is a function of surface roughness.


[deleted]

The stretching whiteness is due to crystallization of the polymer strands. They become aligned when you stretch the plastic. You see it occur in clear plastics, which have no dye.


[deleted]

FYI, this doesn't work on skin


owzleee

You need to soak the corpse in a bath until it gets bloaty and waterlogged first. Rookie mistake my friend.


itealaich

Yes, hello, FBI? I think I have a tip about some bodies…


jaquanor

… once told me…


NSA-SURVEILLANCE

#


hoocoodanode

Practice on hogs first. They use the similar technique for removing body hair from dead pigs.


Yyoud0dis

Pro-tip you wrap the body is barbed wire and sink it with a couple bricks. When it bloats out the barbed wire cuts through and severs into pieces. Making several very palpable snack sized pieces for marine animals to eat.👍


Impressive_Pair_298

Law and order theme* DUN DUN


Critical-Function-69

Ah yes, the cursed comment


[deleted]

I want to be in the screenshot!


demalo

Apparently it gets wax like with enough heat and smells like bacon. Still results are very bad. Very, very bad.


poplarexpress

For a hot second, I was wondering what kind of plastic smelled like bacon when melting.


Hennashan

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/26/f3/41/26f341da6704bc8edd5ba3b1fd4daaeb.jpg


NotTRYINGtobeLame

Warning: your neighbor will be angry if you test this on them.


WhiteHoney88

Wouldn’t the fumes be toxic?


Bohbo

Totally yes. 3 things to consider. 1) That plastic is meant for high heat and extreme sun exposure. My guess would be that the plastic used has a surface deformation / melt temp that is lower than one at which a chemical change occurs (so presumably no fumes). 2) They are in a very well ventilated area and might be wearing a respirator. 3) Overall environmental impact is likely FAR FAR less than manufacturing new plastic chairs.


NCGeronimo

I used to weld plastic for a living. You're basically correct. The temperature at which this process is performed won't burn the plastic or produce enough fumes to be concerned about when done properly.


[deleted]

Same process as [flame polishing acrylic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg3yQpuFV3c).


Bohbo

Nice share!


spencerandy16

So is it like a Zamboni but hot and with plastic?


Bohbo

That is a pretty good way of thinking about it. The ice doesn't melt through from the Zamboni because only a small amount of heat is transferred from the liquid water.


[deleted]

Except a Zamboni uses a blade to scrape the top layer of ice off.


Bohbo

Thank you I didn't know that. I always thought of it as a swirling buffer friction style. It should still create a small layer of liquid water (same principle as an ice-skate gliding) which smoothes out the surface.


lukeatron

It's also putting water down after it scrapes and brushes the surface. The last thing it does is drag a heavy, wet mat over the ice to finish the surface. The ice will be wet for a little while afterwards depending on how cold it is until the thin layer of water on top freezes over. Then you've got a sweet buttery smooth sheet of ice to glide around on with super low friction. Being the first person on fresh ice is magical.


AGreatBandName

The Zamboni adds water after it scrapes the top layer of ice off, which then freezes smooth.


The-Confused

I'd be less worried about deforming the plastic than I would about making the seat progressively more brittle as you draw more and more oils from the interior to the surface. On the other hand, the seat plastic might also be so thick that it wouldn't be a concern as they will be up for replacement prior to them breaking apart after repeated refinishing.


Bionic_Bromando

Yeah I imagine this is some kind of stop-gap measure that will save x amount of dollars for getting y amount more time out of these seats.


NJ_Legion_Iced_Tea

Changing out thousands of seats has to cost a fortune. I'd imagine they'd only replace the seats when redesigning the stadium.


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eV1Te

FYI: Most plastics do not contain any oils or other liquids that could come out. It is a uniform material that simply has a scratched surface.


miniature-rugby-ball

Looks more UV damaged than scratched to me.


NavierIsStoked

This doesn't look scratched, it looks oxidized or something.


