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I know its an odd question, but I have used every method at my disposal to strip models (in Australia) and finally settled on Dettol being the most effective. It works amazingly well. However, the clean up afterwards is atrocious. I put it under water with a toothbrush and the dettol/paint sludge seemed to morph into glue. I've used IPA instead of water and it was more or less the same. Is there a trick to getting rid of the sludge without making a huge mess?

Thanks

Id try to use a disposable brush while the stuff is still in the detol rather than take it out and try to do it under tap

Yeah never use water! Acetone is your friend. Get some nail varnish remover. Be careful with plastics though, as it will damage them.

Dettol.


When I've paint stripped with it I leave it in the jar (metal models mostly) for until I remember I've done it (ergo ages most times). Then to wash off the gunky mix of paint and dettol I use a single work toothbrush and fresh Dettol. Rinsing and scrubbing in the fresh will get most of the gunk off the model really easily.

Then I rinse it in yet more fresh Dettol to properly clean it off, then let it dry then it can be washed with water to get the final residue off.


If you try washing direct with water you'll get a goopy thick sludge that you can get off, but will take forever.

If you are using it to strip paint, NEVER USE WATER with dettol.

Rinse with methylated spirits or isopropyl alcohol.

Water added to dettol turns acrylic paint into gunge that sticks to everything.

(You can add water to it if you are using to clean wounds - because undiluted dettol on skin is bad news).

Can you get biostrip 20 in your country? Works as good as dettol but none of the downsides

I’ve always used Dettol for stripping models.

I use a toothbrush and washing up liquid to scrub the paint and Dettol off. Only once the model is clean of paint / Dettol do I clean it with water.

Using washing up liquid avoids the gloopy mess you describe.

Thanks for all your help guys, plenty of answers here. I've got a few different techniques to try out.

 masterdoobie wrote:
I know its an odd question, but I have used every method at my disposal to strip models (in Australia) and finally settled on Dettol being the most effective. It works amazingly well. However, the clean up afterwards is atrocious. I put it under water with a toothbrush and the dettol/paint sludge seemed to morph into glue. I've used IPA instead of water and it was more or less the same. Is there a trick to getting rid of the sludge without making a huge mess?

Thanks

FWIW, I switched from dettol to 99% IPA to strip paint, and found it worked much better - not having the gunge issue was a significant advantage, as you never seem to get rid of all of it, and the smell seems to really hang about. So depending upon your IPA strength, you might be better off just stripping them with that (70% doesn't work at all, 90% works somewhat, but requires extra rounds).

Or, you can get Simple Green from Bunners, that, in a little ultrasonic and soak and run a bit, and most paint comes off with a good scrub. That's what I do and it works great for the most part!

 arkhanist wrote:

 masterdoobie wrote:
I know its an odd question, but I have used every method at my disposal to strip models (in Australia) and finally settled on Dettol being the most effective. It works amazingly well. However, the clean up afterwards is atrocious. I put it under water with a toothbrush and the dettol/paint sludge seemed to morph into glue. I've used IPA instead of water and it was more or less the same. Is there a trick to getting rid of the sludge without making a huge mess?

Thanks

FWIW, I switched from dettol to 99% IPA to strip paint, and found it worked much better - not having the gunge issue was a significant advantage, as you never seem to get rid of all of it, and the smell seems to really hang about. So depending upon your IPA strength, you might be better off just stripping them with that (70% doesn't work at all, 90% works somewhat, but requires extra rounds).

Dettol is mostly Isopropanol anyway (with eucalyptus oil and some other anti-bacterial goop in it - and they are what turns the paint into goop.). For stripping paint, Isopropyl alcohol straight is a much better option - but I have a brother-in-law who works at a chemical plant that makes it (I get it and Acetone in 20l drums).

 arkhanist wrote:

 masterdoobie wrote:
I know its an odd question, but I have used every method at my disposal to strip models (in Australia) and finally settled on Dettol being the most effective. It works amazingly well. However, the clean up afterwards is atrocious. I put it under water with a toothbrush and the dettol/paint sludge seemed to morph into glue. I've used IPA instead of water and it was more or less the same. Is there a trick to getting rid of the sludge without making a huge mess?

Thanks

FWIW, I switched from dettol to 99% IPA to strip paint, and found it worked much better - not having the gunge issue was a significant advantage, as you never seem to get rid of all of it, and the smell seems to really hang about. So depending upon your IPA strength, you might be better off just stripping them with that (70% doesn't work at all, 90% works somewhat, but requires extra rounds).

+1 to this. I made the same change myself, for the same reasons (brutal on your skin too, if not wearing gloves). I dunk them in a 99.9% IPA bath for a couple of rounds in a cheap Ultrasonic cleaner, comes off nicely with some light scrubbing.

Top tip - don't use your own toothbrush for this...