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Old 08-05-2019, 10:57 AM   #1
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Lacquer thinner cleans butyl caulk

Based on Leon's vent cleaning thread, I decided to finally paint my oven vent, since only one tab was missing, and the thing had yellowed so significantly over 5 years.

In preparation for masking and painting, I removed as much excess caulk as I could with the red plastic scraper ETI gave us, and tried wiping up what remained with paint thinner, then lacquer thinner.

I noticed that the lacquer thinner not only cleaned up around the vent, but miraculously cleaned the caulk around the 120 volt outlet that had always looked like it had never been cleaned.

Then returning to the vent, the thinner kept brightening the vent as I realized it was some sort of lacquer on the plastic that had actually yellowed. A half hour later and a bunch of paper towels and I had a new looking, white vent again. No Krylon Fusion needed, yet.
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Old 08-05-2019, 11:13 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill and Earline View Post
Based on Leon's vent cleaning thread, I decided to finally paint my oven vent, since only one tab was missing, and the thing had yellowed so significantly over 5 years.

In preparation for masking and painting, I removed as much excess caulk as I could with the red plastic scraper ETI gave us, and tried wiping up what remained with paint thinner, then lacquer thinner.

I noticed that the lacquer thinner not only cleaned up around the vent, but miraculously cleaned the caulk around the 120 volt outlet that had always looked like it had never been cleaned.

Then returning to the vent, the thinner kept brightening the vent as I realized it was some sort of lacquer on the plastic that had actually yellowed. A half hour later and a bunch of paper towels and I had a new looking, white vent again. No Krylon Fusion needed, yet.
The lacquer thinner didn't remove a coating on the vent but removed the outer layer of plastic. It will yellow again. While it's clean, it might be a good idea to apply the Krylon.

Mineral spirits are safer to use to clean the caulk - lacquer thinner will also remove gelcoat.
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Old 08-05-2019, 12:07 PM   #3
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Back to plan A....
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Old 08-05-2019, 12:44 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tdf-texas View Post
The lacquer thinner didn't remove a coating on the vent but removed the outer layer of plastic. It will yellow again. While it's clean, it might be a good idea to apply the Krylon.

Mineral spirits are safer to use to clean the caulk - lacquer thinner will also remove gelcoat.
I agree and that outer layer might have been tougher than the material underneath. I'd definitely paint while it's superclean.

I don't worry about using either lacquer thinner or acetone to clean off tough stuff like dried paint. I've never damaged gelcoat doing so. Of course it does require the area to be re-waxed as they're good wax removers. The only substance that I've ever managed to damage gelcoat with is oven cleaner. Don't ask.

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Old 08-05-2019, 01:50 PM   #5
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I remember one time I put oven cleaner on a Weber kettle lid to clean it. First I carefully set it in the sun right side up for about a half an hour to “work” so the kids wouldn’t get into it. Then I tuned it over and blasted it clean with the hose. About three days later I had a dead grass circle and a deflected spray dead grass zone nearby. That was it for me and oven cleaner. Never used Easy Off again.
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Old 08-05-2019, 02:22 PM   #6
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Probably contains "Roundup"....
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Old 08-05-2019, 02:45 PM   #7
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We've had similar success with Fantastik All-Purpose Cleaner with Bleach. It even worked on some tree sap stains on our roof that nothing else would touch.
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Old 08-05-2019, 03:00 PM   #8
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another is the dollar store "Totally Awesome" cleaner using Mr. Clean magic erasers gets a lot off your Escape.
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Old 08-08-2019, 09:27 AM   #9
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Good to know!
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Old 08-08-2019, 09:45 AM   #10
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Between Totally Awesome Orange spray cleaner, Bar Keeper's Friend powder, and acetone, I've found little that can't be cleaned...
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Old 08-08-2019, 11:13 AM   #11
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As the OP on this thread, I have been informed that lacquer thinner is pretty extreme, so try all these other suggestions first.

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Old 08-08-2019, 01:03 PM   #12
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Fair enough, but after 50 years of working with f.g. and using both acetone and lacquer thinner they're still my go-to cleaners.

Please be aware that there's no magic bullet and be very careful with things like magic eraser that contain a fine abrasive. You can use it a few times and not really see any damage to the gelcoat. But repeated use of anything that has an abrasive in it will work away at the surface and unless you diligently wax afterwards will leave the gelcoat slightly rougher and susceptible to caulking.

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