This softening did not last and once the part had dried it began to stiffen again. The car went very soft and pliable it was very similar to when I heated this material with hot water to remove a bow. The Dettol does have a temporary effect on the 3D printed parts.

I could have removed every last bit but I was simply trying to find a method that works. I ran the model under the tap and gently rubbed the flat areas with my fingers and they almost went back to white.įor the underside with all the lumps and bumps I used a tooth-brush to gently scrub and this worked a treat.Īt this point I stopped. I removed the car and already the paint was coming off on my fingers. Having read all sorts of suggestions about how long to leave the model in the Dettol I decided to be on the cautious side and only left it for two hours. The paint was an acrylic made by Revell.Īs this is only a small model I found a small jar, filled it with Dettol and popped the car in. As you can see below it had received a total covering of the primary paint. This car had been dropped and some of the detail parts had broken off so it was not high on my priority list. For over a year I have had one of my Yosemite Valley Railroad Log Cars sat on the work bench in a half-painted state. In order to test this product I need something 3D printed which had been painted, and something that I would not be upset about if it turned in to a blob of plastic and paint. The primary chemical is chloroxylenol (C 8H 9ClO) the rest is pine oil, isopropanol, castor oil, soap and water. Dettol, as pictured below, is a low price cleaner and disinfectant which can be watered down for cleaning tiled floors and work surfaces as well as cleaning minor cuts. With 3D printed parts, particularly stuff printed in Shapeways’ Frosted Detail materials, these chemicals can have a disastrous effect as they react with the material causing it to melt or break up.Īfter doing some research I found a product called Dettol here in the UK which can safely be used to strip acrylic paint. However even some of the stronger ones can remove detail from plastic parts. With injection molded parts the paint can be removed with 91% alcohol or certain paint thinners. You may be wondering why you would want to strip the paint? Well, there are several reasons but two of the most common are splattering caused by blockages in an air brush and paint being too thickly applied. In this post I will share with you what works. Knowing that some 3D printed plastics can be sensitive to chemicals this was not something that I had attempted but decided it was time I found out. Last week I was asked by a customer if it was possible to remove or strip acrylic paint from a 3D printed model.

How to remove paint 3d