Here is another from the mailbag this summer:
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Hello there.

I bought a used Sunquest wolff bed from a salon and the sides are all yellow. What can i use to clean this off? i tried everything and nothing works!

(name not given)
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I have some good news and bad news. The good news is that it won’t hurt the way the bed tans. The bad news is that the color is there to stay. That bed is made with ABC and PVC plastics, which may or may not have UV protectant. What you are seeing isn’t a stain, but is actually damage to the plastic itself. If you did scrub down past the damaged part, you would make it worse, as then you are removing the top layer and exposing more fresh plastic to UV, which will make it break down even faster, and get weaker.

This is particularly common with beds that were used in salons, since they get used more frequently, and may be why they were selling the bed. The plastic in these beds break down and get brittle. Over time, the plastic will fail, although not fast in light home use. More expensive beds use steel in the shell, or use coated ABC so they don’t fade. This also keep them from getting brittle. Years ago, polystyrene was used in some beds (Suntana beds in particular) the parts of the tanning bed that don’t get direct UV from the lights, however, enough reflected that they would eventually yellow as well. In those beds, the plastic was very thick and nonstructural, so it hasn’t really been an issue.

In your case, there really isn’t anything you can do except live with it. It should still tan ok, but it isn’t very pretty.