Stripping Paint

- By Jack Dunn

Recently, I took part in my school’s science fair.  I investigated the best product for stripping paint off plastic and metal models, and I thought you might be interested in the results.

I immersed models in these liquids:

• Acetone
• “Simple Green All-purpose Cleaner”
• “Pine-o-Clean”
• Methylated Spirits
• Turpentine
• “Resene” Paint Stripper
• “Easy off” Oven Cleaner
• “Castrol Dot 4” Brake Fluid
• “Wipe Out” Caustic Soda

These are the results:

The most effective product for stripping paint off plastic models is ‘Castrol Dot 4’ Brake Fluid. It was the fastest liquid to strip the paint, and caused no damage to the plastic or the glue bonding.  The Acetone destroyed the plastic model in 12 hours, as did the Turpentine and Paint Stripper.  The Caustic Soda, and Pine-o-Clean failed to strip the paint in 48 hours.  I chose to rate them as the least effective because they were not time efficient.

The most effective for metal models is Brake Fluid.  It stripped the paint in 24 hours, the same time as Acetone, Caustic Soda, Turpentine, Methylated Spirits, and ‘Easy-Off’ Oven Cleaner.  What set the Brake Fluid apart from the others was that the paint came off more easily. The Acetone was the second most effective liquid at stripping paint.  The paint came off more cleanly than the remaining products.

I recommend soaking the models in ‘Castrol Dot 4’ Brake Fluid for 24 hours and then scrub them with an old toothbrush.  The metal models had a faster average time of stripping than the plastic ones.  The Brake Fluid can be bought at BP service stations for a reasonable cost.