paint removal question

jedichef

jedichef

Well-Known Member
I've got an old fiberglass sculptural piece. the paint is old and flaking off in a lot of places and i'm currently in the process of removing it in order to restore the piece. while a good portion of the paint will come off with a good strong blast from the garden hose, or gently chipping away at it with a glazing knife, the majority of the paint is still holding on pretty tight. Is there an easy way to remove the old paint without damaging the fiberglass sculpture? Before I head down to Home Depot for some paint thinner, I wanted to pose my dilemma here. Maybe someone has a better plan of attack. The piece is from the early 70's, if that makes any kind of difference. Thanks in advance for any and all advice!
 
I'd suggest emery paper, and a delicate touch- any solvent strong enough to remove the paint is likely to also damage the fibreglass' resin.
 
Most important question is, what kind of paint is it? If it's acrylic, you can give it a good wash with Simple Green or Easy-Off oven cleaner. If it's enamel, soak it in brake fluid.

All of these will remove the paint without harming the structure. But, having said that, try all solutions on a small, inconspicuous area, just to make sure there are no weird interactions.

-Fred
 
emery paper would be fine, but couple of problems pop up:
1: the piece is huge (2'x3') with a lot of fine, deep crevices
2: the paint is pretty thick.

As far as what type of paint, i have no clue. the piece is over 40 years old, could be loaded with lead for all i know. i know simple green won't work, we used a similar but much more powerful degreasing agent and all it mangaged to do was fade the color a little bit. I'll try the brake fluid. thanks for the help so far, keep the ideas coming.

Another suggestion someone offered was sand blasting...i don't know about that. what would that do to the fiberglass?
 
I was going to suggest oven cleaner or brak fluid.Plus there are also lots of other paint strippers out there that won't harm polyester resin&glass,but I don't think you have to worry about much of anything hurting poyester.The only real dammage is UV rays to unprotected polyester.It will weaken it,make it brittle and turn it yellow,most available solvents or paint strippers won't hurt cured resin.
 
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thanks JP, there's already some sun damage...very minor to parts that were already free of paint. i'm pretty sure this piece spent some time outdoors to get the paint this badly damaged. i'll find a resin friendly paint remover.
 
Brake fluid is very caustic,so yes...be careful. Wear gloves if you are monkeying around with that stuff.I'd try oven cleaner first,which is toxic in its own right(best if used outdoors).I'd ask maybe a body shop supply store what the pros use to strip old paint off of fiberglass car bodies/pannels. If its not a terribly sensitive area,you might get away with using epoxy scuplt or something to patch up weak areas and/or epoxy&some glass.Just don't try gel coating over epoxy,it won't work.
 
i've definitely been working on it outdoors...especially with a 1-year old running around. My main priority is to get the paint off as quickly as possible and then fix any rotted or weak parts in the sculpt. I tried a little brake fluid today, it definitely removed some pigment, but there's still a layer or two of old paint/primer (maybe) to get through. I'll try again with second dose of brake fluid and maybe oven cleaner on other spots, to see which works better.
 
Sometimes yuu have to soak it overnight.I don't know how big this thing is you are working on,but if you have a big bucket,I'd soak it in that,otherwise this may take you a while.If you don't have a tub/bucket...maybe just soak it as much as you can and scrub off with a scotch pad,old toothbrush,or a soft wire brush or something,just keep at it every couple of hours.
 
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Testors ELO (Easy Lift Off Paint and Decal Remover), a former Floquil/Polly-S product available at most hobby stores in an 8oz tin. Problem solved.

*edit: any paint type, most any surface (that I know of), test first as always.
 
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I may be late in this conversation, but I have had remarkable success removing paint with Pine Sol. A 24 hour soak in an open container will lift off or loosen both enamels and acrylics. After soaking, scrub with a toothbrush (not one you plan to use for brushing you teeth!). Rinse and repeat. I know this works brilliantly on styrene, even clear pieces, and does not harm the plastic at all. As with any new process, I suggest testing it on a spare part.

Pine Sol is far less caustic than brake fluid or oven cleaner but it is relatively safe to handle and really does do an amazing job. It also makes the workshop smell pine forest fresh.
 
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SingleSeat said:
Testors ELO (Easy Lift Off Paint and Decal Remover), a former Floquil/Polly-S product available at most hobby stores in an 8oz tin. Problem solved.

*edit: any paint type, most any surface (that I know of), test first as always.
Click to expand...

I can second the vote for ELO. It is relatively mild yet very effective.

Gene
 
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