Interior insulation residue removal

[ehodg66]

Hello Forum Guru's

I'm in the process of stripping the interior skin and insulation from my 72 Tradewind. I've removed everything but the end caps. I've done a few searches on here and never could find the exact answer I was looking for. Does anyone know the best/easiest way to remove the stray pink insulation bits that are stuck to the wiring and nooks and cranies?

I'm removing the floor and taking her down to the frame so I've though about just taking a pressure washer to the interior since I will be replacing the plywood. I've attached a couple of pics of where I am at so far.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[perryg114]

Is there a reason to remove all of it? I can see removing all residue over dented areas that need repair but ask yourself do you really need to remove the brown gunk? Most of us use some sort of rigid foam and/or radiation barrier material to re-insulate. It is held in by aluminum duct tape for the most part.

Try different solvents laquer thinner and paint stripper would be good options. The white joint sealing compound seems to respond well to Gumout carb cleaner. The brown stuff is harder to get off. Don't use this on any plastic or isulated wires.

A good vacuum cleaner will get most of the pink stuff off. A brush would help. I have had good luck with Lysol Wipes with the Scotch bright on one side.

Perry

[ehodg66]

Thanks Perry,

I was a little unclear. I was referring to the pink stragglers not the brown stuff on the aluminum. I just don't want to be breathing any of that stuff in while i'm working. Your vacuum suggestion is probably my best bet. I use to do a lot of teak work years ago and we use to use "tack rags" to wipe off the dust before varnishing. Something like that may be an option as well.
Thanks again Perry

[Wabbiteer]

This was done to make the trailer more hygienic & comfortable for the weeks (months) before I pulled the shell & floor.

I apologize this tool may not be repeatable. I meant to get around to posting this tool in my shell games thread - but the key piece, the brush, disappeared from the entire retail universe after I purchased it. The 'Lysol' branded circular hand-powered scrub brush was available at WalMart for $1.29 for a couple of weeks and then they quit refreshing stocks. I've had an eBay search running for months with zero results.

I'd had something like this - a non-abrasive nylon cup brush - in mind for a long time and when I saw this one I grabbed it, and a couple of weeks later I nabbed the $4 scotch-brite flap sanding wheel to use as a mandrel - using weather-strip adhesive to weld it inside the plastic cup. There are nylon wheel brushes available that have 80; 160 grit abrasives in them that might work just as well but beware using them near windows - the glass and visible frames could be scarred-scoured-marred quickly.

This never grabbed a wire, never broke the ancient nylon wire anchors, rapidly abraded down the nastiest insulation clumps and just merrily made quick work of the pink moss left on the interior shell. Where the fiberglass was truly pancaked into lakes of their adhesive it was just lessened but not completely removed. I finished up by vacuuming, then using a strong leaf-blower to get the last of the loose dust off out of the hidden crevices - then vacuum it again - the wet-rag wiped to get the fine dust.

I had two fans running on high - one intake and one exhausting - and stripped out of these clothes outdoors and immediately showered - and didn't really get the fiberglass itch. Looks worse than it was.

Shown is my hero & victorious brush - four hours of use - that slammed every rib and brace hundreds of times - and quickly de-frocked all the wiring bundles. There is a before and in-progress picture too, plus a bonus photo of me that probably will scare children.

Not shown is the hour-plus with a 3000-psi pressure washer that cleaned up all the adhesive overspray, mold, oxidation - weevils - gnus - wildebeests when I had the shell propped up. I would NOT go immediately to pressure washer - it will splash the insulation around and get it lodged in every gap between ribs and shell so it can never really get clean and forever make glass dust from vibration. I had enough problems with gray aluminum oxidation mud running down let alone gross amounts of pink glass....

[Wabbiteer]

A couple of more for good measure.

The goodly piles of fluff separated from the interior wall & ceiling, and a picture of the ceiling before hitting it with the brush chucked in an electric drill, with some of the curved panels already done - and more of the pink moss before zapping it.

[ehodg66]

Thanks Wabiteer,

I've been using a respirator, gloves and a painters suit w/ built in hood and booties during this process. The suits are cheap and disposable. I didn't even think of using a leaf blower. Good idea!!
Let me know if you come across another one of those gadgets, I'll start my search ASAP!!

Thanks again