# Oven Cleaner Question



## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

I tried using oven cleaner to remove old paint from a piece of fence I am restoring. I worked fantastic! I read all the threads regarding oven cleaner and it leads me to this question... I need all you oven cleaning peoples help!
If I take a throw away foil Lasagna pan, put the pieces of fence in, then cover it with aluminum foil will that work just as good as the plastic bag?
Thanks for the help!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I think someone said it could eat through that. You should be OK with glass.
You got any old glass baking containers?

And don't seal the bag it will eat through that, I found that out.


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## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

I will double up the pan just in case.... but I am not going to use a bad at all... is that ok or is the plastic bag the secret to this whole process?


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

The way I thought the T man told me to do it was to seal the bag as the fumes do play a roll in the process.
I used a good freezer bag and by the next morning it ate through it.

Luckily I had an old broiler oven pan under it. 

It was then I learned that he didn't seal the bag, and he used the cheapest bag he could find.
Go figure, I thought a quality bag would have been better.

I also learned to use the cheapest heavy duty oven cleaner, as I used lemon scent ( what I had under the sink) and it hardly put a dent to the Lionel steam engine paint.


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## Dave Farquhar (Feb 20, 2013)

The oven cleaner won't eat aluminum. There's nothing special about the plastic bag. Reusing the aluminum pan is a good idea--free, and large enough to hold a lot of stuff. You'll be able to reuse it several times, most likely.

You can also buy purple cleaners at the auto parts store. The active ingredient is the same as in oven cleaner and they're cheaper per ounce. Purple Power and Super Clean are two brands.


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## wingnut163 (Jan 3, 2013)

with oven cleaner (the odorless kind) i soak the item in it and then use a tooth brush to get the paint off. i use it all so to get paint off my 1/14 semis that i RC. it dont hurt plastic. i never heard of the bag thing.

it will not take off paint that is baked on or done the old way as lionel.


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

I tried aluminum at first but switched to plastic style rubbermade tube ( can't remember why but I had a reason as I have a lot of foil pans on hand.). I then covered the tub with a garbage bag. I do know this easy off works great. Dollar store brand not at all.


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## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

I hear that Dollar store cleaner works from some people and then others like yourself say it doesn't. I am wondering if it is the brand of oven cleaner, or the job.
I was going to buy this one at the Dollar Tree. Is this the one that did not work for you?


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## Carl (Feb 19, 2012)

Heat & plastic bags.....will that be a problem?


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Yea, dollar tree was the one that did not work, it gave a good fade to the paint though. I suggested it could be used for weathering locos. I let it set overnight, scrubbed the paint and no dice. Easy off 4 hours and very little scrubbing. Carl, no heat that I know of, worked fine, (it doesn't go in the oven). You could see the difference in the cleaners after they were sprayed on. Some people like wall mart oven cleaner, I think that will work. I still have 3 cans of dollars tree oven cleaner here if you want them.


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## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

I did some Dollar Tree Investigation work. 
Apparently they switched their oven cleaner.
This is a review from dollartree.com

we ordered the powerhouse oven cleaner for several years. You now have switched to Home Store oven cleaner. This was not a good switch.
We like the powerhouse one, and the Home Store doesn't seem to work as well by far.
Please resume carrying the power house product.

So the question is SJM, do you have The Home Store brand or Powerhouse?


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Use this


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Not this, I wasn't kidding about having three cans left, it might clean an oven but does jack for paint!


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## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

see, you got the one that reviewer was complaining about! 
On their website they are offering the Powerhouse, so I guess they switched back.
I am going to try it tomorrow. 
If I can buy 5 cans for less than the price of 1 I am in,.... as long as it does the job.
SJM I know this was probably your same thought process.... but maybe you just got the wrong dollar store oven cleaner????
I will document the results tomorrow!


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Keep me posted, the easy off, when sprayed had very little foam. The otherone looked like a rave party. Thick foam.


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Pics easy off first, other second.


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## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

I will. I am sure some of our Seniors will chime in early in the A.M.
Also, the paint on my fences might be easier to get off than the "proven to be a PITA" Engine shells.
Although.... look what I found


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

I use the cheap cleaner and it works great on ordinary factory paint jobs.Baked on enamel I don't know about. I never did any fences but I've done quite a few RR cars like box cars and passenger cars. I just set the car in a plate and spray the dog---t out of it and let it sit over night. Sometimes it takes several applications to get all the paint off.
After the car sits over night I scrub it with a stiff bristle brush under the water in the kitchen sink. Watch out for small parts like foot stirups that hang down on a boxcar. They break off very easily. Once the car is clean of all the old paint I dry it and then wipe it with denatured alcohol and a dry clean cloth. Get every nook and cranny too so there is no residue of the cleaner left on the plastic or metal. Otherwise the paint might krinkle. Pete


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Norgale , agreed on the cleaning afterwards, but 4 hrs and done with easy off. At most two sprayings 8 hrs tops, several  days overnight, I just don't have the time (if I did I cheap out to! More $ for trains! )


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Chiming in here, with a bit of oven-cleaner experience ...

1. The effectiveness of the oven cleaner is very temperature dependent. You'll get good results on a warm summer day ... say 70+ degrees. You'll get poorer results on a colder day, say under 60 degrees.

