# Cleaning Your Accessories With Oven Cleaner



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I guess I can't recommend cleaning your metal accessories with oven cleaner, here's what happens. :laugh:

Oh well, it was kinda' rusty anyway.  I was surprised that the oven cleaner took most of the rust with the paint, only left a couple of spots. That stuff is NASTY! 

I'm hoping it'll look better with new paint.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

I've been using Easy Off Oven Cleaner (the heavy duty version) to strip my prewar tinplate trains to bare metal with great success. It works rather quickly on most of the older Lionel litho paint.

Cheers,

TJ


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I used a different type to strip the 2026, but I found this in the back of our closet, so I figured I'd give it a try. Clearly, it does the job! The platform is half way to being painted, one more day for the other side and I'll be able to put it back together. I didn't have the lighter green, so I painted the base a darker green. I hope that Lionel approves.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Is that a milk car platform? 3462? 3472?


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Yep, it's the 3462P, I have a few of them, so I figured I'd clean one or two of them up. This is a trial run, if it comes out nice, I'll probably do one more. 

I have milk cars too, maybe I'll offer them for sale at some point. I'm keeping one milk car that I modified for TMCC and a nice platform.


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## jreid (May 9, 2011)

Oven cleaner is the best paint stripper I have found, thanks to this place.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

It is pretty amazing, and works better than the stripper I bought from HomeDepot.


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## Hammered (Mar 20, 2011)

If you just want to remove rust, try grout cleaner/etcher from Lowes. Just make sure it has phosphoric acid in it. You can cut it up to 8:1 with water and soak parts for a few hours up to overnight. 

You can also use oven cleaner to strip paint from plastic parts. I've restored a lot of interior auto parts this way. For really tough jobs I put the part in a plastic bag overnight. Of course you should test on an inconspicuous place first.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> ... better than the stripper I bought from HomeDepot.


They're selling strippers at Home Depot these days?!?


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## Hammered (Mar 20, 2011)

helps boost the sale of mirrors and poles.


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## jreid (May 9, 2011)

Remember to bring plenty of singles when going to Home Depot

I have tried various commercial paint strippers and none have worked as well as Oven Cleaner, second best is boiling the item to be stripped in Detergent


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

tjcruiser said:


> They're selling strippers at Home Depot these days?!?





Hammered said:


> helps boost the sale of mirrors and poles.


:appl: :laugh: :appl: Too funny!

On a serious note ...

Can you guys explain the difference between a 3462, 3462P, 3472, 3482, 3582, etc. milk car platform? (I may have those numbers wrong.) None of these are listed / described in my Doyle postwar book.

Thanks,

TJ


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Well, I just read the numbers on the bottom, it says 3462P.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

We last caught the old girl without her skirt, here she is almost fully dressed, just have to polish up the platform a bit more and install it.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

The repaint looks great. I assume you did that as two separate components?

TJ


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Actually three, the steps are painted silver, the top, of course, is cream, and the base the green. It's actually just sitting together, I'm waiting for a few days for the paint to really harden before I fold the tabs over.

They're easy to pull apart, and once you get the paint off, a little ScotchBrite and they're ready to paint. I cleaned it up with alcohol before the painting.

I may do another in similar style, I have a few of these platforms, most are in pretty rough shape. I have one that looks great, and when I looked closely, someone had already repainted it, which is why it looks so good!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Oh ... cream and silver ... hard to tell that shade difference from the photo. Looks great, though!

TJ


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

You can hardly see the steps, I didn't take that much care in shooting the photo.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Here's a couple more photos, you can see the steps. TJ, there is also the stamping on the bottom that is how I identified the exact part number.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Looks great John.:thumbsup:\
Though,
Somehow the silver looks almost like it is not painted?
Look at the steps in the one picture it almost looks like there is light rust on them.
Maybe turn off the flash?
The green and cream look nice in the pictures.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

The silver is painted, but I didn't use flash. It's a metallic silver, only silver I had on hand. I used all the plain silver, and didn't feel like buying another can right now. 

