Paint Strippers - What to Use?

[martinfan5]

So it works a little faster the bleach

[tabsscale1]

I just use Super clean it take the chrome and the clear undercoat off.

[rmvw guy]

Easy Off oven cleaner works good but, I would go for the cheap stuff at the Dollar Store if possible, better yet, what ever the Wife has on hand. lol. Right now I am useing bleech and I agree it works fast in most cases but, right now I have a bumper from a '50 Chevy pickup thats been soaking for two days and still has a little chrome. Just a fun test, I can probably brush the rest off right now.

[Danno]

Uhhhhhhh ... i'd be REALLY careful here. Drain clearing/cleaning products are EXTREMELY caustic. Far more than oven cleaners or Super Clean and its ilk.

My Haz-Mat training tells me the extra health risk just wouldn't be worth it.

Stick with the safer stuff, it's hot enough.

Besides, what are you going to save? Ten or fifteen minutes?

[Bonekrosha]

I've used bleach with limited results.

Welfare (no-name brand) Oven Cleaner works the fastest for me, minutes if not seconds for clean parts....

[Casey]

NaOH, sodium hydroxide, or lye as its more commonly known, is the main ingredient in both drain cleaners and Easy Off oven cleaner in the yellow can. It does a great job stripping chrome and paint, as well as the clear undercoating which is found underneath the chrome plating on most model parts.

As with any chemical, precautions should be taken to protect yourself when using them. Follow the label directions and suggestions.

[george 53]

I GOTTA go with Danno on THIS one! That drain cleaner is some NASTY stuff! Even just the FUMES will hurt you! I use "Simple Green", it works for me, but MANY other products will do the same thing WITHOUT the harmfull effects!!! Honestly, go with the safer stuff, savein a few minutes is NOT worth the results of a simple acciden/mistake. That stuff WILL BURN YOUR SKIN ON CONTACT!!!!

[paul alflen]

USE GLOVES AND SAFETY GLASSES HERE. IF YOU GET A SPECK OF IT IN YOUR EYE IT WILL BURN TO HIGH HEAVEN. I KNOW BEEN THERE DONE THAT! BE CAREFUL WITH THIS TEST! LISTEN TO GEORGE 53!!!!!!!!

[Hedgehog]

Thank you all for your precaution tips. It worked good but I think I'm gonna go for easy off then. I've already thrown the plumr

[crazyjim]

I did a trade and acquired an AMT phantom phaeton. The kit is all painted from the factory - but I don't like it. Can those bodies be stripped with LA Awesome?

[Longbox55]

I gave LAs a try, so far, I'm not impressed with it's paint stripping ability. It did do very well at stripping chrome off a '90s issue AMT Sportside Chevy, though.

[Longbox55]

The strong degreasers (Castrol Super Clean, Purple Power, LA's Awesome, Dawn Power Dissolver) all work much better with heat. What takes days or weeks at 60^o only takes minutes or hours at 120^o. Try setting your "purple pond" on a sunny porch or in a kitchen sink of hot water and you will be amazed.

I'll go you one better, try it in a heated ultrasonic cleaner! Yes, I'm that crazy to actually try it, and it works very well. I used it in the 2.5 liter cleaner from HF. It worked suprisingly well.

[Fat Brian]

Even on low a crock pot is hot enough to ruin plastic.

[crazyjim]

LA Awesome took off the white checkerboard stuff but didn't touch the pink body. A little primer/sealer and I should be good. Thanks for the reply, Roger. Oh - it a phantom Vickie.

[Big Daddy]

Well i used LA'S totally awesome to strip tamiya semi gloss black and after 1 hour soak it was gone,, also i had a body painted in duplicolor cardinal red and cleared i tried every thing i had with no luck so mixed 1 litre(quart) brake fluid and 500ml (16oz) of 99% isoprpyl alcohol and with a 2 hour soak just rubbing with my finger over the body and all was gone yaaaa

[Ddms]

I try to use the mildest products that will do the job. Ordinary isopropyl alcohol will strip most chrome, and for paint, just about any strong degreaser - like Simple Green - will get 'er done. If I have to leave a part in the stuff overnight, that's no big deal. Sometimes it takes a brass brush to get residue out of the crevices; that's okay too.

