Best way to remove paint from plastics...

[Jason the terminator]

I have been looking for a good answer for this and here is what I have found. People have done both of these for vintage interior car plastic.

Method 1

Spray with heavy duty oven cleaner, wrap in plastic and set in the sun. Do not let dry and paint should peel off. Works best above 70 deg.

Method 2

#7 bead in a blasting cabinet.

Now these were interior pieces and did not have a clear or primer on them. Don't know how much of a difference that would make other than more layers to be removed. I would suggest taking care in trying any method. I have seen paint remover warp and bubble plastic and would be very careful if you tried this. Maybe acetone or lacquer thinner with some 0000 fine steel wool would work.

 

[Johnny Drummond]

Hi guys, this all sounds good-BUT as a spray painter with over 20 years practice the only way to get paint trouble free off plastic parts is sanding,sanding,sanding and just when you no longer think you have any fingerprints left,yep you guessed it sand some more! start with 180 wet and dry,get ALL the paint off with that then work down to 1200 wet and dry via 240,320,600,800&1000 grade paper(to eliminate all the coarser sanding marks) use warm water and washing up liquid(amaze your wives/partners with the amount of time you spend at the kitchen sink)as a lubricant for the sandpaper. When you are ready to spray go to your local auto parts supplier and ask for BAR COAT, this is a paint that you don't thin,just spray on and let dry then if you missed any old paint/polish whatever paint you put on won't react and blister(unlike your fingers!!!). Paint strippers soften permenantly the first few microns of the plastic which means that whatever paint you apply will never properly dry-even if you put 2 part lacquer over it, have a guess how I found all this out?. Sorry to put a downer on some good ideas but as I said after 20+ years in the buisness I've tried most of these things and all that works 100% of the time is hard work Sorry!!.Johnny

 

[tkent02]

I have a junk side cover soaking in Superclean now, I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[salty_monk]

The covers I did for the 750... I just sanded down what was there to give it a good "key" & went over the top.

 

[cyclefvr2]

a dremel comes in handy, well worth the money

 

[Guest]

Plastic paint stripper here under the aircraft tab. No experience with the stuff so this is not a recommendation.
http://www.kleanstripauto.com/

 

[don_gibb6512]

Well, all I can say is that I used brake fluid on the front fender and both side covers and the primer and paint dried without any problems at all. The only thing I wish I would have done differently was to put clear coat on it.

 

[tkent02]

I have a junk side cover soaking in Superclean now, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Not so good, after one day soaking, didn't touch the paint at all. The rest of it is really clean!

Going to try some oven cleaner next.

 

[Guest]

Not so good, after one day soaking, didn't touch the paint at all. The rest of it is really clean!

Going to try some oven cleaner next.

I was curious about that stuff as well, seems to have quite the endorsement from several here... hope it's not a "half-baked" idea

 

[Guest]

Thannks for all the input guys...

Thannks for all the input guys...

I appreciate all the thoughts, suggestions, warnings & empirical testing you guys have offered!!

Using chemicals to remove the paint certainly seems like the easy way to go (better living through chemistry), but it scares me a little. I'm the one-in-a-million guy that would have all my plastics melt before my very eyes .

I guess wet sanding is the "gold standard" of paint removal - sounds like work to me however.

But, I have all winter to get these pieces sorted out, as it's too cold here now to paint.

Thanks again for all the responses.

mike

 

[tkent02]

I appreciate all the thoughts, suggestions, warnings & empirical testing you guys have offered!!

Using chemicals to remove the paint certainly seems like the easy way to go (better living through chemistry), but it scares me a little. I'm the one-in-a-million guy that would have all my plastics melt before my very eyes .

I guess wet sanding is the "gold standard" of paint removal - sounds like work to me however.

But, I have all winter to get these pieces sorted out, as it's too cold here now to paint.

Thanks again for all the responses.

mike

The only way to sand is to sit there with a big bucket and some sandpaper and mindlessly sand away while you watch a football game or something. It's just too boring otherwise. I have done a few, my brain turns to mush afterwards. I have a lot of plastics to strip.

So, oven cleaner test next.

