Cleaning Mylars?

[wyowindworks]

What's the best way you guys clean your mylars? I've got one with screwed up paint and needs to be cleaned. I cleaned one once with Acetone and that mylar always stuck after I did that (no matter how many times I waxed it).

Adam's

[jirvin_4505]

In the handlaunch forums some discussion on this...
I use superfine steel wool oooo .. kind of burnishes the mylars and gets rid of the little nitty bits of epoxy from dry layups..

Surprised about the mylars sticking after using acetone - As a common practice I have used thinners (laquer) and waxandgrease remover (prepsol) without problems

cheers jeff

[DLD]

I always use Laquer Thinner, it doesn't have any ill effects on the mylar. Not knowing your prep procedure, I'll tell you that I rarely have had to clean much off of mylar. All I do for prep is use Meguires mold release wax on them before use. I wax them 5-6 times before the first use, then once between each use. I don't recall ever having anything stick to it. Painting over the wax just requires fogging the paint on until the surface is covered, then applying one good thick coat of paint. You can also pigment the epoxy and eliminate paint altogether. It doesn't tend to be as opaque as paint, but it does work.

Good luck,

DLD

[wyowindworks]

How long do you usually wait between coats of Meguires mold release wax? How long after waxing before painting? I've never had a problem with sticking mylars until I tried to clean them.

[Terryoc]

Just lay up a layer of 3/4oz cloth on it and peel the paint off. Not as smelly messy or as hard on the hands as using thinners.

[infopimp]

great idea terry

[wyowindworks]

I just figured out that if you take packing tape and press it onto the mylar and peel it off, it will take the paint with it. Cheeper than epoxy and glass I guess.

So, has anybody used acetone on mylars and been problem free?

[davekra]

So, has anybody used acetone on mylars and been problem free?
Yup.
I question rubbing the "money" surface with steel wool. I've not tried it though.

I only wax my new mylars once or twice before using. If I'm doing a DLG wing, very dry and no paint, the wax is enough.
I did one with paint using wax only and had problems with paint sticking. Someone sugested using Rain-x and it worked great. Do your wax like normal then apply a layer of Rain-x and buff. To avoid fisheyes mist on the first coats of paint.

Good luck,
davidk