Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Turning DCM ---> Paint Stripper

ZRFARMS - 13-6-2025 at 13:12

I'll preface this quickly,
I'm a farmer in the USA, not a chemist lol. I have some new(to me) equipment that I purchased. Previous owners lathered everything in paint every year. No matter what...
Needless to say, all this paint has to come off, and I'd prefer not to spend long doing it.

Commercially available strippers are garbage. Found out DCM is the active ingredient in older paint strippers. Bought DCM... Dries too fast. Not penetrating and lifting.

I have approximately 2 liters of 99.99% DCM to play around with to prove its efficacy before I buy more.

I have tried mixing with approx

30:70 Methanol:DCM
50:50 Methanol:DCM
10:30:60 Laquer Thinner:Methanol: DCM

I found a paper detailing DCM and its use as a paint stripper.

Journal

I am a little bit out of my depth here and am looking for the easiest way to make this stuff work. I don't mind investing in different chemicals if I can continue to make and use this stuff on demand.


**As for safety, I have the correct gloves, filters in my masks and a wind tunnel to handle DCM and other solvents. I just need some direction and am open to ideas. Thanks.

bnull - 13-6-2025 at 13:52

I'd try first to remove the most part with one of those wire brushes that go in a power tool and then remove the rest with the stripper. The first part is as boring as boredom goes but saves a lot of patience for the second part.

What size is the equipment? Tractor and above?

CouchHatter - 13-6-2025 at 14:34

Yeah, other "commercial strippers" are a joke, comparatively. Pure DCM is hard to beat. You could soak rags and temporarily fasten them in place, if vertical, to decrease evaporation rate. This might be easier than messing with solvent ratios.

Alternatively, xylene is a slow-dry solvent that is easy to find. A 1:10 xylene-to-DCM combo ought to substantially slow the evaporation rate enough to work with the stuff.

ZRFARMS - 13-6-2025 at 16:54

Quote: Originally posted by bnull  


What size is the equipment? Tractor and above?


3x 36' Disc Harrows.

The hydraulics and steel are fine. It's been in regular use for years.

Wire wheel is a great option for the loose and peeling but unfortunately, some of the paint layers are just stuck on too hard for it to be a cost-effective option. I'd much prefer to slop on some stripper in the fall and give it a fresh epoxy coat after prep.

The nooks and crannies also make a wire wheel a much less attractive option.

MrDoctor - 13-6-2025 at 23:05

DCM paint thinner here has some ammonia in it, im told the DCM lets the ammonia migrate through the paint causing it to unstick from the surface since a strong base will impact the charge on a given surface (apparently thats part of why bases are slippery on your skin), combined with the DCM also soaking the paint causing it to bow or wrinkle, making it flake off. DCM alone will do the trick but ammonia should cause a little to go a long way, and probably blister up a bit as well, especially with an additional solvent like methanol, ethylene glycol, or perhaps xylene as was mentioned before, to stop the DCM being able to evaporate away quite so fast.

yobbo II - 15-6-2025 at 16:39

Great read on paint strippers.

Quoting from the journal

Thickeners allow the paint stripper to remain in place on vertical surfaces. Thickeners also increase contact time by reducing the rate of evaporation, thus holding the solvent on the substrate's surface for a longer period.

Many companies offer products in a range of viscosities, from liquid to dense pastes. Paintbusters' Brand Architectural Paint Stripper, distributed by On-Site Wood Restoration, claims to be the thickest. Its product literature states, “We start with Methanol-softened Parafin [sic] and a finned blender; we stir in Methylene Chloride, until we reach a saturated solution. We add wetting agents. That is all. No thinners, no buffers, no stringy thickeners, no volatile solvents.”

It is recommended that paint strippers thickened with wax be applied in a heavy .........


You need to add a thickening or gelling agentnto the DCM.

Try looking for 'professional' stripper.

The DCM stripper is available in UK as 'professional' stripper.

https://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/dcm-in-paint-removal/

Yob

Twospoons - 15-6-2025 at 18:33

Have you considered sand blasting? That would also yield a good clean paintable surface.

MrDoctor - 16-6-2025 at 19:22

you can get home sandblasting kits rather cheap too, i saw consumables for it at the auto shop, until a few months ago i always assumed you had to take it to a professional with dedicated hardware, but nope, i guess all you need is a compressor and some small scale feeder to dispense the sand (and either a chamber or respirator)

BromicAcid - 17-6-2025 at 04:27

You need more contact time, you could try to wrap or cover in cotton rags and soak in DCM. Not as efficient as the gelling agents but should help.

ZRFARMS - 17-6-2025 at 08:31

Quote: Originally posted by yobbo II  
Great read on paint strippers.



I agree. I thought about calling the author who wrote it, but he died in 2010 or so. I understood the words in the paper, but I don't know all the specifics of the processes or steps. My girlfriend at the time did all of my chemistry in high school and college. I may need to get in touch with her lol.

My attempt at this project has been on the side and not exactly at the forefront of my attention.

In my prior research, I found lots of posts about distilling DCM from paint stripper, but nothing at all about reverse engineering paint stripper. I think it's kinda interesting.

