Removing Chrome Plating

[Mike C.]

11 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

I use Mr Clean floor cleaner.. lemony fresh!

That might be the other one I remember. I had the lemon too.

[ctruss53]

I might be late to the game, and this might have been mentioned already....

I finally had to strip chrome the other day. I looked on Youtube and found a guy I follow uses this stuff called LA's Totally Awesome.

LA's Totally Awesome is sold in a gallon jug at Lowes or Home Depot and it's only about $9 for the gallon. It smells a lot like Castrol Super Clean or Purple Power, but it is yellow.

I soaked some chrome parts in this stuff and in 5 minutes the chrome was gone. Rinsed the parts off with water and they were ready to prep and paint. It worked great!

[peteski]

Yes, that has been covered.  LA Awesome contains Lye, which is the chemical that actually "eats" aluminum "chrome" and can also soften the clear undercoat.

[TECHMAN]

On 4/23/2020 at 5:42 AM, stitchdup said:

Any household bleach should remove the chrome

???

So I also thought.....   Tried using some of the wife's "low odor/no splash" bleach, SIX WEEKS and still no de-chroming.....   Went back out to WallyWorld and got a bottle of the "concentrated" bleach (where you can smell the ammonia),  90 minutes later,  no chrome!!!!!   Live and learn....   Hope this helps somebody else from repeating my error....

DJ

[jaftygas]

On 9/7/2006 at 11:20 AM, KT EASTMAN said:

As an alternative to CSC. I use Purple Power. Rumor has it that it doesen't last as long as CSC, but I personally have not noticed. I get it at the local Advance auto parts in 5 Gallon form for about $17.00. I also use it to scrub the oil stains off my driveway. As for chrome, it strips it off in a matter of minuites. It takes a lot longer to strip the laquer coat though. I usually like to leave the laquer coat on if I am going to use something like alcad II because the surface is already smooth. Just a coat of gloss black,than Alcad!!! For removing the laquer coat, it may be best to use oven cleaner if you are in a time crunch!!! KT

Yep. I like the clear lacquer left behind for that exact reason. Alclad is hands down my favorite re-chrome. Their black gloss primer is the best. Purple power is also a great ultra-sonic parts cleaner fluid. Wait a minute! try the purple power in the ultra-sonic cleaner for chrome removal??!!

[Rattlecan Dan]

I use Krud Kutter. Works great on taking the chrome off right down to bare plastic.

[bobss396]

On 10/12/2023 at 11:39 AM, Rattlecan Dan said:

I use Krud Kutter. Works great on taking the chrome off right down to bare plastic.

I will have to try it. I have had some kit chrome (Salvino modified wheels) that oven cleaner, CSC, bleach wouldn't touch.

[Zoom Zoom]

43 minutes ago, bobss396 said:

I will have to try it. I have had some kit chrome (Salvino modified wheels) that oven cleaner, CSC, bleach wouldn't touch.

Salvino's may not be using vacuum metallizing if the normal chrome strippers won't work. Trumpeter model car kits had plating that didn't respond to the traditional products used to strip kit chrome.

[CA Whitecloud]

Quote

Can the Alcad be brushed on? Alclad II 4107 Chrome for Plastics 4oz

On 9/7/2006 at 11:20 AM, KT EASTMAN said:

As an alternative to CSC. I use Purple Power. Rumor has it that it doesen't last as long as CSC, but I personally have not noticed. I get it at the local Advance auto parts in 5 Gallon form for about $17.00. I also use it to scrub the oil stains off my driveway. As for chrome, it strips it off in a matter of minuites. It takes a lot longer to strip the laquer coat though. I usually like to leave the laquer coat on if I am going to use something like alcad II because the surface is already smooth. Just a coat of gloss black,than Alcad!!! For removing the laquer coat, it may be best to use oven cleaner if you are in a time crunch!!! KT

 

[CA Whitecloud]

Can the Alcad be brushed on? Alclad II 4107 Chrome for Plastics 4oz

[StevenGuthmiller]

21 minutes ago, CA Whitecloud said:

Can the Alcad be brushed on? Alclad II 4107 Chrome for Plastics 4oz

No.

 

 

 

Steve

[peteski]

39 minutes ago, CA Whitecloud said:

Can the Alcad be brushed on? Alclad II 4107 Chrome for Plastics 4oz

No Calvin, that will not work.  Well, if you have a factory "chromed" plastic part and you just need to touch up a small area (like where you cut off the gate that held the part to the parts tree), then you could dab some Alclad II Chrome to that area using a very fine brush.  But not if you want to brush paint the entire part.

You shouldn't tack on questions in a thread which is covering different subject.  Just start a new thread/topic.  I know you are new here, that is why I'm trying to give you a hint.

[nickfzr61]

On 9/6/2006 at 8:24 PM, MrObsessive said:

Easy Off works well for me........however if you use this, be sure to get the Easy Off in the yellow can!