Edited July 21, 2012 by Ddms

[hotrodblder]

I have used both Super Clean AND Purple Power and the under coating is still on my parts. I usually let them sit for about 12 to 24 hrs just for general principal even if it's not needed. I've just not had much luck with this in general I guess.

[jeffb]

another product down the drain .......

[JamesW]

another product down the drain .......

I don't care who ya are, that's funny right there.

[Danno]

I don't know ... using Liquid Plumr ... even oven cleaner ... seems a little over the top when much safer products do the job ... safer. They're too caustic ... even volatile.

It's a little like saying dynamite is good for removing paint. Really good. I mean, it completely removes it.

Maybe so, but do you really want to use it?

[martinfan5]

I don't know ... using Liquid Plumr ... even oven cleaner ... seems a little over the top when much safer products do the job ... safer. They're too caustic ... even volatile.

It's a little like saying dynamite is good for removing paint. Really good. I mean, it completely removes it.

Maybe so, but do you really want to use it?

Well , that all depends on, well, lets just leave it that ................................

[Art Anderson]

Uhhhhhhh ... i'd be REALLY careful here. Drain clearing/cleaning products are EXTREMELY caustic. Far more than oven cleaners or Super Clean and its ilk.

My Haz-Mat training tells me the extra health risk just wouldn't be worth it.

Stick with the safer stuff, it's hot enough.

Besides, what are you going to save? Ten or fifteen minutes?

OK, I've said this so many times, it's burned into my memory banks: "Chrome" plating on model car parts is actually vacuum-metalized ALUMINUM. Now, anything that will dissolve aluminum will dissolve that plating in a NY Second (it's only a few molecules thick).

Oven cleaners and drain openers almost universally contain LYE (Chemical name: Sodium Hydroxide), which is death to aluminum. In addition, Sodium Hydroxide will lift most air-dry paints in a matter of minutes, and considering that the clear coat used before the vacuum metalizing process (that gives the wet look finish which makes your plated parts sparkle) and the clear top coat which is necessary to protect and preserve the plating is almost always an airdry non-penetrating lacquer, LYE works very quickly, and it's less expensive to buy than say, LYE containing products such as Easy Off or Liquid Plumr.

Look for Lewis Red Devil Lye at your favorite supermarket, it will be in the cleaning supplies section. It's in crystal form, you add it to water (never add water to lye crystals, nasty things can happen).

Now, anything that will strip "chrome" from plastic model parts is hazardous--ALWAYS use PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) which in this case means protective gloves (Nitrile exam gloves are in virtually every pharmacy in the US, and are both non-allergenic and inexpensive) and eye protection (beyond even eyeglasses (every product mentioned in threads such as this one will damage your eyes irreparably if splashed into them).

But in the end, my experience has been, LYE works the best, and the quickest, and will remove not only the plating, but all clear coats as well, leaving the original highly detailed parts.

Art

[hotrodblder]

Thanks Mr. A. I will look for it when I go to the store tomorrow. I have some pesky parts that I want to get down to the bare plastic for this particular project so they look better painted. Would virtually any type of crystal lye work then I'm assuming?

[1930fordpickup]

How long can the plastic sit in the stripper, Art ? Sometimes I forget my parts are in the purple stuff for a few days .

[MrObsessive]

I've used Easy Off (Yellow Can) in the past for many a stripping session, and sometimes the parts were coated for days with no ill effects to the plastic. Easy Off does contain Lye, so the other product that Art mention should pose no problem as well to plastic.

As the others have said------if you're going to use this stuff, MAKE SURE you're wearing rubber gloves! Either that, or very quickly wash your hands with running water if you touch it at all!