Who here, uses the Polly S, Easy Lift Off, paint remover

[Ben]

I just bought a can of it, and I'm wondering if it's OK to soak the parts in it? Or will it attack the plastic if it's in there too long?

Edited September 19, 2015 by Ben

[ChrisBcritter]

In my experience it made the plastic (AMT 1962 plastic) more brittle but didn't seem to affect it externally. I wrapped a piece of cloth over the car and soaked that rather than pouring it in a bowl so I used less liquid. Now I just use it with a brush to dissolve stubborn spots or stains that the purple stuff didn't remove.

Edited September 19, 2015 by ChrisBcritter

[BIGTRUCK]

Ive used it twice, in both cases the vent window frame fell off [ not a big deal ] and on 1 body the convertible frame cracked. I may have let it sit too long in the solution. It removed the paint but I think its to harsh on kit plastic,Plus the stuffs a little pricey.

[Ben]

I have a lot of small parts I need to remove the paint on. I wonder if I can dunk them in the ELO and then pull them out and set them aside while the paint dissolves?

[BIGTRUCK]

For your small parts I would test it first before tossing them all in , just a thought, I dont trust the stuff that much

[slusher]

Not good to leave parts or body in. Just brush it on continually until paint comes off. i have used it alot in the past.  

[62rebel]

it's brake fluid. 

[john sharisky]

Not good to leave parts or body in. Just brush it on continually until paint comes off. i have used it alot in the past.  

 

 

THIS is correct! BRUSH on the ELO and wait for about one hour or so. Your old paint should have started to lift by then. Soaking is a waste of both product and money. OK to use the same brush (an inexpensive acid brush is fine to use - throw it away when finished) to remove the lifted paint. I also use an old baking pan. The metal pan collects the ELO that drips. 

 

I have used ELO only on resin. There are less potentialy dangerous methods for styrene (such as Easy-Off Oven Cleaner).

 

Good luck!

 

John

 

 

 

[Exotics_Builder]

 

 

 

THIS is correct! BRUSH on the ELO and wait for about one hour or so. Your old paint should have started to lift by then. Soaking is a waste of both product and money. OK to use the same brush (an inexpensive acid brush is fine to use - throw it away when finished) to remove the lifted paint. I also use an old baking pan. The metal pan collects the ELO that drips. 

 

I have used ELO only on resin. There are less potentialy dangerous methods for styrene (such as Easy-Off Oven Cleaner).

 

Good luck!

 

John

 

 

 

Yes.  It is a brush on, not dunk.  May need several brushings for stubborn paints.

 

[peteski]

ELO is specifically formulated for use plastic (styrene).  It is not DOT-3 brake fluid, but it contains a similar chemical (plus other ingredients) I usually use it to strip N scale (1:160) model train bodies.  I usually warm it up to about 80 deg. F (to accelerate the stripping action) and dunk the item to be stripped in it.  The paint usually starts coming off after few minutes.  But there are many types of styrene formulas used by different model companies - some of the kinds of styrene can be crazed by ELO - I am always careful to make sure not keep the parts in ELO for too long.  Just like it is mentioned on the ELO's label.

I also realize that there is no perfect stripper which will work on all paints. I use The Purple Stuff, ELO, Scalecoat Wash Away paint remover, and my home-brewed strippers which have stuff like denatured alcohol or 99% isopropyl alcohol and a little bit of acetone.

[Ben]

Well, I just put a bag of painted parts in a metal basket, put the basket in a bowl and poured the whole bottle of ELO over everything letting it wash over all the parts. I then removed the basket and poured the ELO back in the bottle. I noticed it's now marketed by Testors. I hope they didn't weaken the formula.

[Ben]

Well, my conclusion is, this stuff sucks! I was trying to take the paint off of a small pile of parts that had different colors of paint. There was red, light blue, gloss black, and flat black. It had no effect on the light blue whatsoever. On the red it only took the top of the paint off but the part was still stained red. It removed most of the gloss black but did not touch the flat black at all. This was even after scrubbing with a toothbrush! I applied this product as suggested by coating the parts but not soaking them for a long period of time. I poured the ELO over the parts three times before letting them sit overnight. Looks like this was a waste of 15 bucks!

[disabled modeler]

I always use ether brake fluid or the purple stuff.

[GMP440]

I've used it too. Works very well.

[peteski]

Well, my conclusion is, this stuff sucks! I was trying to take the paint off of a small pile of parts that had different colors of paint. There was red, light blue, gloss black, and flat black. It had no effect on the light blue whatsoever. On the red it only took the top of the paint off but the part was still stained red. It removed most of the gloss black but did not touch the flat black at all. This was even after scrubbing with a toothbrush! I applied this product as suggested by coating the parts but not soaking them for a long period of time. I poured the ELO over the parts three times before letting them sit overnight. Looks like this was a waste of 15 bucks!

Um, not all strippers work equally well on all types of paint. That is why I uses several types.  Also, what was the ambient temperature?  ELO (well, all paint strippers) work best in warm environment.  As far as staining goes, some paints do permanently stain plastic. Red is often one of those nasty paints - especially if it is a hotter paint which slightly etches the plastic. Do you know what brand of paint was used on those parts?

[Ben]

I don't know what brand or type of paint was used as it was a kit that I bought that was already painted. The ambient temperature was probably around 80°.

I plan on getting some purple power and seeing if that will remove the remaining portions of paint.