On Sun, 2 Sep 2007 09:11:28 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, "Ed
Huntress" quickly quoth:
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 02 Sep 2007 00:44:39 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm,
Bruce L. Bergman quickly quoth:
On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:09:35 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:
Try brake fluid first, though. It's cheaper (if not free) from the
brake shop. Another way to stretch your stripper is to put a couple
layers of newsprint on top. It helps keep it from evaporating too
quickly.
I would NOT use brake fluid as a paint stripper or for anything
other than it's intended use in a brake system.
This looks just like a legal disclaimer, Bruce. 
Chemical Paint Strippers can be neutralized (read the label) and
after being neutralized they stop stripping paint and don't harm the
environment too much.
Other than at refinishing businesses where recycling is a reality,
I've never known anyone to attempt to neutralize paint stripper, and
I've seen a lot of stripping in 54 years.
In large volume operations, methylene chloride is "neutralized" with
household chlorine bleach. I have no idea what the chemistry is. In small
applications, like a car, the stuff is so volatile that it's probably going
to evaporate before you can "neutralize" it. I've always used TSP to wash it
off, on the recommendation of a manufacturer of the stuff who I called about
it 30 years ago. Old info, and worth double-checking.
But AFAIK you can't neutralize brake fluid, and it's still going to
give the folks at the regional sewer plant a headache when that slug
of contaminated sewage comes through. And if you hose the effluent
into a storm drain you're going to cause a world of hurt to the
critters that live in that creek.
I've also never known anyone rude enough to flush it. Most chem
strippers will evaporate and the paint rehardens. It's always trashed.
Ida thunk he'd simply wad up the newspapers and trash 'em like
everyone else. YMOV
Brake fluid will not evaporate. If you have some that evaporates and you put
it in your car, you're going to crash. d8-)
I said "most chem strippers will evaporate". I know brake fluid
doesn't.
It's non-volatile, toxic, and pernicious as hell. There are few worse things
you can throw in the trash or allow to get into a storm sewer. It's a bitch
What's worse: 5 gallons of thinners in the air or half a gallon of
glycol-ether-based brake fluid in the dump? I wonder what the
chemical result of it breaking down paint is, what it turns into. Less
harmful, one might hope?
to get the last bit of film from the stuff off of a surface. I would never
consider using it on anything I was going to paint.
Wuss.
Quick cleanup: wipe dry, wash with soap and water, dry
again, and spray and wipe with cleaner. Berryman's B-12 takes it off
quickly and easily, even from porous brake shoes. I've also used
naphtha and/or lacquer thinner (my most-used cleaner) after brake
jobs. On non-porous metal, it's a quick deal. Soap and water take 99%
of it off and the thinner takes the last 1% film. Not a prob.
B-12 contains toluene, methanol, heptanes, and acetone. Don't breathe
it deeply, either.
Regarding methylene chloride, the big danger is that it causes the
generation of carbon monoxide in your blood, if you inhale a lot of it. It
can cause heart attacks. Use it outdoors and downwind.
Absolutely. That's nastyass stuff.
Today's commercial strippers can consist of all kinds of weird chemicals.
Here's a pretty good rundown of strippers sold to consumers. It applies to
use on wood, but those are the strippers you're going to find on store
shelves, anyway:
http://www.woodzone.com/articles/paint_stripper.htm
Informative. Danke.
--
"Not always right, but never uncertain." --Heinlein
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