sorta OT: removing latex paint?

[Nate Nagel]

still cleaning/rearranging the kitchen...

I found that apparently at some point during this whole kitchen mini-remodel extravaganza I got some paint on my favorite pair of pants. I did do a bad thing(tm) and threw a coat of primer up while still wearing the pants I wore to work, being very careful the whole time. But somehow I got a small spot of latex primer on one pant leg - I suspect I actually wasn't messy but that I must have brushed up against something at the store, because I noticed it while cleaning up my brushes and rollers (total painting time - appx. 15 minutes, was just painting the area behind where I'd removed a cabinet. I definitely spent more time cleaning up my tools than actually using them, seeing as I used two coats each primer and paint to cover up the awfulness that was the color behind that cabinet) and even though I immediately stripped to my skivvies and tossed them in the washer it still is stuck on there. I fished 'em out while still on the wash cycle and scrubbed with a toothbrush, no dice.

Is there a solvent that will get this out? or should I just stop being such a cheap bastard and buy some new pants? (and now I've got a really nice, stylish and comfortable pair of garage pants?)

nate

[SteveBell]

Try xylene. /GoofOff/ is a product with lots of xylene, and it comes in small containers, though it's an expensive way to buy xylene. I've used it to remove dried paint from carpets by saturating the drip, scrubbing with a rag, sucking everything up with a shop vacuum, and repeating until done.

[Malcolm Hoar]

Don't bother. Look on the bright side... now you have some nice pants for subsequent paint jobs, working on the car etc.

[mm]

I hate to say this when it's too late, but for next time.

For dirty jobs, and for work around the house in general, one should wear old pants, pants with holes in them, frayed cuffs, and stains already on them. Same thing for shirts and everything else: old clothes.

Same thing for exercise. Buying exercise clothes, and work clothes (unless one's job is to work) is one of the reasons people end up not able to afford the things they really need.

[Nate Nagel]

I know, I know... I usually do (and have a whole tub full of them which I should really sort out the worst of them) I just was in a hurry to get the first coat of primer on so I'd be able to recoat before I went to bed... :/

nate

[h]

It's latex paint! Did you try water? Immediately. After. Noticing. The. Stain.? No? WHY NOT???

[mm]

You are forgiven.

[ransley]

Try soaking it for a day or more, maybe water, alcohol, soap, might soften it. Hand cleaner left on, zylene, zylol might work. Primers are made to bond who knows what new chemical bond they add.

[Nate Nagel]

Of course I did. It didn't work. That's why I posted.

nate

[norminn]

I've used Formula 409 to remove dried paint from surfaces. Don't know about fabric. Denatured alc. might help. When I got a splatter of bleach on the front of a new t-shirt, I used a dab of craft paint to cover it. Didn't last forever, but helped. You can buy craft paint either specific for fabric or to use with a fabric medium and most craft stores - dab it on, let it dry, iron and you're good to go. Dry clean? Might help. I tend to go DIY.

[John Grabowski]

*If you didn't wash the pants I would have suggested "Goop" which has worked for me on glue and roof cement. Maybe try some paint brush cleaner.

[trader4]

quoted text -

Go to a paint, hardware, HD store, etc. They have products specifically made to remove latex paint. I'd probably go with that first, as it's less harsh than Goop. I would be concerned that Goop could affect the dye in the pants.

[ru4linux2]

Rubbing alcohol is a solvent for latex paint and cheap, too.

Hope this helps you.

Lewis.

*****

[spud42]

latex paint the best cleaning agent around is cheap Ammonia and a brush

[h]

??? Are you SURE it's latex? I can paint (and splatter myself) for several hours, through the pants in the washing machine and they come out clean.

[Nate Nagel]

The only reason it wouldn't be is if my suspicion is correct that I didn't actually drip paint on myself but brushed up against some wet paint at the paint counter at HD. (I say that because my brushes rinsed right off, and I opened the can of paint, stirred it, and cut in the corners first before rolling. So if I slopped anything on myself, it could only have happened within a minute or two of starting to use the brushes at the earliest.) In that case it could be anything. The only products I used were Kilz latex primer and some Behr flat latex paint (yes, I know, flat paint in a kitchen, who knows what the hell the PO's were thinking) and it was after a prime coat that I noticed a spot on my pants leg.

nate

[Nate Nagel]

Follow-up: was doing laundry today and ended up running a load of "car" towels (using them on the floor of the basement during heavy rain... need new windows badly) spotted pants sitting on top of the "work clothes" box and figured there was one thing I hadn't tried. Brakleen followed by a little scrubbing with a toothbrush, then immediately rubbing some soap into the stain, followed by throwing it in a full hot load of laundry got the stain out.

Probably wouldn't have worked had not the pants been very heavy cotton, but there you have it.

nate