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Nitromors, what's happened to it?
MikeRJ - 21/6/13 at 10:00 PM

I'm refurbishing an old Dawes hybrid bike that had terrible paintwork on the frame, so stripped the frame down and used the remnants of an old tin of Nitromors to start stripping the paint off, which it did perfectly well. I quickly ran out so spent £13 on a new tin at B&Q rip off merchants. The new stuff looks just like green Swarfega and, as it turns out, has about the same level of paint stripping ability. It barely touches the paint on the frame (which might be powder coat actually). If you lather piles of it on and leave it for 15-20 minutes the the surface of the paint is just starting to soften, whereas it would have wrinkled up and practically fallen off with the old stuff.

Presumably it's an new environmentally friendly formula, despite boasting "Double strength formula" on the tin? Double the strength of a cup of tea maybe.

Does anyone know of a paint stripper product available to the average person that actually works?

loggyboy - 21/6/13 at 10:54 PM

Read good things about this stuff. Not tried it but keep meaning to get some.
starchem

trikerneil - 22/6/13 at 05:44 AM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Read good things about this stuff. Not tried it but keep meaning to get some.
starchem


Very powerful product for stripping paint off most surfaces. Our opinion - the most effective we have ever used. Much better than Nitromors. ******We need you to confirm that it will be used in a proffesional facility. The product can be deadly if used incorrectly. If you use in an unventilated area in concentration, it can knock you out. This happened to a decorator who was stripping to repaint some underground toilets - he died as a result. So we have a duty to clarify to every buyer. If used correctly then there is nothing to be concerned about. Use in a well ventilated environment, wearing a mask, eye protection, nitrile/marigold style gloves and full overalls. Take breaks in fresh air to gain a sense of any developing dizziness. Ensure that it is stored sealed in a cool area away from sunlight. It should be inaccessible to others, especially children so perhaps on a high shelf or in an area under lock and key e.g. locked out door shed. Anyone else who has access to it should be aware of it's nature and dangers. Again - make sure as much ventilation is provided as possible - i.e. open doors / windows / fans on.

With dire warnings like that it should be good stuff.

Neil

rusty nuts - 22/6/13 at 07:05 AM

Have a look at the stripper that Tool Station sell , that lifted the powder coating on my chassis a treat but make sure you don't get any on your skin

theconrodkid - 22/6/13 at 08:26 AM

elf n safety probably,they will be selling blunt kitchen knives next

40inches - 22/6/13 at 09:45 AM

Dot 4 brake fluid is the way to go, it will remove powder coating from wishbones in a nano second!
Ask me how I know

MikeRJ - 22/6/13 at 10:08 AM

quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
Have a look at the stripper that Tool Station sell , that lifted the powder coating on my chassis a treat but make sure you don't get any on your skin


Toolstation Link
Can you remember which one you used? They have some water based "Eco" stuff and some "Methylene Chloride free" stuff (which seems to be the problem with Nitromors). There is a Tool Station just few miles away from me so that would be very convenient.

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Read good things about this stuff. Not tried it but keep meaning to get some.
starchem


That looks like proper stuff Also seems that they are ok to sell it to anyone who acknowledges the dire warnings. Other places want proof you are going to use it in a professional capacity.

chris-g - 22/6/13 at 12:28 PM

If you want to use up the nitromorse, lather the frame in it and place in sealed plastic bag overnight. It still wont be as good as some better strippers but will be an improvement.

richardm6994 - 22/6/13 at 12:40 PM

I thought exactly the same about nitromorse a few weeks ago and nearly posted about it!

The new stuff is about as good as using water! Absolutely useless!

My old tin would strip paint in 30sconds....this stuff doesn't even strip the paint after 1 hour!!!

motorcycle_mayhem - 22/6/13 at 02:15 PM

Quite simply, methylene chloride (or dichloromethane "DCM" as we chemists like to call it) is in a family of chlorinated hydrocarbons which were once quite safe, but now aren't. Apart from the liver toxicity, recent fears over mutagenicity/carcinogenicity really have put these solvents out of the reach of the common man. DCM is widely used in industrial labs, so if you know a chemist, mix your own. Even chemists now find the totally chlorinated version (carbon tetrachloride) comes with too much paperwork, I can still use it for NMR purposes, but that's about it. So, yep, your paint stripper is now a pretty harmless mix of plasticising solvents.

A good way of removing paint chemically, i.e to actually react *with* the paint is with sodium hydroxide, or to the people 'caustic soda'. As it does to your skin, it basically hydrolyses/saponifies the paint. Keeping it in contact with paint is the main problem, but a basic slurry may work. If you can immerse your woodwork in a bath of the stuff, that's the sure fire way, along with removing any dead bodies you may have lying around.

In reality - get out the heat gun and scraper.

MikeRJ - 22/6/13 at 02:24 PM

quote:
Originally posted by motorcycle_mayhem
A good way of removing paint chemically, i.e to actually react *with* the paint is with sodium hydroxide, or to the people 'caustic soda'. As it does to your skin, it basically hydrolyses/saponifies the paint. Keeping it in contact with paint is the main problem, but a basic slurry may work. If you can immerse your woodwork in a bath of the stuff, that's the sure fire way, along with removing any dead bodies you may have lying around.


Possibly not so good on an aluminium alloy bike frame however

This stuff claims to deal with polyester and epoxy powder coats as well as normal paints. The "water based" bit always makes me think there's little chance of it work, but there do seem to be quite of few independent reviews on forums that suggests it does work. Another £13 to try it out though, so mor tempted to go for the evil stuff.

iank - 22/6/13 at 03:13 PM

I've removed powdercoat mechanically in the past with a flap disc in the grinder. Need a fine grit and to be gentle with it, though I've never tried on aluminium you'd obviously need to be even more careful than steel.

Leaves a really nice surface to paint, creates a real mess of coloured dust.