Re: Acetone + Poly = Damage?
Right, thx with the info. I never know lacquer thinner eats up poly finish.
There are different types of plastic that have been used for finishes over the years. And there are also different strengths of common solvents, because they can come in different concentrations, and they can also lose their punch over time. For example, one time I was cleaning some very old duct tape residue off of my '76 Fender bass (with its notorious poly finish, of course). I tried several different solvents, starting weak, and working my way up in strength. I finally determined that lacquer thinner worked the best. I got most of the work done, but I ran out of thinner. So, I went to the store, and bought another gallon of the same product, same brand, same bottle and everything. I went home, made a few wipes with a rag soaked with the fresh thinner, and the clear coat came right off like nothing. The old stuff had weakened so much that it worked perfectly for cleaning the poly without damaging the finish.
However, on some newer plastic finishes, I've used acetone, lacquer thinner, etc. to clean stuff off, and there was no harm whatsoever.
Same with stripper. I just stripped a '79 Fender body using chemicals, and the paint came off as if it was lacquer, in about two minutes. However, I am chemically stripping a '94 Godin, and its plastic finish, while much, much thinner, is also much, much more resilient to the stripper. Obviously a different type of plastic finish.
The moral of the story is to always test...and RE-TEST if you get a new bottle of something.
