VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 oven cleaner

I have heard the rumor of oven cleaner to remove old paint etc. Does any one have the true story on this wife's tale?

yes that is in fact true. the easy off brand oven cleaner in the yellow can works the best.
just scrape off as much as you can before you spray the cleaner. i've never used it on paint but on chassis & drive train. a word of warning. DON'T breathe the fumes & DON'T get it on your skin. this stuff really burns.

yes that is in fact true. the easy off brand oven cleaner in the yellow can works the best.
just scrape off as much as you can before you spray the cleaner. i've never used it on paint but on chassis & drive train. a word of warning. DON'T breathe the fumes & DON'T get it on your skin. this stuff really burns.

Yes, it works but brake fluid works just as good and does not eat your hands either. Oven cleaner is a bit better on dried grease.

Diesel fuel removes undercoating with ease, there is the skin and odor issue
John

Have used the Easy Off oven cleaner in the yellow can to strip paint for years, used it on the engine compartment of several cars and trucks. Beware that this is caustic soda in an aerosal can. After stripping the metal you need to neturalize the acid with some baking soda and water this will keep your new paint from lifting. Be sure to pay close attention to the body and weld seams as the cleaner is hard to remove from these areas. :)

Some oven cleaner does indeed contain caustic (sodium hydroxide). It combines with grease and oil to form soap. Remember the lye soap that your grandma used to make? It will combine with your skin and other soft tissue to dissolve it. So be very careful in handling it. Be absolutely sure to keep any out of your eyes. You only have seconds to save your sight if splashed in your eye. It will also react with paint and aluminum, diecast and other reactive metals. It also is a good rust remover as will as a depilatory (look that one up in your Funk and Wagnels). Really hairy stuff. Yuck, Yuck

Lil Johnny is correct that it produces heat when mixed with water and can violently errupt from the surface or container. I should be neutralized with a mild acid like vinegar (acetic acid) and then the acid neutralized with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate for you chemists).

Super Clean is a cleaner that contains caustic and will remove paint as well. If you want something that is less dangerous try brake fluid. It is a mixture of solvents that soften paint and can be washed off with soap and water.

The boys in my Ag Mechanics class are restoring a New Idea 628A running gear and barge wagon to use at school. We tried the oven cleaner...in the yellow can.... and found all you said to be true. The frame is really pitted so we are going to wire brush it to smooth out the bumps and paint it new idea orange (original color). The Box, we are going with the FFA blue and will paint FFA in big yellow letters on the box. Any of you boys out there FFA members or former Future Farmers of America?

My Dad was a FFA teacher for many years, a lot of good memories of the Dade County Farm and different schools where we lived, and he worked.

I think there is no better education for some of these youngsters who have no idea what they want to do or go. Put them in an ag class, have them go to some FFA contests, now called CDE (career development events). and let them figure out that there is more to agriculture than farming!
Glad to hear you have been there, who knows may be I met you?? Did you ever go to the National FFA convention? in Kansas City?

No, only in Jacksonville and Daytona w/Dad. I sure would love to have some of the shop tools and equipment he had in the 40's and 50's, including the blacksmithing stuff! One of my first memories is cranking on a bellows to feed the fire for the 'smith'. I think back them the 'farmer' had to be a "jack of many trades" to live on the farm, including making (or recycle)a lot of your own stuff. It was a make it or do without it.