Removing paint from plastic

Dec 02, 2006 6 Replies

Just wondering. Is it just a question of using ordinary paintstripper, or is there more to it?



I'd like to remove the paint from the sides of my laptop PC, before I sell it. The paint at the edges and corners has worn through, where my hand and wrist rested while using it.



Many thanks, Paul


How can you remove something that isn't there? Or do you mean remove the plastic from the rest of the case so that it matches the worn area? Wouldn't paint stripper 'dissolve' plastic and possibly render this laptop unsellable?

I doubt there's any paint involved. This type of plastic is usually self coloured. It can change colour where worn, though.

Don't use paintstripper. Many plastics have very bad reactions to the chemicals in paintstripper, and you probably don't have a spare bit to test. Unfortunately, there is no good solution.

Removing the affected bit, and removing the paint with very fine sandpaper, then wire wool, then plastic polishing may work - sort of.

Also, if it's a better class of laptop, it may be metal, are you sure it's not?

Not so. Its uusally sprayed with an ultra thin layer of something ultra cheap.

I doubt it's ultra-cheap. The wear on those areas is quite high.

Thanks for the advice.

No, it definitely is painted. On the worn areas, the black plastic is showing through. I'll just leave it the way it is. Stupid that the manufacturer (Toshiva) painted the bits that would be most subject to wear.

Paul

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