I assume that paraffin wax is the correct form of paraffin to use. I will play around with that and update the thread accordingly.

ZRFARMS - 17-6-2025 at 08:43

Quote: Originally posted by Twospoons  
Have you considered sand blasting? That would also yield a good, clean paintable surface.


I have considered it, and it would be ideal. This may end up being cheaper, though, so we'll see. If it's more trouble than it's worth, I'll bite the bullet and call a dustless blaster.

During the winter(30-60f), we have a lot of downtime once equipment is repaired/winterized.

ZRFARMS - 17-6-2025 at 08:54

Quote: Originally posted by MrDoctor  
DCM paint thinner here has some ammonia in it, im told the DCM lets the ammonia migrate through the paint causing it to unstick from the surface since a strong base will impact the charge on a given surface (apparently thats part of why bases are slippery on your skin), combined with the DCM also soaking the paint causing it to bow or wrinkle, making it flake off. DCM alone will do the trick but ammonia should cause a little to go a long way, and probably blister up a bit as well, especially with an additional solvent like methanol, ethylene glycol, or perhaps xylene as was mentioned before, to stop the DCM being able to evaporate away quite so fast.


Would an aqueous ammonia solution that is available off the shelf work?

Quick search showed that most of the stuff is around 29.5%.

yobbo II - 17-6-2025 at 15:06

There is a device for a power washer called a wet sandblaster.
You need dry free flowing sand which is protected from the water that will be flying around. I have seen an upturned road cone as a sand reservior into a container used.
It is a messy business as all sand blasting is, unlass you have a chamber or dedicated area and protective gear.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sandblasting-Sandblaster-Attachment...


Yob

ur better off sand blasting

AdamAlden - 17-6-2025 at 22:13

do ur self a favor and skip the head ache... get a sand blaster and a heck good dust mask

AdamAlden - 17-6-2025 at 22:14

i speak from an insanity freakazoid experiment where i striped all the paint on my entire car... i regret this after only having money to liquor it up when i needed that good shit the car manufacturer has tubs of

jackchem2001 - 19-6-2025 at 03:20

When you are stripping paint, remember that DCM's odor threshold is quite high. If you are smelling it then you definitely need to step back, improve ventilation, etc. It's not like other solvents like turpentine or toluene/gasoline where you will smell it even if you have very good ventilation.

DCM is not dangerous but it's still unhealthy. Also DCM and alcohol will make each other's toxicity stronger

zed - 25-6-2025 at 17:09

Umm. Paint stripper used to be available as a DCM "Paste"; a thick molasses-like product that clings to vertical surfaces nicely, and evaporates slowly, which gives the DCM an opportunity to penetrate through paint.

With enough personal protective gear, it is possible to spray this product via an airless sprayer, thereby making it possible to strip the paint quickly from a whole house (or barn).

Just spray the goo on, let it sit for a while, and then pressure wash the peeling paint right off.

In simpler times, Sodium or Potassium Hydroxide solutions were used to strip off old paint.

Do not get these products on your penis! Likewise, don't let this corrosive crap get into your eyes.

If'n you do, you will become a modern day Virgil Moats, and such blindness interferes greatly with your dating

possibilities.

Don't know who Virgil Moats is? Virgil is the protagonist of the great John Huston Film, "Wise Blood".

Great stuff!

zed - 27-6-2025 at 15:11

Whoops! I was wrong! Hazel Moats, not Virgil.

AdamAlden - 28-6-2025 at 21:05

Quote: Originally posted by ZRFARMS  
I'll preface this quickly,
I'm a farmer in the USA, not a chemist lol. I have some new(to me) equipment that I purchased. Previous owners lathered everything in paint every year. No matter what...
Needless to say, all this paint has to come off, and I'd prefer not to spend long doing it.

Commercially available strippers are garbage. Found out DCM is the active ingredient in older paint strippers. Bought DCM... Dries too fast. Not penetrating and lifting.

I have approximately 2 liters of 99.99% DCM to play around with to prove its efficacy before I buy more.

I have tried mixing with approx

30:70 Methanol:DCM
50:50 Methanol:DCM
10:30:60 Laquer Thinner:Methanol: DCM

I found a paper detailing DCM and its use as a paint stripper.

Journal

I am a little bit out of my depth here and am looking for the easiest way to make this stuff work. I don't mind investing in different chemicals if I can continue to make and use this stuff on demand.


**As for safety, I have the correct gloves, filters in my masks and a wind tunnel to handle DCM and other solvents. I just need some direction and am open to ideas. Thanks.


<3 you a god man get that paint bro hit it with that cancerous shiznitz.. bro u need to use a sand blaster and a shop vac and a bunch 3m dust masks change often. Seel off the area so u can reduce contamination of your areas around the equipment my friend. cheapest way

you could even run boxfans with air filters attached twith tape the whole time to keep dust down bro if u want more ideas just let me know

AdamAlden - 28-6-2025 at 21:07

save the dcm for when u wanna paint the shiz u sand blast. at that point u need a activated carbon 3m mask i think its the purplish pinkish filter

[Edited on 29-6-2025 by AdamAlden]