Best way to remove paint or whiteout from plastic? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2014, 06:25:52 am
content: Have some paint or whiteout (either white marker or typing corrector fluid) on some hard case plastic that I need to remove.Any ideas on the best way to get it off?

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2014, 06:37:24 am
content: recently in some thread someone mentioned 50% acetone and 50% alcoholhttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/how-to-clean-up-my-pcb/msg562474/#msg562474Edit: if you look at the video other than removing the flux he also removed permanent marker from the board.Edit again: One thing I don't get is why the plastic bottles don't melt away with the acetone, granted the acetone container is designed for it but wouldn't the acetone dissolve the color applicator bottle?

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2014, 08:47:56 am
content: Be very careful because many plastics (polystyrene, ABS, PVC, etc.) will dissolve quickly in acetone, even at a 50% reduction.

author: robrenz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2014, 12:43:37 pm
content: Both whiteout and marker have solvents that attack abs plastic. If your case is abs I would try sanding the paint off with very fine silicon carbide paper to remove the affected plastic. Then polish the area with PlastX to establish the same luster as the original surface. Obviously if the area is textured this is not going to work. If the case is not abs or similar the paint may flake off with a very careful scraping.Edit:First attempt should be magic sponges

author: Falcon69
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2014, 05:41:14 pm
content: Acetone doesn't eat any type plastic. There are some plastics that it won't eat, like the applicator bottle. It is made from a different type of plastic.Polypropylene is one such plastic acetone doesn't eat. The downside is, if you buy a sheet of it and cut it, there's not that many glue that will glue it together like you could acrylic. That, and permanent markers, such as a Sharpie, won't really work well on Polypropylene. It rubs off.Alot of the applicator bottles that you get from beauty supply stores are made from Polypropylene.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2014, 06:15:50 pm
content: Best method is to use an eraser and rub the marker off till it is mostly gone. That will do minimal damage to the plastic. Depending on the plastic ( if it is ABS there are very few solvents that will not attack it) you can try first with citronella oil as a remover with the eraser after getting most off dry. Light applications will be the order, using a cotton bud.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2014, 06:24:58 pm
content: Check this out for some ideas:http://youtu.be/aZC-7BVi7iw

author: HiTech
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2014, 06:54:46 pm
content: You'd be surprised at what a spray of WD-40 and some rubbing does on removing marks. It's fish oil based and while not the answer to all it works most of the time given repeated tries. Another good cleaner is LA's Awesome cleaner now available at Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Lowes. It removes label residue and magic markers from meter faces and cases with nary a hint of it ever being there. I've use this on much surplus items that are famous for getting marked up prior to resale.