Thread: Epoxy clean up

I'd just try a heat gun and a wire brush or pick. Nothing easy is going to dissolve that stuff.
Aparantly vinegar is great for uncured epoxy- getting it off your hands and stuff, though I have yet to try it.

I might try heating with the heat gun and then hitting it with vinegar. If it doesn't work nothing is lost.

If you have any (or can get any) citrus oil cleaner, that has worked well for me in the past. In the states the stuff is used for spraying plants to control some type of insects. But it also dissolves epoxy...and it is re-useable (sometimes).
I used to make my living selling industrial cleaners and one of our reps made the discovery that it cleaned up spilled epoxy. The cleaner is made from squeezing the oil out of citrus peels, or steaming it out.

Heat is the only thing that will work on cured epoxy. Vinegar, citrus cleaner and solvent only work on uncured.

Best wishes
Mik

Just to let everyone know the heat and vinegar does work.

When to use heat and when to use vinegar to remove epoxy

There has been a general move away from using solvents at all for cleaning hands and clothes of uncured epoxy. Vinegar, citrus cleaners and others mentioned work well.

As far as cleaning workpieces solvents still have a role as you don't want vinegar anywhere near work you are doing. A little bit of vinegar can stop a lot of epoxy from going off.

So in general ...

Cured epoxy and Weak Acids (Vinegar)
Yep - the cured epoxy is very resistant to acids alkalis and solvents. Vinegar is a weak acid and will have no immediate effect on cured epoxy and little long term effect. I did see some figures years ago about the short, medium and long term effects of different strengths of acids, alkalis and solvents (including fuel) had on 'pox. It was not a large effect at all.

Uncured epoxy and Weak Acids
Vinegar works a treat on uncured epoxy because the epoxy curing reaction depends on the mix being alkaline. That is the whiff of ammonia when you open the hardener bottle.

If you add vinegar the mix loses its alkalinity and it won't cure at all. Perfect for clean up and dissolving the epoxy mix with soap and water.

Cured epoxy and heat.
Epoxy softens significantly at 200degC so it can be scraped or peeled off.

Here is some info from the WEST system pages on removing cured epoxy in different situations - all about heat.

Removing fiberglass cloth applied with epoxy.
Use a heat gun to heat and soften the epoxy. Start in a small area a near a corner or edge. Apply heat until you can slip a putty knife or chisel under the cloth (about 200°F). Grab the edge with a pair of pliers and pull up on the cloth while heating just ahead of the separation. On large areas, use a utility knife to score the glass and remove in narrower strips. Resulting surface texture may be coated or remaining epoxy may be removed as follows.

Removing cured epoxy coating.
Use a heat gun to soften the epoxy (200°F). Heat a small area and use a paint or cabinet scraper to remove the bulk of the coating. Sand the surface to remove the remaining material. Provide ventilation when heating epoxy.

Hope this helps someone too

Best wishes
Michael

Yes, it does help. I've stored your very helpful post away for future reference.

Thanks Boatmik!

cheers
Wendy

Hi Boatmik,

Great advice. A couple of questions.

If I use vinegar to clean up brushes etc after applying epoxy(i'm using west system), is the vinegar reuseable, how often can it be reused before it loses it's effectiveness. Will the expoxy separate from the vinegar over time and settle to the bottom like paint does when you clean brushes in methlylated spirits.

Also what is the best way to dispose of the vinegar once it has been used.

Thanks

Michael.

Howdy mcchaddy,

I don't use vinegar to clean brushes. I think there is too big a risk of contaminating the following work. A little bit of vinegar can have quite a big and unpredictable effect on epoxy that you want to cure.

I generally use disposable brushes. To keep them going a bit longer I just sit them in solvent if I know I'm going to use them before the end of the next day.

One trick with using brushes is that most are too soft for applying epoxy, particularly to glass tape. Trim them down so the bristles are shorter - maybe an inch and you can apply more pressure.

MIK