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Oven Cleaner Question

4.5K views 34 replies 11 participants last post by  Gansett  
#1 ·
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!
 
#2 ·
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.
 
#4 ·
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. :D

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.
 
#5 ·
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.
 
#10 ·
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. :)
 
#11 ·
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?
 
#14 ·
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!
 
#18 ·
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
 
#20 ·
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
 
#21 ·
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?
 
#22 ·
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.
 
#24 ·
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.
 
#25 ·
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: