Your opinion is welcomed about the following topic.
Using plastic resin tray and rollers for laminating epoxy resin , what works better for cleaning these tools after use ?
Acetone and denatured alcohol seem to be good candidates. Other solutions ?
In my opinion, i use acetone to clean my surfaces/rollers/squidgies from resin. Other than that, my brushes, cups, sticks etc… are all thrown out
I second that. Acetone for squegies, brushes, rollers ect.
Use acetone for epoxy and Poly, I have two pots one ‘dirty’ pot that the stuff gets cleaned in and another than items are just left to sit on.
You reuse your brushes? What brushes do you use?
I tend to just throw my brushes away after
my brushes are plastic handlesd laminating brushes, 1", 2" & 3" depending on the job, if cleaned they can be used quite a few times (esp with polyester)
Whatever you do, make sure you do not mix polyester contaminated acetone with epoxy contaminated acetone.
The amines in the epoxy resin can do funny things with polyester resin, including complete inhibition of cure.
Methanol. Buy a gallon or quart and give it a try. It is HIGHLY flamable and you probably will not be able to see the flame it produces. Just make sure you don’t store or use it near heat sorces, sparks etc… common sence with all solvents really.
Also PrepSol from Reklein plastics.
I use autobody grade laquer thinner for cleaning out my hvlp guns, and tools. I haven’t much tried it with epoxy yet, but it works outstanding on VER or PER. The laquer thinner we see at homedepot and such is not as strong as the autobody paint one.
Also you can thin urethane basecoat with this laquer thinner and it works great… much cheaper than “urethane reducer”. 5 gallons of this costs $35. 5 gallons of acetone runs $60.
Also i guess i would feel irresponsible if i didn’t mention… rags that have solvent on them should be left not in a pile, and do leave them on a concrete floor to dry overnight. I most always unfold all rags, and do this every night before going home. Next day trash them or reuse.
Or place them in a closed can and get rid of them. There even are special cans that close their lid when a certain temperature is reached. (also used for acetone)
Solvent rags are a fire hazard.
Also a fire hazard is “catalyst” or more specific any type of peroxide. Spilled peroxide can set things to flames, even hours after spillage. It is the no 1. cause for fire in polyester shops.