Simple Green bath - how long?

[Sartris]

in my search of the forum's Deep Wisdom (as well as the worldwide netweb), i can't get a firm sense of how long to bathe pewter minis in the simple green. 24 hours? 48? 168? i know it won't harm the minis to oversoak but i'd rather get to repriming sooner rather than later

thanks

[greatsarcasmo]

I've left stuff in SG and LA's for MONTHS. The Simple Green eventually kinda stained the bare metal but nothing that wasn't covered with primer anyways.

[Sartris]

what's the average time to get the paint to come off? a day or two?

[BairdEC]

That depends a lot on the thickness and condition of the paint layers and the texture of the surface.  The paint will start coming off of flat surfaces first.   After the mini has been soaking for a few hours, I often take a sharp pick or knife to scratch out paint in grooves, or at least give the SG new surfaces to work on.

[Major Headcase]

Hello! I use simple green quite often as I buy used minis off eBay and repaint them to resell. For metal minis I find the easiest paint removal is after 24 hours or so. If the mini was clear coated it can take a while and the scrubbing can get messy. I've had to soak a set of minis for 3 days once! In 12-24 hour sessions between toothbrush scrubbing. They had 5 different color layers....
But yeah; 24 hours seems to do the trick for most models. I do a toothbrush scrub after 12 hours and then let it soak more, I find it helps to clear away the easily cleaned paint away from the nooks and crannies that the paint doesn't want to let go.

[Sartris]

i've had them in for a few days and am encountering various levels of resistance (as can be expected). the plastics aren't even budging yet. i give each one i pull out a few minutes with a toothbrush and toss them back in if i'm not making good progress.

i am Very Annoyed with the little bits stuck in the recesses. the nerve

[Asgo]

...
i am Very Annoyed with the little bits stuck in the recesses. the nerve

unless those bits notably obscure details I wouldn't bother with trying to remove them.
Stripping paint to get back to a pristine state usually costs more nerve than it's worth.
In all likelihood the remaining bits are just remainder of the previous primer, and as long as that hasn't been used with a shovel that shouldn't impede an new round of priming.

[Major Headcase]

Yeah, there's always little bits if paint stuck in cracks and corners, not worth the hassle to dig them all out. Once you reprimer the mini you'll never notice they are there.
Not sure about your plastics though?? For me, plastic minis always seem to clean up faster??
Are you using retail spray bottle Simple Green? Or large jug Simple Green? The retail spray is diluted for house hold use, the jugs are a stronger concentrate for dirty jobs. I get a 1/2 gallon jug of concentrate from a local hardware store.

[Cache]

i am Very Annoyed with the little bits stuck in the recesses. the nerve

A stiff, short-bristled brush will help. Something like the small end of a nylon gun cleaning brush. I also shortened the bristles of an old toothbrush with a scissors. Dental picks help as well--might be able to get old picks from your dentist, but they're relatively cheap to buy new. You can even find polymer picks (e.g. Tipton Firearm Cleaning 4-Pick Set is $5 on Amazon). The picks can also be used for sculpting, pushing filler material into tight spots in your bases, or scraping off errant glue when dried.

[abou]

What also works well for paint stuck in deep recesses is sharpening a tooth pick with a knife. You can create a sort of bevel-point to it that works effectively. The edge won't last long, but you will have plenty of toothpick.

[Sartris]

this is not going well. they've been in for days and i'm not getting much progress even with heavy scrubbing from a toothbrush. which is also causing a bunch of accidental breakage (the poor hollander ii literally fell apart). good thing i have a backup thing of glue. the plastics at least are slow but steady progress.

going to get some lacquer thinner and acetone at the hardware store the next time i'm out

What also works well for paint stuck in deep recesses is sharpening a tooth pick with a knife. You can create a sort of bevel-point to it that works effectively. The edge won't last long, but you will have plenty of toothpick.

i've been using a fresh xacto blade to similar effect

[worktroll]

My cheap-ass $20 Dremel imitation has a brass brush which does wonders for cleaning off paint remnants - for metal minis. The brass appears to be softer than the pewter, and doesn't scratch.

Don't try on plastic minis.

Now some related SG questions:

1) There appear to be dozens of brand variants (carpet cleaner, glass cleaner, etc). I assume I should buy the all-purpose version?

2) They sell all-purpose concentrate. Anyone had experience with it, in terms of mini stripping?

3) Simple Green Orange - why?

4) How often can you re-use a batch of SG? Eg. I put four-six minis in a wide-mouth salsa jar, cover with SG. Do I discard the used batch, or could I get a re-use out of it? Would it be worth straining out paint gunk?

