[Shop-talk] Removing/re-using badges

[Doug Braun]

Also, certain paints need to be thinned (or have their
brushes cleaned) with xylene instead of normal paint
thinner.  For example:  Hammerite or Zero-Rust (both
great paints, BTW).

Doug


> Most of the petroleum based adhesive removing
> solvents are built
> around the same basic solvents.  The base is xylene,
> which attacks a
> fair number of adhesives, but not all, and is a very
> effective
> degreaser.  Xylene is typically about half the
> product, ranging up to
> 75% in some.  The next ingredient in most formulas
> is "naptha", which
> is a vaguely defined bunch of hydrocarbons.  The
> good expensive
> products (like 3Ms) are probably using a small
> number of particular
> chemicals; cheaper stuff is using it by density and
> boiling point.
> Napthas are 20-50% of the product, depending.  The
> rest of the stuff
> depends on the particular product.  Common
> ingredients include
> ethlybenzene (which is often present in
> solvent-grade xylene, so it
> may be there in pretty high percentages, even if
> it's not listed on
> the MSDS), benzene, toluene, heptane, and more.
> 
> Depending on where you live, you may be able to get
> xylene at the
> hardware store.  (The home depot here sells it in
> gallon cans, for
> about 10 bucks (well, it's probably 20 these
> days...)) It's worth
> trying before you go for an expensive preparation,
> because it works
> about 80% of the time, and is much cheaper.