# Paint Thinner and Carbon?



## DRLski (Apr 26, 2003)

This came from reading the carbon seatpost issue thread but didn't want to hijack that. When I was reading the velonews article about greasing carbon seatposts, Craig from Calfee said the following:
"About the only common chemical that will hurt carbon fiber is paint remover (which attacks the resin between the fibers). But there are many solvents that will dull a nice paintjob."

Would this include using something like Goo Off or Oops on carbon fiber to get off decal adhesive or hard to remove grease/dirt? Since these are pretty similar to paint remover (I'd assume) I'm wondering if these would also hurt carbon fiber.


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## Pieter (Oct 17, 2005)

I don't think those are similar to paint thinner. Thinner has a distinctive smell and is a bit of an overkill for just removing decal adhesive.

Commercial goo remover should therefore be way safer than thinner.

You can also sparingly use automotive polish. It has mild solvent plus abrasive properties.

I have used turpentine for getting rid of decal gum. It 'should' be OK on a clear coated carbon frame (when it is wiped off pronto, using alcohol) ... but don't quote me on that!


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## matanza (Jun 9, 2004)

WD-40 works for adhesives and etc.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Those products are made for use on painted surfaces. They should work fine. A further point: "paint remover" and "paint thinner" are not the same thing. Thinner is used for thinning paint, or for cleaning wet paint from brushes and tools, but it won't dissolve fully dried paint. Paint remover contains much nastier solvents.


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## C-40 (Feb 4, 2004)

*info...*

Goof off and similar products are nothing like paint remover, so they should not hurt carbon. What people need to remeber though is the final finish on carbon bikes is not the same epoxy resin used in the CF composite. Most bikes are clearcoated or painted with products like urethane paint, which is also quite durable, but not as durable as epoxy. Cheaper frames may have chepaer and less durable paint or clearcoat.

Paint thinner is commonly used to describe mineral spirits, which is oil-based house paint thinner. Naptha is similar, but faster evaporating. Both are mild and will not damage painted surfaces.

There are many other types of thinners that are much more aggressive, like lacquer thinner and acetone, which might cause dulling of urethane paint and they evek melt some plastics, like polystyrene.

Paint remover is an entirely different product, often a very strong caustic. Some of the strongest are designed to remove epoxy paint, so they would damage CF.


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