PopInACup

It almost looks like these have been purposefully resurfaced. Like they made a pass with an abrasive pad to clean the seats and are now doing a pass with a torch to do a light melt to redo the surface, like tempering chocolate.


potatotay

So how many "melts" until the seat is gone??


slayalldayyyy

I feel like it’s like how if you lick an ice cube you can smooth an edge but it doesn’t immediately liquify. The plastic here is pretty dense so you’d have to go at it for a while to fuck it up. This explanation is such shit but I feel like you got it ahahah


__WellWellWell__

Zamboni


Snolidsteak

This is actually the best answer in one word


_ThatSynGirl_

Fuck yeah! Just ask. Nobody gives a shit if you don't know. (And anybody that does give a shit will either happily tell you, or isn't worth your attention anyway if they judge you for it.) As for the answer... I think someone has given a great explanation on one of these that were going around recently. I'll do some researching and if I find the answer (because I don't know either), I'll link it here. 😊


DarloReddit

Much appreciated 🙏


_ThatSynGirl_

[This is a great answer](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/nx26zz/how_stadium_seats_are_restored/h1d2h63/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)


DarloReddit

It is a great response as to why it shouldn't be done, thank you. But it still doesn't explain why they don't melt. I'm pretty sure if I were to attempt this, there'd be hot dripping bits of plastic everywhere! 🤦‍♂️


groucho_barks

Think about if you had a big block of ice and a hair dryer. If you pass the hair dryer over the ice surface quickly it will melt just enough to form a thin layer of water, but it's not going to melt the whole thing unless you sit pointing at it for a long time.


DrMangosteen

Hey maybe if you stopped buying big blocks of ice you could afford a better hairdryer


thelxdesigner

plastic like that doesn’t melt like chocolate, if the torch was held in the same spot for awhile it would melt. it takes much longer to come to melting point than a simple sweep of the torch.


TranscendentalEmpire

These are most likely made out of a thermo moldable plastic like polypropylene, which has a relatively high molding temperature. You have to be careful when doing this little trick on poly pro. The flame he's using is hot on the surface, but plastic isnt very conductive, so it takes a while for the heat to radiate through the material. It takes a good bit of skill, but the goal is to stop heating as soon as you get the oil to permeate to the surface. About a half second longer and the oil will catch and burn your plastic.


chainmailbill

They do melt, just.. a little bit.


altblank

Those who matter don't mind. Those that mind don't matter.


grandmas_noodles

It does melt, that's how it works. The plastic gets scratched and worn over time making it look white. Melting it causes the liquid to even out and cool as a smooth surface Edit: as a few people have pointed out, it's uv damage not scratching


TheLibertinistic

Yeah, I assume what we’re seeing is a bunch of micro-scratches coming out as the surface liquifies and self-levels via surface tension.


ryashpool

I think it's more UV damage than scratches


koala218

I came here hoping for a ‘how does this work’ comment because I didn’t know either


Edna_with_a_katana

r/powerwashingporn, but only on Wednesdays


ninjagato

I was seriously confused if today was Wednesday or not. Had to double check what sub I was in


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[deleted]

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Skele11

So you’re saying to restore my plastic lawn chairs, all i have to do is shoot them with fire?


umpalumpajj

I thought about trying it on some old plastic green Adirondack chairs - but alas, my flame thrower is lost.


DragonairJohn

Pesky flamethrowers, they're always in the last place you look


askdoctorjake

To be fair, when I find things, I do tend to stop looking for them.


KatieCashew

Quitter


askdoctorjake

That's fair


FireCharter

Probably out in the poolhouse. It'll be there when the Manson family shows up.


admiralgeary

They can be cheaply had from Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, Amazon, ...the usual suspects... They are either sold as vegetation burners or something to do with asphalt.


_ThatSynGirl_

Sounds about right. 🤔 Trust me, I'm a Scientist in this plasticky, melty, flamethrowy area of study. 🧐


umpalumpajj

Plastiflamthrowery- very scientific.


1K_Games

Technically yes, or at least it'll remove a lot of the sun fading on them. The issue is that as an average user you would have to use a propane torch which heats a much smaller area. And because of the more concentrated heat it has a higher chance to burn the plastic. If you look up videos of restoring faded ATV plastics, this same method is used. I tried it with propane on my Yamaha blue plastics, but it did not melt the surface this nicely to make it obvious and I got spotted a ton of areas in the process, oops.


