Random
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Acetone based wood paint stripping
I used to brush old furniture with sandpaper and then painted it but it's very time consuming and hard. Sandpaper is getting also more expensive for
the work it does.
So I checked for paint strippers on the internet and they are based on DCM with some oily component.
Since I don't have it I tried acetone and it does wonders but it evaporates too fast. Xylene doesn't work at all. Is there something I can add to
acetone to make it thicker and more resistant to evaporation like good old DCM based paint strippers do? I would after that just scrap the paint with
a piece of sharp metal.
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Zyklon-A
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Maybe instead of adding something to thickin it, add a liquid with an even lower boilingpoint. As it evaporates, it will take energy out of the
acetone, and keep it from evaporating.
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Random
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Nothing cheap has a boiling poing lower than acetone though. What do they use in DCM to thicken it.
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Metacelsus
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Mix acetone and xylene. I use the mixture for solvent welding ABS plastic, when I need something that doesn't evaporate as fast as acetone. I usually
use 25-50% xylene.
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argyrium
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Stripping off "paint" can be less than straight forward due to the multitude of variables.
What is the paint? - a thermoset, thermoplastic, protein based; is the substrate metal, wood, a sensitive plastic? etc. etc. Polarity and pH come into
play
To strip off a paint, one would ideally use materials that do not actually dissolve the paint but rather, cause it to swell to the point it no longer
remains attached to the substrate. Many modern spay paints are resin based and are sometimes resoluble w/ paint thinner/mineral spirits.
DCM/MeOH/toluene combinations (usually thickened, and sometimes containing surfactants) cause most common paints to swell and not dissolve.
If you only have acetone, you might want to make a poultice w/ it and whatever - flour, sawdust, and cover it w/ PE plastic sheeting. This would
simply keep the solvent in contact w/ the paint longer, but you will still be faced with removal of the thickened mess of paint and poultice. Some
paint thinner (or other 'inert' solvent) added would help keep all a bit more liquid.
Gloves and vapor mask, or outside.
Good luck
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Twospoons
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I had great success using sodium hydroxide thickened with corn starch, and with a little detergent to improve wetting. Dead cheap, and very effective.
And dare I say it - safer than the commercial stuff i tried ( got a really nasty burn from that stuff, in a couple of seconds).
Helicopter: "helico" -> spiral, "pter" -> with wings
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gdflp
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Commercial DCM has petroleum ethers in it to thicken it. I would suggest trying ligroin if you have it.
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Praxichys
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Be careful using acetone on large surfaces. Unlike DCM, acetone is quite flammable. With a large surface area and fast evaporation, there will be a
lot of acetone vapors generated, which can sneak around looking for an ignition source. Once lit, you will have a gigantic fire on your hands.
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zed
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How sensitive to charring is your surface? Solvents work well to strip paint, as does lye.....But, for many jobs, a heat gun is the answer. Just
soften the paint with heat, scrape it off.
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franklyn
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Twospoons formula is old school but works. Funny thing is lye by weight costs as much as DCM. A similar product made with DCM in a porridge is spread
onto the substrate and then covered with wax paper to reduce evaporation and better permeate the work surface. Well afterwards the material is then
pealed away as a crust.with the paint attached. Another old school method is to use a blowtorch , although it requires a skilled touch unless you
don't mind scorched wood.
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