Update: Removing paint from resin miniatures

[Cubs]

I can't say if Dettol is more effective than isopropyl, as I have no experience with Dettol. If so, that would speak more to Dettol being CRAZY effective than isopropyl being any kind of ineffective.

I think Simple Green is the US version of Dettol. When I tested pure 100% isopropyl vs Dettol in a couple of batches as a comparison experiment (I wore a white coat and everything .... well, a cooking apron which is close enough) the isopropyl did work quickly and removed a fair bit of the paint. But over the longer period the Dettol removed a lot more after two days of soaking vs isopropyl over the same period.

I guess if the paint is quite thin and easily removed, the isopropyl will take off enough for you to be content with the results. But I now just use the big tub of the stuff I bought for cleaning my white plastic window frames!

[Connectamabob]

I think Simple Green is the US version of Dettol.

It' sold for more or less the same purposes, but the ingredients aren't the same.

[SotF]

I've now had a look at ultrasonic cleaners but there appears to be a bewildering range of them - could anyone suggest one that they have used successfully for paint stripping?

Thanks for any advice / help.

Most of them tend to work well. I've seen several used and used a couple of them due to other things causing issues rather than the device itself (One disappeared when I moved, another got banged up with other things and cracked.

Go for one with everything included (I've had some issues with used ones not having the basket), if the description has an internal size listed, go for something you can fit any of the minis you can think of for stripping...

[Sardoo]

Cheers! Thanks for the advice. I'm trying to spend no more than about £30 so I'm that narrows the field down a bit - hopefully I'll get something sorted next week.

[Sardoo]

In the end I took the plunge and bought the James Ultra 7000S ultrasonic cleaner.

I filled the reservoir with warmish water then put four metal minis, which I had painted with acrylics about two years ago, into small glass jar filled with acetone. The acetone was Boots Extra strength nail polish remover and cost £4.

I then sat the jar in the cleaner’s basket and after running the cleaning cycle for about 15 minutes the minis had been stripped clean 

Result!

Thanks for all the helpful advice!

[zemjw]

I always envisaged filling the entire ultrasonic cleaner with acetone/Dettol. Isolating it to one small jar makes so much more sense - one of those things that's blindingly obvious as soon as someone points it out to you!!!!!!!

[katie]

"I can't say if Dettol is more effective than isopropyl, as I have no experience with Dettol. If so, that would speak more to Dettol being CRAZY effective than isopropyl being any kind of ineffective."

Dettol will quite happily dissolve, so far by my experimentation; acrylic hobby paint (VMC), artists acrylics (System 3), car primer & car paint (Halford), PVA glue, superglue, milliput and, eventually, appears to soften polystyrene bases.


I'm surprised iso works because I thought PMMA wasn't soluble in alcohols, although I'm entirely willing to be convinced I've misunderstood that; my understanding was that the active ingredient (for this purpose) in Dettol is the xylenol.

[katie]

Oh, and "Polyfilla".

[Sardoo]

I always envisaged filling the entire ultrasonic cleaner with acetone/Dettol. Isolating it to one small jar makes so much more sense - one of those things that's blindingly obvious as soon as someone points it out to you!!!!!!!

While I’d love to take credit for that idea I found it on-line somewhere