Removing emulsion paint from plastic

in a sheltered housing complex - someone decided to paint them and of cours e they look AWFUL!!!

for the electronics!!

You're probably out of luck. Paint stripper would kill the plastic. A long water soak would work with emulsion but with a 50v phone socket you'd need to fit a blanking plate overnight, and you can't soak intercoms as they hav e speakers & mics in. Let them live with their idiot decision.

NT

Do you know what it was painted with? Often it will scrape off if it was just put on bare plastic. Might be cheaper to just fit new sockets though. Brian

BUt is the unit waterproof, if its got a speaker or switches its unlikely. also of course its probably got legends under the paint and they will not survive unless they are burned into the plastic as on some key tops.

I think if you panels cannot be obtained its going to be tedious. Brian

In message , Murmansk writes

I run plastic switches, boxes etc. through the dishwasher, which works well, but probably not recommended for a complete intercom device!

Swarfega will probably soften it after about half an hour to the point where a sharp blade and a steady hand will remove it fairly easily. But you must be careful not to scratch the surface or it will look even worse. I tend to use a box cutter or wood chisel for getting paint splashes off depending on how much resistance it puts up.

Are your sure it hasn't been painted to hide something worse underneath?

How long ago were they painted?

If less than a week, warm water with a spot of detergent added and a

Is the appartment empty or occupied?

If empty remove the units, dismantle to get just the painted plastic bits. Place the painted plastic bits in bowl/sink with a bit of detergent and add hot water. Leave to soak for an hour or two. If the paint is less than about a year old it may well just float off, 10 year old will need a little encouragement with something soft like a finger nail or firm plastic scraper.

I find methylated spirits removes emulsion with a bit of rubbing. Worth a try - it won't affect most plastics.

OP here

In the end I got some fancy industrial grade wet wipes that I've used before to good effect on paint on my hands! Scraped and rubbed and eventually it came off after an hour of work.

Looks like it was done to mask the hideous nicotine staining judging by the colour of the phone socket when the paint came off. Intercom grey originally so not so bad!

Thanks for the suggestions

Either meths or nail polish remover.

But if you must, scraping will often clean flat surfaces OK, and steel wool works on curved ones, although leaving the surface somewhat matt. Remember that it will shed conductive fibres which will get in every orifice.

Go posh and cover the emulsion with gloss:-)

Depending on the plastic nail polish remover is much more likely to affect it than meths. Both seem fine on electrical accessories like light switches but the OP is talking about an intercom device which may be very different.