 

The Fume Free doesn't do a dang thing and it's a real waste of time! :x

 

What I like best about the Easy Off is that it will also take off the clear lacquer that the model companies use in the plating process. I'm not sure the CSC or Westley's does that.

 

As with all these products MAKE SURE you're wearing rubber gloves as each of these products are nasty to your skin!

I also use oven cleaner and agree about not using the fume free version. I bought a can of the blue cap fume free thinking it would work and had to leave the parts soaked in a zip loc sandwich bag overnight. It did work but not as good as the normal cleaner. 

[peteski]

22 hours ago, nickfzr61 said:

I also use oven cleaner and agree about not using the fume free version. I bought a can of the blue cap fume free thinking it would work and had to leave the parts soaked in a zip loc sandwich bag overnight. It did work but not as good as the normal cleaner. 

The original formula uses Lye (sodium hydroxide) as its active ingredient.  Lye is what dissolves the thin aluminum "chrome" layer, and also softens the clear lacquer base coat. The no-fumes formula I believe uses another chemical.

[bobss396]

I decided to clean up a chrome grill from the Mustang AWB kit. I opened it up from the back so it could be seen through. I didn't even try anything else, I went to oven cleaner, gave it a 1 day soak, took it out and brushed all of the loose plating and got some of the under-coating off. I threw it back in and just rinsed/brushed it off. No sign of anything left behind. The trick was giving it a full 2 days in the oven cleaner.

[Stanward VonDiederichs]

Do have to say you all have good ways to remove the chrome plating. I had two of the items that were talked about and I tried both of them and they both worked great. I used the degreaser cleaner and the oven cleaner by the next day all the chrome plating was off and so far it didn't affect the plastic castrols was suggested but I didn't have Castrol degreaser cleaner I had mean green cleaner it worked just as well. I do like reading through your comments because it teaches me about stuff that I'd never thought of and mold making I have not it since I worked for a jewelry manufacturer I started in waxes injecting waxes.

[scootsmgoots]

I’ve tried straight bleach to remove the chrome from the rims of an AMT model and had no luck. 

[Jamese30]

Any spray oven cleaner works really well. I used to use Mr Muscle but now use any cheap and cheerful foam oven cleaner with success.  

 

A good coat of primer on the cleaned and washed part and you are away.

[peteski]

6 hours ago, Jamese30 said:

Any spray oven cleaner works really well. I used to use Mr Muscle but now use any cheap and cheerful foam oven cleaner with success. 

A good coat of primer on the cleaned and washed part and you are away.

Thanks for confirming that any Lye-based product like oven cleaner or several others will strip the metalization (and even the clear undercoat).  With 250+ posts in this thread it has probably been mentioned over a dozen times.

[Musclecars]

I too use LA Awesome but it will not take the chrome off in some kits,the re-release of the Stacy David Hiboy for example. I let some parts sit for a couple days and nothing so I ended up doing a light sanding to remove it

[peteski]

49 minutes ago, Musclecars said:

I too use LA Awesome but it will not take the chrome off in some kits,the re-release of the Stacy David Hiboy for example. I let some parts sit for a couple days and nothing so I ended up doing a light sanding to remove it

While the "chrome" most model companies use to make plastic look like chrome is actually very thin layer of aluminum over high gloss undercoat.  Aluminum is not a very robust metal so it can be easily removed using Lye-based liquids (like LA Awesome) and some even use chlorine bleach.

But some manufacturers use electroplating method to deposit thicker layer of another metal over the plastic. Those are basically impervious to most chemicals.  Trumpeter is one of those companies which uses this method.  What company makes the Stacy David Hiboy?

[Musclecars]

4 hours ago, peteski said:

While the "chrome" most model companies use to make plastic look like chrome is actually very thin layer of aluminum over high gloss undercoat.  Aluminum is not a very robust metal so it can be easily removed using Lye-based liquids (like LA Awesome) and some even use chlorine bleach.

But some manufacturers use electroplating method to deposit thicker layer of another metal over the plastic. Those are basically impervious to most chemicals.  Trumpeter is one of those companies which uses this method.  What company makes the Stacy David Hiboy?

Revell did the Stacy David Hiboy or Roadster if you will and then released it again

[peteski]

Interesting. I would thin that Revell uses the the typical (easy to remove) vacuum metalizing method to "chrome" their plastic parts.

When you were sanding the metallic layer off was there a noticeably thick layer of metal or the metalization came off fairly easily?

[SfanGoch]

I was attempting to clean the front bumper/grille from an SMP 1961 Chrysler Imperial using Dawn Platinum Powerwash Spray. Scrubbing with a toothbrush, I discovered that it would completely remove the chrome plating.

[peteski]

Sounds like  it power washed it!   That's not cool.