Unlocking the Power of Organic Solvents

The true power of an organic solvent such as terpene, or napthalene lies in several different properties.  These are solvency power, water miscibility, slow evaporation rate, and low toxicity.

Solvency is simply to what degree the OS will dissolve or soften the deposit in question such as paint.  Different solvents are based on different chemistries.  This information is easily discovered.  But how powerful your chosen solvent will be at dissolving paint as an example can only be determined by experiment.  I remember one consulting job I was working on once.  Where I had to locate a chemical that would eat up a very strong epoxy paint.  The answer turned out to be a 50% water based solution of sodium carbonate.  NOT an organic solvent but a VERY powerful alkalie.  Also NOT a chemical you would want to get on your skin or in your eyes.  Just look up the msds on a 50% sodium carbonate solution.

Water miscibility is VERY important because it will make your product very easy to remove with an applicator, soapy water, and a squeegee.

Slow evaporation rate is critical because the longer you can leave the product on the window the better it will work.  Always remember however that powerful solvents have the ability to destroy plexiglass and polycarbonate plastic.  So keep them far away from vision plastics.  I have a video here that demonstrates the solvency power of a very good solvent with a very slow evaporation rate.  This video also shows how plastic which is stressed can be destroyed in short order.  Even by a simple solvent such as alcohol.

The Elevance 1200 product here is a VERY powerful solvent.  But it still took a good half hour soften the green paint.  Not even a sharp single edge razor would remove the paint which I applied extra thick with several layers.  This demonstrates exactly how practical products like this can be.  Especially if you are working on a metallic coating such as titanium oxide.  But again I encourage safety.  Because we still would need to test the solvent against the coating.  Then make sure you get your waiver signed.  Don't risk a lawsuit.  Such a thing could literally be sickening.  Even if you win.  Furthermore the customer must absolutely know that a painted pyrolytic or low e coated window has already been wasted.  Also whatever warranty it had is totally gone.  So if you were to perform a successful restoration on the building you would be saving the owner a ton of money.  You must also be very careful about doing harm to the seal of IG Units, and any metal framing around such units.  It should be put in writing that you will take special care to not let any solvents or chemicals come into contact with the window (IGU) seal.  Otherwise the window could fog up even a year later and you might be blamed for that!  So again I emphasize cover yourself.  Also charge a percentage of replacement cost for the job.  Do NOT charge too little.

Henry

henrygrover222@gmail.com