No offense, but to be honest if you're allowed to sell a substance like Simple Green as a household cleaning fluid (as it's marketed in the commercial I saw) with little to no warning text, I am sorry to say that NIOSH approved means very little to me. They apparently let a hazardous substance pass, so their masks may just as well be sub-par.
Stripping paint
- Thread starter finnpalm
- Start date
No offense, but to be honest if you're allowed to sell a substance like Simple Green as a household cleaning fluid (as it's marketed in the commercial I saw) with little to no warning text, I am sorry to say that NIOSH approved means very little to me. They apparently let a hazardous substance pass, so their masks may just as well be sub-par.
Einion
New member
Glad you found something that works so well for you. The success of this in stripping the paint illustrates a general principle, that a mixture of things often makes for a far better stripper than a single chemical; mixtures can have a sort of synergistic effect, although it could be just that ingredient X or Y might be the thing that works best for one particular type of paint.
Just to check something, do you know if the Färglösare is the same as Simple Green or just similar in principle? I'm also wondering if the warnings given on the two products are the same (particularly if they're pretty much identical as to ingredients).
Einion
Just to check something, do you know if the Färglösare is the same as Simple Green or just similar in principle? I'm also wondering if the warnings given on the two products are the same (particularly if they're pretty much identical as to ingredients).
Einion
According to the text on the bottle it's "based on Simple Green". According to the text in the product info it is Simple Green, if I interpret it correctly (the product info is in Swedish).
I think there might be some legal controversy coming up in the future..
Meanwhile, I'll be making sure I use it in very well sealed containers.
I just read through the product info again, and it is Simple Green. If they added stuff they wouldn't be allowed to call it by the registered trademark name.
There's one funny detail however, and that is that apparently you're not required to declare any of what it contains, something you're usually obliged to do here in Sweden.
Einion
New member
So there's no list of the ingredients or an MSDS/safety sheet for it that you're aware of? That is odd. I read the MSDS for the basic Simple Green product (the one I'm guessing they emulated), thought it might be useful to compare if we could.
Regarding your reaction to it, over the years on a couple of forums I've read comments from people who are very sensitive to stuff like common bleach, rubbing alcohol and even the faint ammonia smell that some acrylic paints have, which are things most people aren't bothered by or even barely notice in some cases, which illustrates how individual sensitivities vary. Another example is that in contrast to Dragonsreach I don't get any side-effects from acetone, even using pretty large quantities without good ventilation (although I'd be more cautious with it now than when I used it regularly).
Einion
Regarding your reaction to it, over the years on a couple of forums I've read comments from people who are very sensitive to stuff like common bleach, rubbing alcohol and even the faint ammonia smell that some acrylic paints have, which are things most people aren't bothered by or even barely notice in some cases, which illustrates how individual sensitivities vary. Another example is that in contrast to Dragonsreach I don't get any side-effects from acetone, even using pretty large quantities without good ventilation (although I'd be more cautious with it now than when I used it regularly).
Einion
There is an MSDS, but without the specific materials listed.
I'm not a sensitive type. I trained to become a firefighter back in my twenties and studied chemical accidents and so on. I've stood in a tent full of ammonia and taken off my airmask.
It is Simple Green I am using. They're using the name Simple Green "trademark" in the product info. It also says it's concentrated. If that means they have concentrated the Simple Green, or if Simple Green is normally a concentrate of the substances in it I don't know. The only other reason for the "buzz" that I can see is something else during that day. Maybe a virus. To be honest though, what's the harm of making sure you use it in a well ventilated area?
Einion
New member
That can change over time*, this might be your first indicator just as much as it might have been a fluke.
*A good hobby-related example is the sensitisation that some sculptors have experienced working with epoxy sculpting compounds.
Totally - minimising exposure is good general practice regardless of how safe a chemical is taken to be.To be honest though, what's the harm of making sure you use it in a well ventilated area?
