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Paint Stripper Evaluation


Jolane

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Today was the day to strip the doors and rear hatch I got from the U-Pull-It Yard. Here is my evaluation of the various paint strippers I tried. One was very good, two very bad, and a few in between. The hatch, for reference, had 8 coats of paint (1 primer and 1 color make one coat)! That is A LOT of paint, no wonder it was chipped in places.

I followed the directions as best I could with each one.

**Klean-Strip Aircraft Remover Spray, 18 OZ Can: (Purchased at Wal-Mart, ~$7). This product actually was the worst, and did nothing to any other paint I tried it on. Really, it acted more like a spray wax than paint stripper. Extremely Poor!

**Eastwood DeKote: Specifies 3+ hours to sit. Well, after 5 hours now, it is not doing much. It did bubble the one top coat on the door, but has not touched the original coat under it. I rate this VERY Poor. What a waste of $44/gallon!

**Mar-Hyde Tal-Strip II Aircraft Coating Remover, 1 Quart: (Purchased at Checker Auto Parts, ~$9). This stuff bubbled the paint better than the first two, but was dissappointing still. It was also rather expensive. I did not try spraying this paste, although the can says that it can be sprayed. I won't be using this again either, marginal results.

**Klean-Strip Low Odor Aircraft Remover Paste, 1 Gallon: (Purchased at Checker Auto Parts, ~$19). This product worked okay, but when left on for the specified 30 minutes, it dried and was difficult to scrap off. When left on for 10 minutes, it made the paint a goopy mess. It required several applications, and made a mess! I will use it up, but won't buy any more.

**Klean-Strip KS-3 Premium, 1 Gallon: (Purchased at Home Depot, ~$18) This product worked satisfactory, and even softens the under coating okay. The thicker paste made it easier to apply to the vertical and overhung surfaces. Required several applications, but was not as messy as the Aircraft stripper, and worked better.

**Mar-Hyde Tal-Strip II Aircraft Coating Remover Spray, 15 Oz: (Purchased at Check Auto Parts, $6/can). Yes, this is the same stuff as the brush style listed above, including identical labeling other than one is a brush on and this is a spray, and expensive. The brush on is green, this is clear. This, amazingly enough, was awesome, and worth its weight in gold (well, almost). I used 4 cans of this today (Probably 2 cans per hatch, inside and outside of hatch). It takes 10-20 minutes to work, and makes the paint separate cleanly from the steel, leaving perfectly looking steel underneath. Most of the sprayed area is clean on first try, with only spot applications required at times. This by far is the BEST paint stripper I have even used, simply awesome. Now, if I could find another store that carries it (I need probably a 12 more), I would be set. Checker only had 2 cans at each store I tried...

 

Hopefully this will help other in choosing the paint stripper to use. I know which one I will use from now on. It also softened the small spot of undercoating I tried. I am not sure though how effective it really is at removing undercoating. Also, wear gloves with any of these, boy do they burn otherwise!

 

Joshua

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Guest 240zJake

When I stripped the panels on my car I used the Klean-strip and had problems with it drying out, but I found if you put plastic sheeting over the area your stripping it will not dry out and will work much better.

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  • 3 weeks later...

What if your tried this one again, but followed the "spray on" instructions... do you think it would work as good as the canned spray on version, but cost less??

 

**Mar-Hyde Tal-Strip II Aircraft Coating Remover, 1 Quart: (Purchased at Checker Auto Parts, ~$9). This stuff bubbled the paint better than the first two, but was dissappointing still. It was also rather expensive. I did not try spraying this paste, although the can says that it can be sprayed. I won't be using this again either, marginal results
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I am not sure wat you mean by trying the stray on instructions with the brush kind. It does say that you can spray it on using a paint gun (I assume that's what I would use), but I really don't want to get that stuff everywhere, and make a mess. Sorry, but I don't think I will be trying that. I think the better option is to brush it on and cover it, as mentioned previously. I will try that sometime soon.

I had a hard time finding enough of the stray type Mar-Hyde. Ends up, it seems that nobody around here except Checker carries the stuff, and each Check store only carries 2 cans at a time. What a hassle. They wouldn't order a full case for me either. Finally, I had THEM round up all the cans they could from the various stores and I just stopped by and bought all of it. VERY god stuff indeed.

I have found that allowing the spray kind to dry completely works very well. What seems to happen is:

1. It gets to work as well as it possibly can

2. It lifts the paint off extremely well, and them dries. This makes scrapping cleaner, and the mess can simply be vacuumed up off the floor without staining. It looks like a bunch of leaves on the floor.

3. You don't have to worry about the fumes, or when the right time to scrap it is.

4. You can use a wire brush (I put a cup wheel on a drill) to get in the corners without just making a mess.

 

I can highly recommend using the stuff in this fashion, and it seems to be safer too (less exposer to the fumes).

 

Joshua

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if the brush on stuff sits in the can on the shelf for to long it doesn't work as well. when I stripped my cycle tank I started with an old can of the mar-hyde and it didn't do much, then I bought a new can and it worked much better.

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I've had great results with Por-Strip made by POR-15. It's $31.00/gal, but worth every penny. You spray it on with the included spray bottle and the paint literally falls off. Only thicker paints will you have to scrape and reapply the stripper. http://www.por15.com/product.asp?productid=188 . You have to be patient though. I sprayed it on and five minutes later didn't see anything. Sprayed some more on and came back in 15 minutes and there wasn't any paint left where I had sprayed the stuff!

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