Best solvent for removing weatherstripping adhesives..... (1 Viewer)

[Bones]

so i have been working on removing at least three layers of unknown weatherstripping adhesives on my side and ambulance doors. i first tried to buff it off with a wire wheel. no go, just gummed up the wheel after a few inches. did some research, found out most adhesive removers are toluene, xlylene,nampha,mek etc. but at $15 plus a bottle i decided to go to hardware store and get pure forms of these. heck of a lot cheaper. i bought nampha and toluene to starts. nampha didnt do much at all. cleaned off the dirt pretty good though. i brushed on the toluene and the layers melted in front of me and turned to goop. simple wipe it off with towel. got all doors done in under 30 minutes, squeaky clean.

now that being said, this must be done in a well ventilated area, and i wore a respirator just in case. plus i wore heavy dishwashing rubber gloves. the smell of this stuff will give you a contact high and quite a headache, and it will severely dry out your skin if you dont use gloves.

my bet is it will work on most adhesives. makes work alot easier and surface is prepped for new adhesive when you are done. plus it wont harn your paint as long as it is cured properly.

hope this helps someone.

andy

 

[FJsnoozer]

Thanks for the tip!

We used to use toluene mixed with gasoline for a race gas alternative in the turbo cars. Drop a can in the mix and raise the boost up.

 

[Bones]

cleaning the weatherstripping itself.....

well with the price of oem new dtripping i thought i would clean up the old and see how it looks. soaked in a solution of simple green overnight and rinsed well. the foam looks great but still has the adhesive on it. to pull it off started ripping the foam. so i took a damp rag with toluene and tried a small portion of it. the adhesive came right off with no apparent damage to the foam itself. not even any black color on the rag like it was breaking it down. did one of the rear door strips and it looks great.

i hoped i just saved myself so big money if the other three are in as good of shape. none seem to be brittle or have any big tears that i can see.

i will post up before and after pics when i get them all done.