Stripping paint -- no luck with brake fluid. Help ?

[Goodwrench3]

Hi all:

Following the advice of another post on this forum, I'm trying to use brake fluid to strip the paint from a part.

Well, it's been in a bath of Pennzoil "Super heavy duty" brake fluid for 2 days and the paint appears no where close to coming off.  Even rubbing it with a toothpick -- nothing comes off.

The paint is Rustoleum flat black primer with a top coat of Rustoleum "Universal metallic dark steel".

Do I need to use something else to strip the paint ?   Or is Pennzoil just the wrong "brand" of brake fluid  ?

Thanks.

 

 

 

[espo]

When all else fails, use Purple Power. You might want to use rubber gloves if you're fishing bodies and parts out of the soup. This stuff can do a number on your skin with any prolonged exposure.  

[Goodwrench3]

1 minute ago, espo said:

When all else fails, use Purple Power. You might want to use rubber gloves if you're fishing bodies and parts out of the soup. This stuff can do a number on your skin with any prolonged exposure.  

Purple Power?    I've seen a lot of references to products with "Purple" in the name.  Just want to make sure we're talking about the same stuff.

Is this the stuff  ?

 

 

 

[Elmer Fudd]

Purple Power, Super Clean, LA's Totally Awesome (Dollar Store), Easy-Off Oven Cleaner are all LYE (sodium hydroxide) products. Don't get it in your eyes or other mucus membranes. It's a strong base, the pH opposite of acid. 

You can make your own from crystal drain cleaners. Remember, always add the lye to water, NOT WATER TO LYE.

A strong lye cleaner will take off 98% of hobby and hardware store enamels and lacquers. The other 2% require a dedicated model car stripper. I use Testors ELO / Easy Lift off. That works on everything except automotive lacquers which have dug in to the plastic.

 

[Goodwrench3]

Note -- Easy Off Oven Cleaner in the yellow spray can (my "go-to" for stripping chrome) didn't seem to touch it either.

 

[martinfan5]

26 minutes ago, Goodwrench3 said:

Purple Power?    I've seen a lot of references to products with "Purple" in the name.  Just want to make sure we're talking about the same stuff.

Is this the stuff  ?

 

 

 

 

No, while that will "work", its a generic knock off and its not as strong, this is what you want

 

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by martinfan5

[Goodwrench3]

Ahh..  OK.    Thanks.  Looks like O'Reilly Auto Parts stocks it.

 

[Elmer Fudd]

10 minutes ago, Goodwrench3 said:

Note -- Easy Off Oven Cleaner in the yellow spray can (my "go-to" for stripping chrome) didn't seem to touch it either.

If you're keeping it wet with oven cleaner and getting no action you'll have to try ELO or something similar. You do NOT soak in ELO. It will ruin the plastic. Brush it on and when it softens the paint wipe it off with a rag or paper towel. Then i wash off the residue with Dawn.

That stuff is about $200/gallon but you buy it in half pint cans for 10-15$ per can. It's saved my ass several times. For everything else i use Super Clean.

[Goodwrench3]

So is this Rustoleum spray paint like the "Bionic Man" or something  ???    

Not sure why you need something close to a nuclear meltdown to strip it.

 

[Elmer Fudd]

8 minutes ago, Goodwrench3 said:

So is this Rustoleum spray paint like the "Bionic Man" or something  ???   

Super Clean will not eat thru catalyzed urethane but if it can get under the edges it will eat out all the undercoat and the urethane will come off in a big sheet. It's takes a good month to do that on a model car body.

You can try scratching thru your topcoat and see if the lye (oven cleaner or whatever) will eat the undercoat.

Edited August 22, 2020 by Elmer Fudd

[BeakDoc]

1 hour ago, Goodwrench3 said:

 Or is Pennzoil just the wrong "brand" of brake fluid  ?

Thanks.

 

 

 

I was told years ago to use the generic, no-name DOT 3 brake fluid and not the name brand stuff. No reason was given. But, I’ve stuck with it. Been using the same tub of the stuff for two years. When it gets gunky I strain it thru a fine mesh strainer, clean my rectangular Rubbermaid container, lather, rinse, repeat.... I’ve yet to run across any paint or kit chrome that it won’t strip. I won’t swear that it’ll make any difference on your parts, but I figure it’s worth two pennies. Best of luck getting that paint off. Looking forward to hearing what does get it stripped. It’s always good to have a contingency plan.