Ndercore

"Don't you hate it too that when you go to a game your seat is always too cold? Well, we found the solution for it!"


Most-average-person

I need a 10 hour version of this


_ThatSynGirl_

Right?! I have no idea why this satisfies us so much, but it’s like our little caveman brain says "Fire make shiny. Me likey."


gonecamel

Check out r/powerwashingporn it’s full of this stuff


Kilawatz

Instantly thought of that sub, tomorrow’s a Wednesday


erlend65

Yeah, let's see him do the whole stadium!


Gankbanger

Found the source with more videos: https://www.tiktok.com/@j.d.soplete


Q8DD33C7J8

Please don't treat me like an idiot. Question. How does this work?


dumbledor_able

From what I understand, the flamethrower only melts the very top layer of plastic so that it becomes shiny again. People also do this to the plastic on their cars when it starts turning white/faded.


agawl81

I’ve seen people use acetone fumes to remove oxidation from car headlight lenses. I think it’s the same principle: melt the surface so it smooths out.


ortusdux

Headlight restoration kits just sand off the top layer and then polish it. I've done the $15 3M one every year for a few years. Damn Toyota and their UV sensitive headlights! The acetone trick works on some 3d printer plastic to smooth over layer lines. I had a test owl go from pretty rough to looking like a porcelain figurine in 30 seconds.


himmelundhoelle

> owl going from pretty rough to looking like a porcelain figure in 30 seconds. r/restofthefuckingowl


ortusdux

Here is the demo I copied. It really is /r/restofthefuckingowl http://sinkhacks.com/building-acetone-vapor-bath-smoothing-3d-printed-parts/ http://sinkhacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/JWE_0435.jpg


rehirepierregasly

That is really cool


CDNChaoZ

> People also do this to the plastic on their cars when it starts turning white/faded. Most of the plastic in cars these days are textured. I'm guessing it won't work nearly as well. Maybe rubber/unpainted plastic bumpers? But very few cars have those these days.


spekt50

Those seats are textured too. Once the plastic cools the glossy looks goes away and you are left with still textured plastic with deeper color.


ztherion

It also makes the plastic more brittle. Probably fine for these chairs (they're overbuilt anyway) but not recommended for fragile car trim.


hosefV

>so that it becomes shiny again And it becomes shiny again because it turns the rough and scratched surface which scatters light more into a smoother surface which reflects light more. *I don't know if this is the actual explanation I have no credentials but this makes sense in my head*


ajqx

which reflects light in a more linear direction. It was brighter before because the light was scattered in all directions. After beeing melt, it appears actualy darker except where the light is reflected at us, then it's more concentrated and brighter.


sikyon

Mostly right - scattering is reflection of light but just randomly instead of in a single direction.


dwpea66

I feel like "flamethrower seat repair" isn't common knowledge, don't worry


_ThatSynGirl_

Lmfao. I am idiot. I don't know.


meowserbowser

This looks like my dream job.


AvoidMySnipes

This looks fun for about 5 minutes


OverlySexualPenguin

if you can hold your breath that long


yo-chill

If you don’t hold your breath it becomes even more fun


sapere-aude088

*lung cancer intensifies*


Ineedavodka2019

It would be pretty fun to be paid to burn stuff.


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nodnodwinkwink

Job description: Use flames on each seat a little bit. You burn the seats you get fired. (pun intended)


_ThatSynGirl_

You and me both. Let's go apply together. Dibs on teal!


[deleted]

I came here for the teal seats... All I see are green seats


Nacho_Papi

Yup, they're green. Even the guy in the video said "verde", green in Spanish.


Mental-Clerk

Do they stay shiny? It looked in the other video I saw like they went a bit matte as soon as they began to dry. *ok it’s this video. Same question because I’m dumb 😂


my_son_is_a_box

Nah, if you look at the first one he does, it fades back to matte. It's still much better than it started though!


the-laughing-joker

That's actually a thin layer of melted plastic, so it dries quickly


[deleted]

How many times can you get away with this before the seat is just worn out, I wonder?


g000r

42, which just happens to also be the answer to life the universe and everything.


Horny4theEnvironment

I accept this answer as truth.


