Removing clear, thick sealant

No, I no longer have the empty tube to help identify it. It is on a painted surface, very well adhered and I need to remove it. Gentle scrapping gets the thick off, but not the entire thickness. Is there any solution which will loosen it please?

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield
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In case no-one else has any suggestions, I find that those Benzyl Alcohol paint strippers soften up things like that - even when you might not want them to :-) I've used them on acrylic sealers when nothing else seems to work, but it also seems to soften up some of those ready-mixed plaster repair fillers, which can be annoying; but at least I know to be careful with it now. TBH, it's the only sort of stripper I'll buy from now on, since it's the only thing I ever found that works on emulsion, too. Takes hours to work, though. And it's supposed to be non-toxic (at least it is ATM) and it is low-vapour. Costs about £30 for a big plastic bottle, so might not be economic for a small job, but if you will be stripping paint in the future...

Reply to
Dan S. MacAbre

Dan S. MacAbre presented the following explanation :

I don't want the underlying paint surface to be damaged..

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

Ah. That would definitely be a problet :-)

Reply to
Dan S. MacAbre

And I have to add - I should have realised that.

Reply to
Dan S. MacAbre

Lidl had their very good label remover last week. It may not work in your app. but worth a try if you can still find it? It's safe on most surfaces.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

If it's not rigid it's silicone, and can be removed with a blade.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

Benzyl alcohol is phenol aka carbolic. In the 30s it killed more people tha n all other household chemicals combined. Nontoxic seems more than optimist ic.

Emulsion can be turned to a loose gel by soaking in water for hours.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

I suppose everything will be toxic, eventually :-) It says non-toxic on the stuff I get, but I still checked on wiki, where it says 'low' toxicity. It also shows a slightly different molecular diagram to phenol, but they are so similar that I have no idea how significant the difference is. But it /smells/ nothing like phenol, which I would recognise anywhere.

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I needed something to strip some messy walls. For something small, I'd have rubbed it off with acetone.

Reply to
Dan S. MacAbre

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You may have to see if it also strips paint!

Reply to
alan_m

than all other household chemicals combined. Nontoxic seems more than opti mistic.

I see it is indeed not quite the same as phenol

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

back of bottle

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Reply to
alan_m

Unless it's acrylic ...

Reply to
Rob Morley

Have you tried hot air? Possibly with steel wool rather than a scraper.

Reply to
Rob Morley

Dave Plowman (News) pretended :

Thanks, that reminds me I have some stashed away somewhere in the workshop. Yes, the sealant seems very similar to that glue used on some labels, so worth a try.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

The easiest way to soak emulsion is to coat it with a stiffish mix of wallpaper paste. It scrapes off pretty easily after an hour or so.

Reply to
Mr Fuxit

As I discovered to my cost when several coats of emulsion failed to cover some marks on a ceiling, and I decided to paper it instead ...

Reply to
Rob Morley

Harry Bloomfield submitted this idea :

Having tried it - it helped a little. It basically stopped it resticking, when it was rubbed off, though it didn't actually dissolve the sealant.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

The most common sort of clear sealant is silicone, so "silicone eater" might help (but it might attack the underlying paint). I have seen clear sealants that could be dissolved by petroleum type solvents so might be worth trying white spirit, also alcohol or acetone (nail varnish remover). But I think that if label remover behaves as you have described it is probably silicone.

Reply to
newshound

I've papered over emulsioned walls without problems.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

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