[Pete J.]

Four most common paint strippers, Super Klean(use to be a Castrol product) DOT 3 brake fluid, Easy Off oven cleaner and 91% alcohol.  As Jeff mentioned, Easy Off and Super Klean are both sodium hydroxide based and require great care to avoid a trip to the emergency room.  Gloves and eye protection as a minimum.  Brake fluid is also toxic so be careful.  91% alcohol works well but is very flammable.  The good part about alcohol is it makes a great parts cleaner and will help reduce infections in Xacto knife cuts !!? 

[slusher]

I would sand it some and drop it in Super Clean.  Super Clean  will strip your chrome also...

[StevenGuthmiller]

7 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

No, while that will "work", its a generic knock off and its not as strong, this is what you want

 

 

I agree wholeheartedly!

Super Clean is a far superior product to the other "degreasing cleaners" such as Purple Power or Simple Green.

That said, there are some paints that are resistant to many of the strippers that we use for modeling.

If Super Clean doesn't do the trick, you might give isopropyl alcohol a try, or I have heard that some have good luck with products such as Testors "ELO", if it's still available.

 

 

 

Steve

[oldscool]

12 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

No, while that will "work", its a generic knock off and its not as strong, this is what you want

 

 

This is stronger than Purple power from my experience as well.

[espo]

14 hours ago, Goodwrench3 said:

Purple Power?    I've seen a lot of references to products with "Purple" in the name.  Just want to make sure we're talking about the same stuff.

Is this the stuff  ?

 

 

 

That's the one I use. As an example. I bought an inexpensive  oblong plastic container with lid at Wal Mart. Think Tuperware type stuff. I also got a smaller container for doing very small parts. I then submerge what ever I'm striping in the Purple Power in the container. Snap on the lid and check on it the next day. I mentioned the chemical reaction to your skin, and that's why I suggested the rubber gloves. I get a box of them at Harbor Freight , 5 mil. Nitrile 100 count for less than $10. You my not need the gloves if you can get the parts out of the PP without touching them and run them under the tap and rinse them. I reuse the PP by pouring it back into it's container using a small strainer to catch most of the old paint in it. Sometimes paint will still be in the door jams and body lines. I just put it back in for additional soak time and that will usually get it cleaned up. Hope this helps. 

[Pete J.]

3 hours ago, espo said:

That's the one I use. As an example. I bought an inexpensive  oblong plastic container with lid at Wal Mart. Think Tuperware type stuff. I also got a smaller container for doing very small parts. I then submerge what ever I'm striping in the Purple Power in the container. Snap on the lid and check on it the next day. I mentioned the chemical reaction to your skin, and that's why I suggested the rubber gloves. I get a box of them at Harbor Freight , 5 mil. Nitrile 100 count for less than $10. You my not need the gloves if you can get the parts out of the PP without touching them and run them under the tap and rinse them. I reuse the PP by pouring it back into it's container using a small strainer to catch most of the old paint in it. Sometimes paint will still be in the door jams and body lines. I just put it back in for additional soak time and that will usually get it cleaned up. Hope this helps. 

One thing I learned the hard way is to be careful with plastic containers!  I got what I thought was a nice one.  It was a spaghetti container.  I though it would be better for bodies because of the shape.  To make a long story short.  I filled it, dropped in a body and walked away.  Next day I came back and there was Super Klean all over the bench.  The plastic had several cracks in it and I had a quart of the stuff all over the bench.  Lesson learned.  Sodium hydroxide doesn't always play well with plastic containers.   I use glass only after that. 

[Dave Van]

Citri-Strip is a good one too........a little more natural if that is important to folks with chemical issues....

[gman]

34 minutes ago, Pete J. said:

One thing I learned the hard way is to be careful with plastic containers!  I got what I thought was a nice one.  It was a spaghetti container.  I though it would be better for bodies because of the shape.  To make a long story short.  I filled it, dropped in a body and walked away.  Next day I came back and there was Super Klean all over the bench.  The plastic had several cracks in it and I had a quart of the stuff all over the bench.  Lesson learned.  Sodium hydroxide doesn't always play well with plastic containers.   I use glass only after that. 

Your comment takes me back to chemistry class...

