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Ed Pawlowski Ed Pawlowski is offline
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Default Removing paper backing from old Plexiglas

On 1/20/2015 8:22 AM, wrote:
On Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 5:51:51 PM UTC+2, Robert Green wrote:
Yesterday I was about to toss all the Plexi scraps I have because the paper
backing is stuck on so tight it can't be peeled off. I decided to try
laquer thinner, assuming it was going to melt the plexiglass since they were
headed for the trash anyway.

I moistened a paper towel with it, place it on the paper backing and a few
minutes later it had softened the backing enough so that I could peel it
free (with a bit of work - the scraps are probably 25 years old).

The Plexiglas appears to be completely unharmed by the solvent, which really
surprised me. I thought would cloud it or melt it. I am now going to try
to figure out the best way to scale up the process to get the backing off
some very large sheets of 1/4" stuff. If anyone's interested I'll post the
brand of laquer thinner and the type of Plexiglas it's working on. I know I
have some Lexan scraps mixed in, so it may only work on certain types of
Plexi.

--
Bobby G.


Hi Bobby,

May you please advise of the brand of laquer thinner to use. I have very large sheets which I intend to use.

Thanks

Godfrey


Brand matters little. In years past, they were all ketone based, MEK,
and worked pretty much that same. New air standards have changed the
formula and most have soy methyl esters, ethylene glycol and stuff but
most are similar. If the OP used a can that was a few years old, the
formula has changed.