Jeff The Drunk wrote:
On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:24:25 -0600, Uno wrote:

Jeff The Drunk wrote:
Something ordinarily in one's entourage of household chemicals? Label
stuck on plastic is the target.

Suggestions?


acetone

Ok so in order to remove the label I need to melt it off along with the
plastic? No thanks.

Try WD-40, as Jamesgangnc suggested, or another oily substance, like
mineral spirits. Waterless hand cleaner (Goop, Go-Jo) or lanolin
should also do the trick. And then there's brake fluid, which can
even dissolve paint off styrofoam without harming the styrofoam.

Most plastic cases are made of styrene, ABS, PVC, acrylic, or
polycarbonate and are easily dissolved by acetone, lacquer thinner,
some enamel thinners (that evaporate quickly and make your skin cold
upon contact), carburetor/throttle body cleaner, and PB Blaster.
These chemicals are so harmful to those plastics that they're often
used for gluing them together.

Some plastics are really good at resisting most solvents:
polyethylene (HDPE, LDPE, MDPE, used for translucent and opaque
bottles), polypropylene (PP, used for Tupperware, plastic storage
boxes), nylon (opaque), acetal (lots of plumbing parts), and PET
(clear soda bottles)

Here are some databases for chemical compatibility of many materials.
Unfortunately only a few plastics are included:

www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/chemcomp.asp

www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/chemcomp.asp