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Of solvents and rags...
By:Hank
Date: 9/7/1999, 9:16 am

I have read a couple of posts saying that the acetone could leave a residue that could interfere with adhesion. I have been using acetone as a cleaner to wipe-down the epoxy and never had any problems with the West System products that I use.

To find out for sure, I contacted the West System technical representative and asked if acetone would leave a residue. He said that there was no problem with the acetone providing it is used with paper towels or clean, 100% cotton rags. The residue that causes problems often comes from dissolved synthetic fibers found in many cloth rags. Other sources of contamination on cloth rags are silicones from fabric softeners and soap residues from incomplete rinsing. The acetone dissolves the contaminates in the rags and they end up on the surface we are trying to clean.

The same consideration may apply to some of the other solvents that we use for cleaning and de-greasing.

I will be switching to paper towels for my wipe-downs from now on.

Hope this helps.

Messages In This Thread

Of solvents and rags...
Hank -- 9/7/1999, 9:16 am
Re: Of solvents and rags...
Nolan -- 9/7/1999, 1:37 pm