 

[Nessism]

The only way to sand is to sit there with a big bucket and some sandpaper and mindlessly sand away while you watch a football game or something. It's just too boring otherwise. I have done a few, my brain turns to mush afterwards. I have a lot of plastics to strip.

So, oven cleaner test next.

Alcohol is the answer! Not the kind you wipe the parts down with, the kind to drink! Sand for a while...drink a beer....sand....drink...repeat as often as necessary.:twistedevil:

 

[Billy Ricks]

If you guys don't want to sand then never start polishing a set of wheels. I spent over 60 hours on the set of GSX-R wheels on my 700. The spokes were sand cast finish and I sanded them slick before polishing. Fingers were pretty raw after that and I'm used to sanding.

 

[Guest]

Alcohol is the answer! Not the kind you wipe the parts down with, the kind to drink! Sand for a while...drink a beer....sand....drink...repeat as often as necessary.:twistedevil:

I like the way you think Ed !!

 

[tkent02]

Oven cleaner test... OK, it works, a little bit. After four days in a plastic bag, sprayed down with EasyOff couple times a day, about half of the paint is gone, it does not seem to have hurt the plastic at all. If you have days and days to wait, yeah, maybe. This stuff sure stings when you get it in a cut.

I'm going to go try that aircraft stripper for plastic.

 

[Guest]

Just curious, are the plastics outside, and if so are they cold (gotta think it's getting chilly there now...).

maybe the temperature of the your "chemical de jour" is part of the reason it's taking so long...

This is great, you do all the testing & I'll pick the one that works

I'm leaning towards the brake fluid right now, but aircraft stripper for plastic - now that sounds like it has some legs...

 

[tkent02]

Just curious, are the plastics outside, and if so are they cold (gotta think it's getting chilly there now...).

maybe the temperature of the your "chemical de jour" is part of the reason it's taking so long...

This is great, you do all the testing & I'll pick the one that works

I'm leaning towards the brake fluid right now, but aircraft stripper for plastic - now that sounds like it has some legs...

No, it's been cold at night but hot in the day, intense sun. Ordered a can of the aircraft paint remover for plastic, it will be here in a few hours.
$12 for an 18oz aerosol. It better work!

 

[chuck hahn]

I have sanded side covers with my palm sander to get the rough stuff off..using like 220 grit. Then like someone said the water and wet sand paper. The cool thing about the water is that when you get a part wet and look down it the water will show any small inperfections..just like when it will be painted. sand the imperfections out, dip it in the water and look down the parts and then you can see basically what the shine is gonna look like once it is painted.

 

[bigboresuzuki]

I used paint stripper on my toolbox this morning.Wear safety gear and have a bucket of water handy.Brush it on and you will see the crud start to dissolve.Use a plastic scraper to take the excess off.I then held it with old leather gardening gloves and had the wife waterblast it.Came up good all black plastic showing again.Obviously dont leave the stripper on for too long.I have tried sanding before and it's too difficult because of all the ridges.Why people spray over toolboxes is crazy.

 

[81GS750]

Wet sanding really isn't all that bad. Yes it's tedious, turns your brains into mush, can possibly lead to a hangover, or alcohol induced liver failure. Wait, thats starting to sound like my some of my experiences at WyoTech haha!

Really though, the best way I've found to strip plastic is hand sanding with 220g - 320g then final sand with 400g wet. Or, use a DA sander, palm sander, mouse to remove the paint. I wouldn't use anything courser than 220 since you can eat up the plastic fairly quickly. I don't like chemical methods for this reason: Raw plastic has a tendency to absorb oils and other chemicals that can cause problems later on in the paint stages. Once painted, there is the possibility that when the plastic part heats up, (sitting out on a sunny day) those chemicals may try to "escape" from the plastic part causing damage to the paint work. I've seen this happen mostly with improperly prepped new replacement bumper covers, since most JDM plastic parts are sent raw and still full of the mold release agents. Also, the whole chemicals melting plastic thing too.

Probably wouldn't happen on a 30 year old part, but introducing chemical strippers and household products might cause issues later on down the road. That's just my opinion on the subject. I've learned through experience that the "easy" way is not always the best way.