Paint remover for plastic?

[Rick Kirchner]

Has anyone found a paint remover that is generally safe for plastic? I have a couple of headlight bezels that are clear polycarbonate and painted from the backside, and they look like crap. lots of hills and valleys though, would be nice to be able to get the paint off without resorting to sanding and the multiple grades of paper to get the transparency back.

[E1pix]

When a sign painter, I used Easy-Off oven cleaner to remove lettering and striping (alkyd enamel) from factory-painted vehicles, gelcoat, glass, everything.

I do not know what your paint is, but it’s worth a try and I don’t think it would hurt plastic. The only material danger I encountered was the “edge” of its spray pattern needed an immediate, wet-towel “sweep” along the edge to avoid possible discoloration but don’t think that a factor in your project.

No guarantees, but it always worked for me. I have a feeling this may not work if your paint is a polyurethane or similar, but never tried it.

[Rick Kirchner]

I've used oven cleaner as a degreaser before. Never thought of it as a paint remover. Tried a bunch of the solutions I found online - goo gone and other sticker removers, citrus based stuff, not much of an effect. Had reasonable success with non-acetone fingernail polish - it worked but would just slightly soften the plastic after a couple of minutes.

[E1pix]

You might do more research, to be safe, but if mine I’d try it.

Have a water bucket handy should you need a quick rinse, but the stuff was nothing short of amazing in removing lettering enamel. Five minutes, and gone — though it’d surely take longer with harder paint types. Its effects immediately stop when doused with water, but, I don’t fully understand your project.

Wear gloves. I once stripped a stripe on a 450SL without gloves, had a cut I didn’t know about, and got blood poisoning. Being 20 I “walked it off,” nowadays I’d probably race to the hospital (in Bishop, or Bakersfield, or anywhere else, Ha, Ha).

Edit: a little Google research has some modeling sites describing Easy-Off as a way to remove even lacquer from plastic models)

[DanW]

You might do more research, to be safe, but if mine I’d try it.

Have a water bucket handy should you need a quick rinse, but the stuff was nothing short of amazing in removing lettering enamel. Five minutes, and gone — though it’d surely take longer with harder paint types. Its effects immediately stop when doused with water, but, I don’t fully understand your project.

Wear gloves. I once stripped a stripe on a 450SL without gloves, had a cut I didn’t know about, and got blood poisoning. Being 20 I “walked it off,” nowadays I’d probably race to the hospital (in Bishop, or Bakersfield, or anywhere else, Ha, Ha).

Edit: a little Google research has some modeling sites describing Easy-Off as a way to remove even lacquer from plastic models)

If you are talking about "Easy Off" oven cleaner, it's simply sodium hydroxide, commonly called caustic soda.

[scoty]

SEM Products has 2 aerosol strippers. #39913 and #77713. I've only used the 39913 before, so can't speak to the other. It typically works well. Never had any problems with the plastic. Always try in a inconspicuous spot to test first.

[Rick Kirchner]

did you use it on urethane, or some other plastic?

[Lee Johnson]

Has anyone found a paint remover that is generally safe for plastic? I have a couple of headlight bezels that are clear polycarbonate and painted from the backside, and they look like crap. lots of hills and valleys though, would be nice to be able to get the paint off without resorting to sanding and the multiple grades of paper to get the transparency back.

I have used Back to Nature (brand) "Ready-Strip Plus" with good results. I can't however confirm what (if any) plastic substrates I may have used it on. The label says "Contains no Methylene Chloride or Caustics". Of course, they recommend trying on a sample before committing to a visible area. It may help to put Saran Wrap over it to slow down evaporation/drying if the paint is especially tough.

A quick web search shows it's available through Home Depot (or Amazon).

Lee

[tlracer]

Be careful with solvents on polycarbonate - even though they may appear not to damage the material, they can cause plasticizer migration, which makes it go brittle.

[EYERACE]

Easy-Off has a pH of about 13.3. Hard pressed to find stuff more alkaline. Wear gloves, avoid overspray in your eyes and all else on the car parts, don't let the Easy-Off linger long on a spot and rinse very well and long when finished.

[Rick Kirchner]

Be careful with solvents on polycarbonate - even though they may appear not to damage the material, they can cause plasticizer migration, which makes it go brittle.

years ago I had to modify some glass-filled PC parts on some missiles and in doing some research to define the kind of processing it could tolerate, found a specific warning regarding chlorinated solvents.

[racersonly]

I’m a model car builder…..I can’t tell you if there’s a difference between the plastic used in the model car industry, (styrene, I think) and the plastic you’re dealing with. But, we use Super Clean. The purple degreaser/cleaner. We just submerge the piece in a container of it and leave it overnight. It will soften and lift the paint to where you can rinse off with tap water without harming the plastic. I hope this will work for you. I’d be curious to know, should you give this a try.

[scoty]

did you use it on urethane, or some other plastic?

Urethane and other rigid automotive plastics.