Paint Stripping with Bleach

[Kekso]

Well I have usually relied on either Dettol (stinks) or Mentholated Spirits to strip paint off...but following Beano Boy's rec I have now tried using bleach in a jar and it works wonders.

My ultrasonic cleaner is also great for this activity, often getting the paint off quickly. I haven't tried the bleach in it yet and may not....not sure how that would work heated up.

[Paul]

My ultrasonic cleaner is also great for this activity, often getting the paint off quickly. I haven't tried the bleach in it yet and may not....not sure how that would work heated up.

I wouldn´t advise that. It could (heated up) release chlorine fumes.

[Beano Boy]

mix bleach with water and nothing else. Stay safe. BB

[Bramble15]

Simple Green! pretty safe and cheap. It is a household cleaner.

[Bluefalchion]

I could not get Simple Green to work. Did you use it with a scrub brush?

[Arkoudaki]

I was wondering about the fumes with the ultrasonic cleaner...the methylated spirits heat up pretty fast too....but the fumes are tolerable in a well ventilated room (ie window wide open!). I did manage to make chlorine gas when I was in Jr High Chem...that was fun...got sucked into the schools air conditioning system and they had to evacuate the rooms. Lessons learned...as they say...

As for my approach, if letting the item soak in the bleach, I then remove it after about an hour or two, then lightly scrub with an old toothbrush, then put in water and clean some more....doesn't take long to look like new.

Beano Boy, I am using the bleach straight...are you suggesting that I should I dilute it with water???

One thing for certain, I hope to get away from that nasty Dettol smell...the stuff works but stinks!

As for 'Simple Green', I have tried it a few times and it just doesn't clean as well as methylated spirits or Dettol.....but that said, straight bleach is my new cheap friend!

[Beano Boy]

Arkoudaki, I use neat bleach in a sealed glass jam jar. Well as a kid at heart I can give the jar a shake,and watch the paint peeling off. I always remove my figures one at a time by hand and rinse them in a bowl of water.
XXXXXXX Never mix bleach with other house hold cleaners. OK? BB

[Bramble15]

@ Bluefalchion - I suppose I should have added further information. I use it in a sealed sauce jar and most importantly I use it to remove acrylic paint. I have a firm toothbrush that I use to scrub the figures one by one.

[Xantippos]

Interesting, it never occurred to me to use it for this purpose.

Usually, I just boil some water and then I dip the soldiers for a short time. After 5 minutes, all the paint strips without problem.

Bleach wouldn't affect the plastic? I tried once to whiten an action figure that had become yellowed due to age/heat/whatever and it didn't work, it just managed to affect the metal and the plastic and got broken in the process.

[Emperor]

By my opinion you can use various chemicals to remove paint, as long as that chemical doesn t harm the figure. I even once mixed some washing liquid with vallejo paint and it removed pigment from the liquid in color.

[Xantippos]

I recently used Dettol and works wonders, even to remove the most difficult enamel stuck to some 1/32 Afrika Korps for at least 20 years. Very nasty smell, but still relatively safe in comparison with how powerful it is.