2. On a warm or hot day, the oven cleaner generates its own heat.

3. On a warm day, covered in a throw-away lasagna pan ... the over cleaner WILL eat through the lasagna pan, and likely begin to eat at a 2nd-layer pan, too.

4. I do use the throw-away pans (toss cleanup), but will place those in a larger metal or glass pan to make sure I don't eat all the way through to my floor, etc.

5. Optionally, you'll have great success using a glass lasagna pan, though with a bit more cleanup work afterward.

TJ


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## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

Thanks Tj......
Well unfortunately I do not have to worry about 70+ days yet.
I am going to do it in the garage tomorrow. I am thinking about doing a side by side comparison.... Dollar Store cleaner versus Easy Off. A kind of Consumer Reports MTF style.
It all depends how ambitious I am.
On my practice run today, it took less than 2 hours to remove the paint. 
How long do you have to leave it in the pan in 70+ weather for it to eat through?


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## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

Good Morning
I went to my local Pathmark today and Easy Off Oven Cleaner was $1.50 off!
That with the coupon that I printed out from above, I got 2 cans of Easy off oven cleaner for $2.00 off each.
I figured that was a good price to pay.
BTW short funny story.
The coupon I listed above, I found on Ebay. Some Jackwagon is trying to sell them on Ebay. I just saved the picture they had posted and printed it out on my computer.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I use the plastic bag and seal it, that keeps the moisture in and doesn't allow the oven cleaner to dry into an ugly mess. I just put the whole bag into an old baking sheet in case I spring a leak, but it's never happened.


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## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

Well, this is what I did
I put approximately 20 pieces of fence in 2 two gallon freezer bags. (10 in each)
Then I blindly sprayed the Easy off into the bag for a little bit.
I then mostly sealed the bag, but left room for air/gas? to escape.
Then I placed each bag into a throw away Lasagna pan.
At 12:30 (2 hours) I will check out the results of 1 bag.


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

Boys be careful with that oven cleaner and read the warning lable...don't use aluminum containers as the cleaner will react and eat through it in a matter of time also creating a caustic gas, make sure you are in a well ventillated space as the corrosive fumes from the cleaner will burn your lungs out...no foolin, If its paint on a metal chasis then use a plastic container with a lid or plastic bag....just remember to open that sucker outside cuz she will blow out a lung...oh don't use any other chemicals with this stuff....just sayin!!:thumbsup:


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## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

So it is better to place the plastic bag in a plastic container rather than a foil one?


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

Hellgate said:


> So it is better to place the plastic bag in a plastic container rather than a foil one?


Yeah Hellgate, Probably safer that way in the long run...Tj hit a great note being the external temp and its effect on the oven cleaner...I'm a Chef and believe me about aluminum and oven cleaner! Yikes!!


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## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

Alright, Thanks for the tip! I have extra plastic bin lids that will work great for this purpose. I will go switch them out now.


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## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

Alright so this is a progress update.
First of all nothing leaked through the bag yet.
I took the pieces out of one of the bags and rinsed them off. Wherever the oven cleaner was on the fence, the paint was completely off. Wherever there was no direct contact with the oven cleaner, the paint was unaffected.
So in hindsight, filling the bag with fence and then spraying into the bag was not a good idea. So I took piece by piece sprayed both sides, then I placed them in the bag.
I will let it go for another 2 hours at least. As for the other original bag, I simply turned it over.
I also sealed both bags this time. I have officially used 1 full can of Easy Off Oven Cleaner. It is working, but not magical enough for me not to try the dollar store brand.
That will be next time.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Hellgate,

1. Are you using "Heavy Duty" oven cleaner or the regular grade? (Easy Off offers both ... regular in blue can, heavy duty in yellow can.) I use the Heavy Duty for my stripping work.

2. I've never used a bag, though I'd like to try. What specific type of bag are you using? Something "oven safe", like for baking a turkey???

Thanks,

TJ


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I just used a zip-lock freezer bag, it survived overnight just fine for several sessions (different bag each time).


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## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

I used the yellow can Easy Off Heavy Duty.
It was interesting because the fence I have were from 3 different places. All had different paint jobs on them. It worked well on all the fence except 2 pieces. Those 2 pieces were completely unaffected by the oven cleaner. I have them in a Paint Stripper bath right now.
With all the nooks and crannies of the fence, it is inevitable that a second coat of oven cleaner is needed. Because of that I believe that dollar store heavy duty oven cleaner (As long as it isn't the crap that SJM has) will do what is needed. 
As far as the bags go, I used 2 gallon Freezer bags. They were fine and did not melt. The only way I can see that happening is if they are sealed and in a warm environment with a duration of direct sunlight.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I recently discovered that my LHS has a bead blaster than I can use, it works great for stripping. Instant gratification, I can walk out with the pieces ready to paint.


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## Hellgate (Nov 9, 2011)

Is it like the ones at Harbor Freight?
Everytime I walk past them, I slow down..... think about what my wife would say, and then keep walking


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

I know guys who have used this,Citristrip, over oven cleaner. Pleasant smell and worked well. Just another option.


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