Thanks in advance!

[Cache]

going to get some lacquer thinner and acetone at the hardware store the next time i'm out

Just to be sure you know: Don't use thinner or acetone on the plastics.

Also, there's something to be said for using actual paint stripper to strip paint from metal minis. (Not the first review I've read on Citristrip, but the first I found in a quick search: http://www.miniatureplayer.com/2014/10/removing-paint-from-metal-figures.html)

[Sartris]

Yeah I’ve seen some “here’s what acetone does to plastic” videos. The ones I’m stripping are from the 2007 box so it wouldn’t be the worst loss 

Thanks for the paint stripper suggestion I’ll check it out

[abou]

Well, if you really want to get the paint off of metal miniatures with a minimum of effort, then brush cleaner is your friend (multiple brands available). It would melt plastic, but it easily removes paint from minis. It will also take off some of the newer polyurethane-based primers out there too.

To be honest, Simple Green is overrated. Only good for plastics to be honest.

[Sartris]

I’m seeing that now, yeah (at least it was an inexpensive lesson). I actually had better luck with pine sol.

Going straight to the toxic, caustic shit first from now on!

[Sartris]

Tried some mineral spirits because that’s what I have in the house

Toothbrush won’t budge the paint. A metal implement like the hobby knife or the end of tweezers removes the pain but scratches the surface on the pewter base and Malak I’m testing on. Would acetone work with the toothbrush?

[abou]

Oh, mineral spirits don't do much of anything once something is cured. Outside of cleaning fresh oil-based products off a paint brush or removing old wax, it won't do anything.

[NeonKnight]

To clean the Mini get yerself a nice stiff bristle electric toothbrush.

Something like one of these:

[DEZOAT]

 OK . Now from my experience of cleaning minis. A while back I use to buy Simple Green Max I don't think they make that anymore. That stuff would work about 95 % of the time. One thing you will run into is , the paint that is used on the mini. I have some minis were the paint came off like glove and other like what you going through. Now that with Simple Green or Simple Green Max. Now if you use Acetone wear chem glove. When using acetone if the minis are glue together will come part in the Acetone bath so watch for the parts. That stuff works about 95% of the time again it the paints that are used to be worry about. Now Pine Sol  I will never ever used that stuff . One for me it made mini very gritty and a lot brush time. Oh it took alot water rinse that stuff off. It was nasty on my hands . One thing about Pine Sol to me it seem that I work alot harder cleaning with stuff then the other. It work about 90% of the time. The major question is what kind of paint is on the minis. I hope this helps.

[DEZOAT]

To clean the Mini get yerself a nice stiff bristle electric toothbrush.

Something like one of these:

  That a great idea thanks NeonKnight

[Sartris]

Electric brush... genius

[RazorclawXLS]

Is there an equivalent product to Simple Green or is the same product sold under a different name in Europe, and if sold under a different name, what is it? Asking for my friend.

[BairdEC]

No idea, but I'd check the cleaning sections of your local hardware store.  That's where it gets stocked in the US.

[greatsarcasmo]

I know in the UK Detterol (sp?) is a common paint stripper

[Sartris]

after almost a week of failed negotiations, i was forced to call in the lacquer thinner.

there were no survivors

[RazorclawXLS]

No idea, but I'd check the cleaning sections of your local hardware store.  That's where it gets stocked in the US.

Ok, so how is Simple Green classified as? A lot of people are using brand and product name for such things, but what is it actually? What is it classified as on the sticker at the back of the bottle/package? What type of product should I look for in my parts of the wood?

[NeonKnight]

Ok, so how is Simple Green classified as? A lot of people are using brand and product name for such things, but what is it actually? What is it classified as on the sticker at the back of the bottle/package? What type of product should I look for in my parts of the wood?

Google-fu ...... HIYA!!!!!!



https://simplegreen.com/products/

get the PRO HD if you can

[Sartris]

yeah, the standards stuff (the first thing) did not cut the mustard. i know there is a concentrated version but the place where i picked it up did not have it

for pewter and lead, the lacquer thinner was magic. a few minutes in the cup followed by work with the toothbrush until the paint either flaked or faded off. they all have a darkish lead-like appearance now but i assume that won't matter once i re-prime. i'll give them a quick bath in some dish soap water beforehand.

[Greatclub]

Google-fu ...... HIYA!!!!!!



https://simplegreen.com/products/

get the PRO HD if you can

Bit late to the party but -

Years ago I tried using SG "car-wash concentrate". Didn't work. The real SG does work in my experience, but you have to use a needle or something to pick paint out of creases and panel lines.