The "light rust" is just the way the silver metallic reflects light, no rust.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

John,

That came out quite nice. When you bend the tabs, it's quite likely that the paint on the tabs will crack/chip a bit ... happens on my end all the time. I spray a few drops of paint into a throw-away cup, and then touch-up with a toothpick or tiny brush.

Welcome to the tinplate madness!

TJ


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

John, I would recommend you twist the tabs slightly rather than bending them over. They are less likely to break if you do this.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Too late, I already bent them.  Actually, not much paint chipped, I used a flat ended screwdriver handle to bend them. I think this was their first "re-bend", so they seem pretty robust. 

I could get used to this tin stuff.


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

John, what you have to beware of is having more fun than the legal limit.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

servoguy said:


> John, what you have to beware of is having more fun than the legal limit.


There's no such thing as *Too much fun*. 

That's like *Too much money* or a *Car too fast*.


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

John, Have you checked the entire Obama care bill to make sure it is not in there?


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Good point, there is a changing landscape. I'm hoping we can do something about that problem sometime next year.


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

I am hoping that God fixes the problem before the next election.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

servoguy said:


> I am hoping that God fixes the problem before the next election.


That would be a long shot.


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

I am not sure it is as long as you might think. I'll let you know what the prophet says.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I wait with bated breath.


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

Check Sid Roth's web site this week. He has a prophet on there named Hank Kunneman.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Well, I was waiting for a real sign.


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## Uncle Ricky (Nov 1, 2011)

Great job on the repaint. Oven cleaner as paint stripper! Great tip!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I don't claim authorship of the oven cleaner, it was either TJ or T-Man that first mentioned it, I think TJ. He's done a number of tinplate stuff that way, so I tried it on an old locomotive and this platform, worked out great both times. 


It's good for more than ovens!  As a bonus, the pan I set all this in to work on it has never been cleaner.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

No credit due me. T-Man turned me on to oven cleaner a while back ... his "boiler in a bag" thread, I think.

When it comes to a bag of tricks, nobody can top the T-Man!

TJ


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

OK, take the credit away from TJ and give it to T-Man.


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## GG1_Fan (Oct 26, 2011)

Does this leave any kind of residue behind? If so, perhaps lacquer thinner might remove?

I have a media blasting cabinet in my shop that I use for vehicle restorations. I find the black diamond silica great for plastics and is inexpensive too....


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

After washing up with hot water, I use alcohol to clean it up, any similar cleaner will do as well. Truthfully, I doubt after the water I needed anything, but just to be sure...


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Right after the Easy Off oven cleaner bath (for a few hours), I rinse the parts down in warm water in a utility sink, giving them a rub with a ScotchBrite pad in the process.

At that point, the old paint is gone, most rust is gone, but there is still some surface oxidation and grime.

Then, after drying the parts, I buff them up to a virgin-metal shine with a stainless steel Dremel brush.

Here's a batch of prewar, tinplate loco parts right after the Easy Off bath and a gentle Scotchbrite rub, but before the Dremel stainless brush buff ...










Here's a close up of another loco shell after the Easy Off bath, but before Scotchbrite or Dremel brush ...










And here's the same loco shell after a little Scotchbrite and a careful Dremel stainless steel brush buff ...










Cheers,

TJ


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## GG1_Fan (Oct 26, 2011)

Good info! Shells look great too. Thanks.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

If you restore cars oven cleaner works a treat there too. Take a 50 year old car with an engine compartment packed with road grime and grease. Soak all of that in oven cleaner, and in no time you'll be digging your way to the shiny metal hiding beneath it all. 

With all of it, make sure you have good ventilation. That stuff is pretty caustic.


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## GG1_Fan (Oct 26, 2011)

Thanks. I'm dangerous enough with simple green under the hood


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

I've found that Oven Cleaner is also good for cleaning stray cats. Not only do they come out spanking-clean, but they also run like a bat outta hell and never come back!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I'm wondering how you get the oven cleaner on the cats, I'd like to try that solution as well.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

You have to move like a marsupial....'cause they're faaaaast!


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