removing paintball stains from wood siding?

And people wonder why I am paranoid? Last night, with subzero wind chill, some kind soul inflicted a drive-by paintballing on my house. (Thought it was eggs at first- same color- but too small, and no shell fragments. )No neighbor houses, just mine. (Rural subdivision, about 30 feet between houses, looks like they drove up into my driveway to do it.) About 6-8 shots, on the t-111 siding and wood garage door. (as well as the light fixtures, but those probably can be cleaned.)

So anyway, are common paintballs water-based, or oil-based? Still only about

15 degrees out there, so I don't really wanna drag the hose out today. Should I spray the spots down with 409 or something, until the weather breaks? Any helpful hints from anyone who has BTDT would be greatly appreciated.

(And no, not a clue who would do that to me- I lead a very quiet life, and don't recall pissing anyone off lately...)

aem sends....

Reply to
ameijers
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Wait until the weather warms and it should wash off fairly easy. I had some on my car a few weeks ago. Wood may not be as easy, depending on what sealer or finish you have.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I don't have experience with paintball paint stains, but in general I wouldn't let anything sit on the siding for too long. The sun has a tendency to bake things on. I'd break out a bucket of hot water and a scrub brush on a broom handle and have at it.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

The ones the kids around here use are water based. I wouldn't leave it on the siding very long. Hot or warm water should do the trick. CB

Reply to
Chuck B.

use goof off if its stubborn, goof off even takes off permanent marker.

a good friends 2 year old son used permanent marker on newly painted walls, all came off fine

Reply to
hallerb

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. I got out there before the direct sun could bake it, and much to my suprise, the paint was still liquid, almost like mustard jello. Guess the cold worked in my favor, and kept it from flowing. Putty knife for the thick spots, wipe with a paper towel, 2nd wipe with a towel and Goop hand cleaner (all I had handy), and almost all the stains are gone. You can still see traces, but the place is due for painting this sumer anyway, and it doesn't really show from the street any more.

Guess I need to start leaving the motion lights on the garage on, in spite of all the false positives from tree branches and passing traffic. (wall-mounted sconces, so no way to re-aim.)

aem sends....

Reply to
ameijers

Except that I wouldn't scrub at all unless and until it was clear that it was needed. You don't wan tthat part of th ehouse to be cleaner than the rest.

I haven't done paintball for a long time, but everything washed out of my clothes. easily iirc. It's not supposed to need soap or scrubbing, and if anything they should have improved that aspect of the paint by now, because if they say it will wash out and it doesn't, everyone will be annoyed (excpet stupid teenagers.)

I would never use goof off for example because that is almost sure to leave a clean-stain. Then you'll have to do the whole house.

P&M

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Reply to
mm

unless the paintballs are a very special version used for specialty tasks like tree marking, the material inside is water soluable - a long chain polyoxyethylene, which is actually used in many dish washing formulations. The out skin is essentially the same gelatin that is used in pills. The stuff should wash off with jsut water and a little detergent. I doubt the dyes will last long outdoors, there are not UV resistant. Paintball parks are not covered in psychedelic colors despite the constant onslaught of paintballs. Gary Dyrkacz snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net Radio Control Aircraft/Paintball Physics/Paintball for 40+

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Reply to
Gary Dyrkacz

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