Einion
I don't know if anyone has mentioned this one but, I use "purple power". It's can be found at most dollar stores for about 5 bucks a gallon. It's safe on plastic (GW minis), metal, and even green stuff that I've sculpted onto the mini. I just toss everything into a glass jar and pour enough liquid into the jar to cover everything. I let them sit for at least 8 hours. I pour everything out into a mesh strainer over a bowl. Then I take an electric toothbrush and an old attachment and scrub them clean in the sink. I've splashed some of the purple power onto my skin and never had a reaction...and I'm allergic to many, many things. Oh ya I leave the jar outside for the soaking. There isn't a strong smell or fumes, but I don't like to take chances. Hope this gives ya another option.
Unfortunately I'm in Sweden. I don't think we have Purple Power here, but I did get some results with regular cleaners so I'm guessing if I find an equivalent of Purple Power it would work fine.
One thing I'm wondering though.. A lot of you seem to do plenty of scrubbing to get the paint off. In my experience this ruins the detail of the mini almost immediately, and so I only use a toothbrush to scrape off paint on surfaces that aren't finely detailed, like a cape for example. This of course applies to metal minis. What are you guyses thoughts on that?
Yeah I use an old toothbrush as well. It's still too hard to not wear on the details. I guess it depends on what the minis are made of. My experience with them wearing out is probably just because they're older minis with more lead in them.
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Shaman5695
New member
Don't know if you'd have it there, but here right next to the simple green at the hardware stores is a product called 'industrial purple'. Soak the mini (or a bunch of them if there's room) for ~10-15 minutes, about 3 minutes under a faucet with a toothbrush and you'll have it 98% back to bare. Let it soak longer, and the job is easier. Doesn't hurt the plastic (experimented on a boy for 4 hours, he's fine) at all. Wear latex gloves, this is a degreasing product and will dry out your skin pretty quick, but other than that it's fantastic. First time I tried it I had a medium ork army stripped in a couple hours.
We don't have it here, unless someone did the same as with the Simple Green and distribute it as paint remover under a different name.
I did speak to a chemist who's in the gaming hobby the other day and he told me of some chemical that (supposedly quite strong and hazardous) stripped plastic without damaging them in half an hour.
Simple Green does the job as you describe it for me so far though. 24 hours and the paint washes right off easily, only leaving little traces in hard to reach areas. And almost no toothbrushing needed.
Ordo Septenarius
New member
For those in the states, I can't recommend anything more than JASCO, which is perfect for the stuff Simple Green won't remove; I got about 35 metal RT-era Terminators and the paint won't come off in Simple Green for some, so they're getting the JASCO!
Sadly, it EXTREMELY toxic, and will melt latex gloves to your hands.
Wow!! You´re an artist. Are fantastic!
Holy mother of.. Purely amazing. After approximately 24 hours I took the minis (I dropped all of them into the Simple Green) and rinsed them off. I hardly even had to use a toothbrush. Out of six minis two were completely clean, two had a little paint left in practically impossible to reach areas, and two went back in the bath to soak a little more.
I will not even waste time with the stronger chemicals at this point. Maybe later, but right now this is just.. I'm not getting payed to say this by the way.
So if you're in Sweden and need a good paintstripper, go to an art store and look for this (but please make sure you don't breathe it in. Keep in sealed containers or make sure you're in a well ventilated area):
Quiarcus
New member
Just as a slight aside to the topic, but following on the discussion of fumes and negative effects; I would highly recommend the use of limonine cement for gluing plastics. I've just started using it with some GW models and the stuff is great. It's a little slower acting the traditional polystyrene cement but bonds just as strongly and smells very pleasantly of citrus, from which the solvent is derived.
Isn't it very brittle? Or am I thinking about something else?
Can we use other type of brush? I don't think we have any available toothbrush at home.
Not sure if its available in your part of the world but Fairy Power spray (an oven cleaner) is the best i have used. Works just as well on metal or plastic. Spray on mini, leave for 20 minutes and gently scrub with a soft toothbrush. Repeat process if necessary, then a final soft scrub with dishsoap/washing-up liquid
