calling all strippers

[Alcoa Roller]

Well it has begun. The stripping process that is. Have been using citristrip and frankly I am amazed at how good it works. Usually if it says fat free or environmentaly friendly its not worth a damn but thisw stuff is pretty good.

The problem I am having is with streaking. There seems to be a streaky haze left over after the last pass. I have been using three coats as well as well as a mineral spirit clean up after the final coat is removed. The end result is sort of a mottled looking aluminum with streaks that dont want to come up. I tried a scotch bright pad #0 but it leaves scratches.

Anyone had this issue and how did you correct it. ?

Thanks,

Tried to upload photo but it wont let me??

[Bigventure]

What kind of stripper are you using?

[Alcoa Roller]

Im using Citristrip?? The orange stuff.

[reinergirl]

I had the same thing happen to me, my best guess is that it's the residue left behind from using some type of alumiprep. Polishing it seemed to help, but i still don't know how to get rid of it, it ultimately is a non issue for us as we will be repainting.

BTW, Check out my blog in the signature below, I found a way to strip using only one coat of citristrip, that stuff is too expensive to do three coats! It's the July post.

[Alcoa Roller]

Thanks Reinergirl. Im not sure about the prep issue. The streaks in mine would appear to follow the streak pattern of the plasic scraper as well as the initial brush strokes of the citristrip. I dont have a picture up but my door is pretty much a streaky replica of how I applied and removed the stuff. ? My initial reaction was that it was a hazy residue of zolatone but reapeated scrubbing with mineral spirits has no effect. Not sure which direction Ill end up with but no reason to stop the process now.

[Alcoa Roller]

Here is a pic of the door.

[rumrunner]

When removing zolatone from my 55FC with citristrip I got very clean metal eventually. It was cold weather so I applied and left overnight, came off clean. Is it possible you still have a little paint residue? You might try applying a very thin coat of citristrip and after allowing an appropriate soaking time use a gentle 3M pad to scrub the residue then rinse with clean water. I found that mineral spirits didnt do much to aid the process. Citristrip was a lot slower than the aircraft strippers but easier on the skin overall.
tim

[Alcoa Roller]

Thanks Rumrunner. Its cold here too and I wondered if that had an effect. I have been leaving n for 30mins to an hour. It takes 3 applications get all the stuff off. I will try the water and see. And yes my initial thought was this is watered down paint residue but subsequent attempts to remove it did nothing noticeable.

[Splitrock]

I just brushed the CitriStrip on, let it raise and dry, (maybe one hour) and then power washed it with hot water. The clearcoat washed off clean with one application.

[reinergirl]

Originally Posted by Alcoa Roller

Thanks Reinergirl. Im not sure about the prep issue. The streaks in mine would appear to follow the streak pattern of the plasic scraper as well as the initial brush strokes of the citristrip. I dont have a picture up but my door is pretty much a streaky replica of how I applied and removed the stuff. ? My initial reaction was that it was a hazy residue of zolatone but reapeated scrubbing with mineral spirits has no effect. Not sure which direction Ill end up with but no reason to stop the process now.

That's what I thought too.... But then I used a specific pattern of laying the citristrip down and removing it ( I even took a picture of it) and discovered that it wasn't what I was doing. Did you see the picture on my blog, looks very much like yours, this isn't residual paint, it's etched aluminum from the prepping. Do another panel and do an odd pattern like a diagonal ...

As a side thought I suppose if you got a batch with excess " citrus" it could have etched the surface.

Like I said I think it can be polished out but it's going to take some effort!

[Alcoa Roller]

Reiner I saw your blg and yes you have the same thing going on. Like your blog BTW. Tried to post comment but was having issues. Like those ceiling lights. Think ill copy you on that one. Going to try some aircraft remover today. If I dnt come back youll know that smoking and aircraft remover in an enclosed space is a really bad idea.

[reinergirl]

You alive? That Aircraft stripper is nasty stuff, I only use it when nothing else will work!

[Alcoa Roller]

Alive and well of course I have green stuff running our f my ears and Im hearinfg strange voices but other than that all is normal.

So I used the aircraft stripper as a final prep and let it stand for about 10 mins. Then took a scotch brite and basically sanded it off with that scrubbing in one direction only. It seems to work for buffing out the imperfections and creating the satin finish. ITs not perfect yet but a long way from where it was before using the scotch bright.

[Alcoa Roller]

grabbed wrong pick up above. Here is the full door.

[Wabbiteer]

It's impossible to get an even finish burnish holding the pads in ones fingers. Too many nooks and crannies that leap into scouring then drop out as the angles change. Look for a holder, block or handled, and use even pressure and long strokes...

[worldinchaos]

Originally Posted by Wabbiteer

It's impossible to get an even finish burnish holding the pads in ones fingers. Too many nooks and crannies that leap into scouring then drop out as the angles change. Look for a holder, block or handled, and use even pressure and long strokes...

Yes, x2. That was one of the most important changes for us. After spending lots of money on various scrubbing materials from big brands with fancy names, we found our favorite at Walmart of all places. They have these unbranded Nylon cleaning pads with really sturdy handles in packs of 3. Really reduced fatigue, and when they wore out and disintegrated from the Aircraft stripper, we threw them away.

After polishing with a few passes of grey bar, and one of "pink" (red) bar, you can only see the fine scratches if the light is diffuse and exactly perpendicular to the grain.

It'll look beautiful when you're done- good luck!

[Alcoa Roller]

Thanks for the tips guys. Matter of fact I picked up a pad holder today. I knew that was a needed item.

[REDSLED88]

What I did was take a plastic lufa style pot scrubber, the ones for a dollar or whatever, and dipped that in mineral spirits, and kinda just slopped it every where. Scrubbing all over, no particular direction, just keeping it wet.
Once I got to the point that your at I figured I was just about done with the stripping, and needed to move on to polishing. I would first try a black bar for the first level of compounding. I know some will say it's too aggressive, but you can alway move on to a brown/tripoli bar.

I think it looks pretty good. What are you going for?
Full polish?
I would go just slight of full polish, say black bar, then brown, then maybe use a Nuvite C with cyclo... That would be pretty darn shiny by that point.

Good luck, I think it's looking great!

TIMK