Sodium Hydroxide will etch glass, and will weaken certain types of plastics.

https://classicbells.com/soap/lyeStorage.asp

Edited August 23, 2020 by gman

[Elmer Fudd]

One last remark and i'm outta here..........Lye, as a cleaner of styrene and other non-aluminum metals works better with HEAT. This was learned at my employer where the parts cleaners had a somewhat weakened lye solution but were controlled to about 120°. An outside company came in and changed the solution every month, whether it was used or not. What a waste.

One winter i dropped in a set of connecting rods from a real engine and forgot about them for a couple weeks or so. When i fished them out of the tank they looked like BRAND NEW~!

Right now the Rubbermaid container of Super Clean is sitting on the picnic table in the sun but when it gets cold in the house i'll float the Rubbermaid in the kitchen sinkful of hot water.  Or put it in kitchen oven at WARM, maybe 100°.

The difference in effectiveness is dramatic

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

I keep a container full of Super Clean in case I need to strip something.

Just one of those cheap, store brand "Glad" type containers.

 

I've had the same container full of SC for probably at least a couple of years now.

So far, no issues..........fingers crossed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

40 minutes ago, Elmer Fudd said:

One last remark and i'm outta here..........Lye, as a cleaner of styrene and other non-aluminum metals works better with HEAT. This was learned at my employer where the parts cleaners had a somewhat weakened lye solution but were controlled to about 120°. An outside company came in and changed the solution every month, whether it was used or not. What a waste.

One winter i dropped in a set of connecting rods from a real engine and forgot about them for a couple weeks or so. When i fished them out of the tank they looked like BRAND NEW~!

Right now the Rubbermaid container of Super Clean is sitting on the picnic table in the sun but when it gets cold in the house i'll float the Rubbermaid in the kitchen sinkful of hot water.  Or put it in kitchen oven at WARM, maybe 100°.

The difference in effectiveness is dramatic

 

I'll agree with that.

Although I don't go to the extreme of actually warming the solution, it is better to keep it in a warm area for sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Elmer Fudd]

53 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Although I don't go to the extreme of actually warming the solution, it is better to keep it in a warm area for sure.

By quoting me and including a trigger word like 'extreme' you endeavored to provoke a response. So i'll give you one.

Are you going to tell ANY of the companies running heated lye parts cleaners that their business model is extreme? Or are they smarter than you?

[espo]

3 hours ago, Pete J. said:

One thing I learned the hard way is to be careful with plastic containers!  I got what I thought was a nice one.  It was a spaghetti container.  I though it would be better for bodies because of the shape.  To make a long story short.  I filled it, dropped in a body and walked away.  Next day I came back and there was Super Klean all over the bench.  The plastic had several cracks in it and I had a quart of the stuff all over the bench.  Lesson learned.  Sodium hydroxide doesn't always play well with plastic containers.   I use glass only after that. 

That had to wreck your day. That said you do make a very good point about how the PP works with some plastic products.   Your post made me double check what it is I'm using. The container is from a company named Tucker and their label says it's a "see-through stackable storage box" size is 13"x7 3/4"x 4". They don't list any chemical makeup of the container so I really don't know about that. I have had this for several years and while it's not used all the time it has had bodies sit in there for up to 48 hours or more on one real hard to remove paint job. 

[espo]

21 hours ago, Goodwrench3 said:

Hi all:

Following the advice of another post on this forum, I'm trying to use brake fluid to strip the paint from a part.

Well, it's been in a bath of Pennzoil "Super heavy duty" brake fluid for 2 days and the paint appears no where close to coming off.  Even rubbing it with a toothpick -- nothing comes off.

The paint is Rustoleum flat black primer with a top coat of Rustoleum "Universal metallic dark steel".

Do I need to use something else to strip the paint ?   Or is Pennzoil just the wrong "brand" of brake fluid  ?

Thanks.

 

 

 

Please reed the post from Pete J. and be aware that some plastic containers may not be up to the task. As I mentioned to him the container I'm using is by a company named Tucker but there is no information on it's chemical makeup. I got this container from a Payless Store from the price sticker still on it, paid a whapping $1.24 so it can't be anything to special. I think Payless is long gone along with the shoe store of the same name. Just thought I would try and give you a heads up on this. The only other thing I can suggest is to find a container that is very stiff as that's what this one is like and hopefully the chemical makeup can resist the PP.