- This topic has 11 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 1 month ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
-
-
I don’t have an answer, just a rant:
I do not understand why Goodwill and other thrift stores routinely do things that devalue the materials that they handle. My local big box thrift store uses clear plastic tape and wraps it around and around any boxed game or puzzle that they are selling. It is so frustrating. Grrrr
-
-
Used items. They write in marker on the manufacturer tags inside shirt. Like size/brand tags
-
-
I have had some success using hairspray. I used to think it was just the alcohol in the hairspray that worked, but it seems to be something else. Rubbing Alcohol works kinda, but it removes all the ink etc.
-
Yeah.. actually Hairspray is Lacquer based which is comprised of Keytones, acetone and Tyuoline. [sp?]
We keep a small pint can of lacquer thinner and of acetone in our office, along with Lighter Fluid which is Benzine, which is essentially dry cleaner fluid.
The lacquer thinner and acetone will most likely take out the color, but the lighter fluid is probably ok [but test on another item or location].
The lighter fluid has a high flash point so it dries very quickly. Soak the tag with it, rub between your ringers and then blow on it hard on both sides. It evaporates almost instantly just like they dry clean a garment at the cleaners only they now use something else that is not as flammable as lighter fluid.
By the way many permanent markers are lacquer based. Lacquer, acetone will melt plastic. Benzine will not. As an experiment, squirt a little lighter fluid out on a saucer, then blow hard and long on it and watch as it dries up just as fast as alcohol.
So you have a few experiments to conduct. Let us know your results.
Mike at MDCGFA in Atl.
Just a suggestion.
-
-
-
And for further clarification, lighter fluid is butane, not benzene. Benzene is highly regulated and very carcinogenic, so I don’t think they would use that in lighters any more, though I’ve been wrong many times. Could possibly also be naphtha, which is some sort of crude oil product, sometimes petroleum spirits, but it’s still hydrocarbon based. The most common dry cleaning fluid is tetrachloroethylene, just FYI.
And for me, I typically use ethanol for most cleaning. I use as strong as you can buy. Methanol works too, and is probably easier to come by for most. Those alcohols are pretty good and getting most things out. I feel you can get methanol at the hardware store. I work in a chem storeroom so I have lots of options ;). If you have access to other things, ethyl acetate and/or hexanes are pretty good cleaners, but you have to be careful as they can also dissolve plastics. They are esters and hydrocarbons, not alcohol based. Alcohols are pretty gentle to most plastics (but not all).
The best non-hydrocarbon cleaners I have are coffee pot concentrate (a.k.a. strong vinegar or dilute acetic acid), ammonia (stronger the better), baking sodas and washing sodas, and soda water. Those work on a lot of things surprisingly enough.
I need to hire out my mom when it comes to this thread. When I go to goodwill then get home and notice a stain on something, I typically take it to my mom, give it to her for a day or so and come back and it’s almost always perfect. She uses combinations of the non-hydrocarbon cleaners I listed above. Gets out a lot of sins. Quite impressive. I take her out to dinner quite a bit for her time, and just to hang. So she still lets me bring her things 😉
-
yep you are right on the lighter fluid. The Zippo can of lighter fluid is marked as a petroleum-distillate and contains some naptha. It is used on cotton insert / wick style lighters. The butane is for the refillable cartridge-tank lighters.
Good follow up. And as you mention some products will attack plastics to be careful and test a small, hidden area first.
mc at MDCGFA
-
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.