removing dried contact adhesive

Xylene works better than cellulose paint thinners (acetone). It does not evaporate so quickly. Still, it's messy hard work, especially if the glue is overhead.

I'll try the freeze spray next time.
 
I've been using acetone to remove the goo from the non-slip strips that are coming away from my varnished companionway. I thought it would make a mess of the varnish but it's fine and will make a good surface to put another coat of varnish on. It takes quite a lot of acetone but it is cheap here.
 
If the boat is stripped out a heavy duty pressure washer does a rather good job of getting old contact adhesive of. Be prepared to get rather wet & have a sea cock out to let the water out of the boat.
 
Main constituent of the hideously expensive Evostik brand remover or in sensible quantities from industrial chemist. Don't buy nitric acid at the same time or you could find yourself explaining things to men in dark glasses and trenchcoats!

Edit: ... and do wear gloves (cracks up the fingers terribly) and a vapour face mask and smoking or naked flames ain't a smart move.
 
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Adhesive remover made by Evostick available in B & Q

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I'll second this, I got it in Homebase, works a treat.
 
You dont say what you are removing it from or what sort of area.

Toluene or xylene (aka methyl benzene and dimethyl benzene) are very hazardous to health and so should be used with good ventilation and an organic vapours mask in a confined space or you may never see the fruits of your labours

Personally I find softening the old adhesive with solvent too messy for large areas.

They also remove the colour from the patterned vinyls!
 
Not posted to you in particular, Vic - I am trying to remove old contact adhesive and finding acetone very slow. Pure xylene is slower than acetone. I have a Spanish solvent for a rust inhibiting enamel a bit like Hammerite. It's from XylazelMetal and is called Oxirite Disolvente. It does not give the ingredients and from the name you'd think it is xylene however it doesn't smell like xylene and it DOES dissolve old contact adhesive very well. So if anyone is in Spain you could try that, or in the UK try Hammerite solvent. I can buy a composite solvent here in the chandlery and I might buy some of that to try out of interest and because I don't want to use up all my very expensive 'Hammerite' solvent, will report back if I do.

I have not tried lighter fluid or the mineral oil orangey solvents, or the orangey solvents actually derived from orange.
 
Hammerite solvent is different to what it was some years ago. The old stuff contained xylene, it said that much on the tin, but smelt different to pure xylene so contained other compounds as well. The new stuff smells more like acetone or MEK but it does not seem to evaporate as quickly as acetone. Again a mixture I would think.
 
I have plenty of pure xylene and acetone -- would it be worth trying a mixture? I have no idea of the consequences of mixing those chemicals. I also have meths and iso propyl alcohol, could mix either/or of those?
 
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