Acetone - risk or benefit?

[rangur1]

I was under the impression this product was the go to for cleaning tar like or gummed adhesive off metal surfaces. A respected friend of mine felt very leary about using acetone for this purpose. They preferred using products like "goo-gone" or similar which can be obtained at Home Depot and what not. This is just for my personal knowledge, and, women use acetone on their fingernails to remove polish. Is acetone pretty much for oil based paint/ tar compounds only, like creosote?

 

[Sqwirl57]

Isopropyl rubbing alcohol works pretty well

 

[DennisB]

acetone is very strong will soften/ remove just about anything
it evaporates very fast keep the lid on it
ALSO be very careful with it
EYES can be damaged

 

[Florida_Man]

It works on a lot. I love the stuff for specific applications. Just like anything you use, you should test on a small area first, or like item. For bare metal, have at it. Use nitrile gloves.
Acetone will remove JB Weld. So keep that in mind if it was used on a project.

 

[Chris_K]

Be careful with acetone because it really dries your skin out, and most disposable gloves are not resistant to acetone. And acetone will eat some plastics.
I really prefer Naptha (like Zippo or Ronsol lighter fluid) for cleaning adhesives as it seems to not flash off as quickly, and the vapors aren't nearly as bad.

 

[KWK]

I use mineral spirits(paint thinner) to remove gum adhesives etc. . Acetone will soften oil finishes but not so much urethane if you want to identify the finish on an item. Naptha is available in the paint section and is a good oil base thinner that tends to speed drying some. It's in odorless paint thinner.

 

[scubajeeper]

Wax and grease remover is a product used in automotive refinishing that is way safer than acetone. It is great at removing goo and tape residue, it is also a great degreaser, and it safe for most plastics. It can be found at any automotive paint store.

 

[Chris_K]

I forgot to answer part of the OP's question. Acetone is used a lot to cut lacquer paints and finishes. Relatedly, there is no standard for lacquer thinners, and some lacquer thinners contain 50% or more of acetone.

 

[Northwoods22]

Acetone is pretty harsh stuff. About the only thing I use it for is to remove really stubborn tape or sticker residue from metal, and certain plastics. Always do a test spot first as it will attack certain plastics like styrene. It also does a good job of dissolving cyanoacrylate AKA superglue. Handy if you glue your fingers together. Not that that's ever happened to me or anything...

 

[cosmic]

you can use it also to thin epoxy..

 

[Motorhead]

Be careful with acetone because it really dries your skin out, and most disposable gloves are not resistant to acetone. And acetone will eat some plastics.
I really prefer Naptha (like Zippo or Ronsol lighter fluid) for cleaning adhesives as it seems to not flash off as quickly, and the vapors aren't nearly as bad.

I also use NAPTHA in the raw form or more frequently Cook stove fuel as in White gas / Coleman fuel. It is mostly Naptha BTW

 

[rangur1]

Love the feedback, you all helped me avoid another landmine regarding my gun care. I've decided to go with 3M adhesive remover- strong but safe for auto paint surfaces.

 

[IMADMAN]

Wd40 takes off sticky residue. I mostly use it on glass and metal.

 

[Nattboy]

like above wd 40

 

[Blankshot17]

Time for a laugh... unsalted butter if removing sticker adhesive from sensitive surfaces. Also vegetable oil and crisco. Also lanoline or joes hand cleaner.

 

[marflow 777]

when you have an unknown substance, you need to remove, you should try the least harmful one first and work your way up to acetone
and plain old rubbing alcohol is my go-to it come in 2 level and yes the lower % has water in it
light fluid could be next even Sea Foam would be a good choice and if needed acetone
and use common sense, if you have any

 

[orangeokie]

We used Acetone in the Marines to deep clean the bore of our M-14s before inspections. Melaleuca sells a product called "Sol-u-Mel" which is the absolute best stuff I have ever used to removes gum, tar, paint or other stuff from fine furniture or car finishes. Its base cleaner is Tee tree oil. Very mild to the skin and won't affect the finish from which you are removing the gunk. You can buy it on Amazon.

 

[marflow 777]

you mean they don't give you Hoppes no. 9 in the Marines???? of course what is done with a PB and an air gun is far different
you could take a PB and take the furniture off and drop it in a barrel of anything

but maybe this post is about stain removal

 

[citojaso]

If you chose to use acetone don't forget to provide good ventilation. You could find yourself doing a face plant into the work bench.

 

[KatoKevin454]

I use Acetone when working with Resins, polyester or epoxy, mainly for clean up, Isopropyl Alcohol works well with epoxy too, Acetone is also good for wood repair, to clean out oils and finish from cracked wood areas to make repairs, I seen it on a Midway USA videos.