[Renard]

Is it acrylic paint or the older, enamel kind?

I just leave minis in Simple Green or Pine Sol for a week, and they take care of acrylic pretty well.

If it's not water based acrylic, getting it off is much more of a hassle.

[MarauderD]

Question:  what about the new plastic kickstarter minis?

I tried a paint scheme for Clan Wolf and it came out CLEARLY better for Clan Smoke Jaguar.  I now am thinking of stripping the paint off of the testbed Grendel and Adder. 

Any experience or ideas with Simple Green and plastic minis?

Cheers,

Mad

[Insaniac99]

Question:  what about the new plastic kickstarter minis?

I tried a paint scheme for Clan Wolf and it came out CLEARLY better for Clan Smoke Jaguar.  I now am thinking of stripping the paint off of the testbed Grendel and Adder. 

Any experience or ideas with Simple Green and plastic minis?

Cheers,

Mad

While I prefer LA's Totally Awesome, Simple Green is just fine for plastic minis.

[MarauderD]

While I prefer LA's Totally Awesome, Simple Green is just fine for plastic minis.

For the totally ignorant:  what is LA?  What are the advantages?  I'm thinking I'd like to just get one product--because these first two mechs are going to need a ground up "do over!"

[Insaniac99]

For the totally ignorant:  what is LA?  What are the advantages?  I'm thinking I'd like to just get one product--because these first two mechs are going to need a ground up "do over!"

LA's Totally Awesome is the brand, and when people mention it they are specifically refering to their All Purpose Concentrated Cleaner which can usually be purchased from your local Dollar Store.

 So you know what you are getting with what you buy, a youtuber I like, Goobertown Hobbies, is a PHD chemist and did a video a couple years ago where he compared 6 different popular methods of stripping minis

• Simple Green
• Super Clean aka Purple Drink
• LA's Totally Awesome
• Ammonia
• Isopropyl Alcohol aka  IPA  / Isopropanol  / Rubbing Alcohol
• Ethyl Alcohol aka Ethanol / Denatured Ethanol / Methylated Spirits / Everclear

[Sartris]

useful alone for showing that i bought the wrong simple green. if i give it another try i'll get the concentrated

loved how he found a lot of different ways to say "you are going to find every shitty sin against hobby painting you can possibly imagine and need to be ready for anything"

[RabidFox]

LA's Totally Awesome is the brand, and when people mention it they are specifically refering to their All Purpose Concentrated Cleaner which can usually be purchased from your local Dollar Store.

 So you know what you are getting with what you buy, a youtuber I like, Goobertown Hobbies, is a PHD chemist and did a video a couple years ago where he compared 6 different popular methods of stripping minis

• Simple Green
• Super Clean aka Purple Drink
• LA's Totally Awesome
• Ammonia
• Isopropyl Alcohol aka  IPA  / Isopropanol  / Rubbing Alcohol
• Ethyl Alcohol aka Ethanol / Denatured Ethanol / Methylated Spirits / Everclear

I got to give a shout out to LA's Totally Awesome.  I picked up a gallon of it from Home Depot and let some old 3rd Edition plastic minis and some of my old pewter mini sit in it for a week.  The paint practically slid off.  I had to use a toothbrush to get some of the paint out of some nooks and crevices, but otherwise, they look as if they were never painted.

[Greatclub]

I just tried something. Got an empty soup can, filled it with simple green and a hollander. Put the can in a pot with a half inch of boiling water.

fifteen minutes and all the the paint, including the spray primer, just wiped off the mini. no discoloration of the metal either.

Tip - bend the lid into a W then put it at the bottom of the can so it keeps the mini off the bottom.

[Sartris]

Huh. That’s a pretty good idea right there

[Greatclub]

Huh. That’s a pretty good idea right there

I'm sure there's a down-point I didn't notice, and that's why everyone isn't doing it. But it worked for me this time.

I didn't notice any fumes, but I did have the hood on.

[Sartris]

I would assume there are fumes, yeah. Ventilation is a good plan

[Sartris]

i tried some LA's awesome i got for cheap and am having the same difficulties getting anything to come off without a two day soak and a half hour of meticulous scraping with the back side of an x-acto blade. even acetone was barely working.

discovered it's some combination of the varnish and the army painter color primer that's bonding the paint to the mini in some kind of chemical death grip. i managed to find a mackie that just had normal, spray-on white primer. less than an hour in the cleaner and i'm already getting good results. by tomorrow it will just be a few minutes to finish up

so army painter color primer + minwax = get it right the first time 

[Sartris]

further testing lead me to conclude that it's just the army painter color primer that's being an unholy bitch to remove. i had a pretty thickly varnished flashman from when i was first experimenting with wood stains and after a couple hours the minwax came right off. the paint underneath is beginning to yield already a few hours later.

