Paint remover on formica

[rogerthebodger]

Will using Paint remover / striper do any damage to a formica covered board.

I ask as I have some epoxy undercoat drips on the formica covering of my cabin sides.

 

[fredrussell]

Is there a ‘not oft seen’ part of Formica you can just apply a tiny trial amount of paint stripper to?

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I'd try scraping with the edge of a penny. I'd be suspicious that a) Paint remover won't work on epoxy and b) it might well damage the plastic surface of Formica.

 

[Aja]

More inclined to use a sharp chisel. Carefully.

 

[saxonpirate]

Can only speak as I find.. the previous owner of my Contest 33 had obviously not heard of masking tape, and had liberally applied all sorts of awful varnish/paint on the woodwork/joinery, which then had either run or been brushed on what should be polished gel coat surfaces. It took lots of painstaking work to remove every bit of it..

Now to your question : I had a bottle of Nitromors stripper (the old stuff) in my workshop and gingerly applied it with an artists brush to a tiny out of site area to test. Seemed fine, no effect on the gel-coat surface, so I carried on. Re the stripper on sale these days, I've been told by a very good friend of mine, a restorer of antique furniture, that the modern stuff is weaker and therefore takes lots more applications to do the same job as the old stuff. With that in mind, I'd do as recommended and try a tiny area first.

Ok.. just woken up after a second cup of coffee and see we are talking epoxy here.. in that case, sure try a little experimentation with stripper, but I have a hunch it won't touch epoxy. As has been suggested.. a sharp blade may well be the way to go.. laminate will polish if the surface suffers mild abrasion..

 

[deeb]

Without doubt, sharp chisel and great care. I dont think epoxy will be troubled by paint stripper ( unlikely the formica will be either), but cut the drips off. Easy , quick and satisfying

 

[Pye_End]

Hair dryer or hot air gun will soften. Then scrape.

 

[ashtead]

Maybe careful use of a dremel type tool would sand off?

 

[vyv_cox]

'Old' Nitromors was methylene chloride, now recognised as hazardous and withdrawn. It attacks polyester resins in gel coat and layup resin but not drastically so, softening them from which they recover. Scraping them in the soft state is bad news.

Formica is coated with melamine, a cross-linked plastic that has very good chemical resistance. There is a good chance it would not be attacked by methylene chloride.

'New' Nitromors Is caustic soda based. It takes a long time to do anything but will not attack either GRP or Formica.