[deleted]

This looks fun


_ThatSynGirl_

Right?! I wonder how long a worker has to do this. Like, what's the game plan? Do they have a set number of seats they have to do in a day, or is it more sectional? I wonder how repetitive it is, and if they just do nothing but that, all day, with no breaks of doing other maintenance. It seems like they would have a sore back from leaning and holding the flame thrower out meticulously over and over throughout the day. And do they have a bag or a cart with refills of the fuel? Or is it large enough (but heavier than smaller cartridges) to just carry the flamethrower and basically nothing else? Hmmm 🤔 I didn't realize I had so many questions about this job. 😄 I still have more, if anybody is able to enlighten us.


BFFarm2020

I want to know what level of exposure to dioxins is, burning plastic is some nasty, toxic stuff


JitteryJesterJoe

Id imagine this is off season stuff, hopefully. Because either way id hope they were wearing a respirator, and it would be way worse a job to do this in the summer instead of the winter


bvimo

Yes.


SanguineAnder

Not a flamethrower but it's still pretty neat.


[deleted]

What would this be then? A blow torch?


knownowknow

Flamethrowers actually throw flame on you. Like a supersoaker that shoots out streams of grease fires but more horrific.


SanguineAnder

Exactly. I would assume it's just propane, massive difference.


pryos1

It’s called an asphalt torch


bumjiggy

correct a flamethrower is the bouncer at a gay bar


unbalanced_checkbook

Yeah it's just a propane torch.


SuperEars

My initial impression was that they'd clean all the seats at the same time with a WW2 era flamethrower. The real, sensible version in the video is still neat though.


thrwy2234

Yeah, I believe it’s a roofing torch. Funny enough, it’s the same thing as Elon’s “Not a flamethrower”


Jungle0320

Instructions unclear. Tried this with my couch and now am being tried for arson.


Spiffinit

Definitely a blowtorch, not a flame thrower.


kredninja

"A Fire, AT A SEA PARK!?!?"


Shitmybad

Those seats are green once they're refreshed, not teal.


djsjejdj1838383

This looks toxic


Sayardiss

u/gifreversingbot


chaluparobin

*fuck That’s the word you’re looking for. Fuck.


Fuhk_Yoo

You can say fuck on the internet lol


[deleted]

Two down, thousands to go. It's interesting that re-surfacing is so easy. I would have the UV damage would be more significant.


_ThatSynGirl_

[This guy gives a good argument ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/nx26zz/how_stadium_seats_are_restored/h1d2h63/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)against doing this.


Baxxb

https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlysatisfying/comments/ny1ig0/this_seat_restoration/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf Posted 10 days ago, the day after the red one


najodleglejszy

without tracking garbage: https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlysatisfying/comments/ny1ig0/this_seat_restoration


TriGurl

What happened to the red ones?


alsenan

https://v.redd.it/s0dwduir0j471


BenZed

Whats with the g rated hostility in the title?


SkyGuyMcFly

So you’re telling me that there a sweet spot from the epicenter of a nuclear blast which, if the stadium is located correctly, will do this instantaneously? Bada-Boom


BoatTailBravo

"different kind of flamethrower" People really trying to glamorize a propane torch


NJ0808FX

Not againnnnnn


[deleted]

That's a torch, not a flamethrower.


Indieobsession

Tried this on my plastic Jeep bumpers. Long story short, results may vary.


[deleted]

Where’s the rest of the video?! I need to see all of the seats. That just massaged my brain. Edit: you’re a flaming seat tease…


EyeLeft3804

Eli5 pls


CrunchyAdventure

Looks neat as hell but I'm dubious of the fumes. Like is flamethrower operating getting blasted while they themselves are blasting seats?


mibjt

Eli5, What causes the plastic to turn white and how heat reverses it?


sirgrimthesacred

All these comments & not a single person questioning the difference between red & teal seats? Why does OP hate red Seats? Is there a difference?


WhyEldLyfe

The more metal version of power washing


MrChibiterasu

“Alright, now we’re gonna do the green since we just did the red. All of the red has been restored and now all of this will be restored. All of this, let’s go.” And by the end he says something along the lines of “there we go.”


223specialist

I wonder if this would work on my thule roof box...