[Greatclub]

any specific color of army painter, or all of them?

[Sartris]

A good variety. Chaotic red and ultra marine blue were awful. Though wolf grey didn’t go much better

[Failure16]

To be fair, most blues and reds are difficult to remove fully.

[Sartris]

It’s the nature of the color primer I suppose. Seems to stain the metal. I also need to get a firmer brush

[Failure16]

The best brush I've ever used was from an M4 cleaning kit:

[Sartris]

That looks like a winner yeah

[Sartris]

Have been avoiding straight acetone because it melts the glue too but enough is enough.  That shit is magic

[Greatclub]

Just keep it away from plastic.

edit - And for those who aren't familiar; rubber gloves are good, ventilation is better.

[Sartris]

Indeed. I forgot to take off a plastic hex base and it turned to the shape and consistency of chewed gum

[Daryk]

It's also toxic, so be careful with it...

[Sartris]

My wife runs a research lab and my sister in law has a PhD in chemistry so I already hear plenty from them 

[Daryk]

Heh... my wife is a chemist who decided she'd rather be an accountant...

[Greatclub]

It's also toxic, so be careful with it...

At least he isn't using xylene. I've had a  couple bosses that don't respect the stuff.

[Daryk]

Yikes! 

[Sartris]

Fun fact - blood red army painter color primer on your fingers looks just like dried blood. Glad the police didn’t pull me over today 

[metalsword]

I just tried something. Got an empty soup can, filled it with simple green and a hollander. Put the can in a pot with a half inch of boiling water.

fifteen minutes and all the the paint, including the spray primer, just wiped off the mini. no discoloration of the metal either.

Tip - bend the lid into a W then put it at the bottom of the can so it keeps the mini off the bottom.

Hey, that's a really great tip. I didn't thought it could be that easy (and quick)!
Did you really just wiped off the mini afterwards? Or did you also use some kind of brush?
Anyways I know what I'm gonna try next time. I usually jetzt let it soak for a few days but that's always tricky because I easily forget that I'm doing this and I'm losing track of how long it has been soaking 

[Kerfuffin(925)]

has anyone used the ultrasonic bath things?

id assume using simple green instead of water would do the trick, and also do the physical removing of the paint for you

[Grognard]

I do.  I've used the standard cleaner mix, set it to run at max time 3x... really didn't do much.
but I haven't tried using LA in it.
I hear good things about that method.

[Greatclub]

A good variety. Chaotic red and ultra marine blue were awful. Though wolf grey didn’t go much better

Bloody hell, you weren't kidding about how tough AP red was. Boiled in simple green for an hour and it's still sticking to an AGOAC beamer and wolverine.

edit - Got enough off with a toothbrush that a second hot bath did the job. Still stupidly tough - which I suppose means it's good primer.

[Kerfuffin(925)]

Has anyone used this stuff on the new plastic minis? I don’t want to accidentally melt them

[Greatclub]

See post above yours. I literally boiled them in simple green, and the heat just distorted the bases a tiny bit (I think they're a different plastic)

Maybe I got lucky, but they don't seem damaged to me.

[Kerfuffin(925)]

See post above yours. I literally boiled them in simple green, and the heat just distorted the bases a tiny bit (I think they're a different plastic)

Maybe I got lucky, but they don't seem damaged to me.

RIP reading comprehension.

Thanks.

[Attackmack]

Ive stripped a lot of plastic minis, primer and all, using isopropyl alcohol.
Before trying this, i had tried so many different solutions that all either didnt work or took a lot of time and effort.

Isopropyl and a toothbrush will strip any mini ive tried in minutes. Soak for a minute, give it a rough brush and let it soak for a few more minutes and make a final brush and it will be like new.

I understand there might be restrictions on how accessible this substance is in various places but if you can get it, do it and youll never look at anything else for stripping paint.

[Daryk]

Isopropyl alcohol is restricted somewhere? 

[Attackmack]

Isopropyl alcohol is restricted somewhere? 

I dunno, maybe. Wouldnt surprise me, Why else would people use SG and other various ineffective solutions?

[Daryk]

Uh... advertising? 

[Sartris]

isopropyl was even less effective than SG

it's the Army Painter color primers that were the issue.

[Attackmack]

isopropyl was even less effective than SG

it's the Army Painter color primers that were the issue.

Alrite, good to know!