Removing the sticky plastic sheet on Aluminum panels. How do you....?

[horsecreek]

Three year old Aluminum panels that arrived with my QB Bearhawk kit are almost impossible to remove. I have been just trying to pull it off but my fingers are just hacking it. How are they easily removed? horse creek

[Battson]

There was just a thread about this in the general section - there is no silver bullet I'm sorry to tell you.

[Enewton57]

Try putting them in the sun to heat them up. On the aluminum sheets that have plastic on both sides, I found that the plastic is too thin to pull off on side of the aluminum but the plastic on the other side pulls off easier. On the thin stuff, I used MEK and a scotchbright pad since i had to scuff up the aluminum for priming anyway. Makes a big mess but eventually I got it all off.

[Zzz]

Read this on another website:

I have tried for a number of days to come up with a method of removing some of the black and white LDPE film from some carts that were built a few years ago and stored in a location where they saw sunlight. As with most people I tried every solvent I could think of. Then I did some searching and found that Xylene at elevated temperatures would penetrate the LDPE. What I found to work was to use a heat gun and warm the metal. Then I soaked a towel in Xylene and placed it on top of plastic and let it sit. After 10-20 min, the plastic coating peeled off as if it were new. Nice and easy leaving no residue. I did get it a little too hot in a few places and melted the plastic fairly severely. But what I found was that by laying the towel over the area second time for a few minutes, the residue wiped right off.

Sounds pretty gnarly, but effective.

[Travis]

Three year old Aluminum panels that arrived with my QB Bearhawk kit are almost impossible to remove. I have been just trying to pull it off but my fingers are just hacking it. How are they easily removed? horse creek

I just accidentally removed some plastic that was basically undetectable from an aluminum piece the other day while trying to electro etch the piece, so perhaps you might want to consider connecting a battery charger or power supply (six volts and six amps should work) lead to the piece, also putting the opposite polarity lead on a sacrificial piece of scrap, and then placing both in saltwater or salted vinegar, or for smaller pieces, you could try placing one lead on the piece and placing a piece of cotton in the other, soaking the cotton in the saltwater or vinegar and then pressing the cotton into the surface.

[Steve W]

Heat gun and a bit of patience. 2-3 square feet at a time.

[Flygirl1]

bdflies posted he had issues with removing the plastic from his windshield. LP Plastics suggested using 50% alcohol and 50% Kerosene. Said it worked great. That plastic doesn't have sticky glue like the plastic on the aluminum, so it may or may not work, worth a try though. I called the stuff "the plastic from hell". The glue left behind was darn near indestructible. All the aluminum used in the floor of my Patrol still has the plastic on it. Covered it with carpet, so not worth the effort of removing it!! Feel your pain. D.

[Mark Goldberg]

It is best to remove that plastic as soon as possible upon receiving a kit. On one hand - the plastic is good to have on as you work on your wings and other parts. But on the other hand it becomes a pain to remove if you leave it too long. Mark

[Greg_Marlow]

Xylene works pretty good for that God awful white plastic. Soak a rag with it and let the rag sit on the plastic for a few minutes. Then use a heat gun and a razor blade for the stubborn parts. My parts sat for 10 years before I bought the kit, so I know what you're dealing with.

[PaulSA]

I second the gentle use of a heat gun. You may then need to use some acetone or MEK to get any residual glue off.

[rodsmith]

My wings sat several years in my hangar on some scrap carpet. When I put them on a rotisserie I was still able to remove 80-90 percent of the plastic on the bottom side, whatever had been in contact with the carpet. The plastic on the top was all dried and cracked. I tried several solvents which didn't seem to help much. I finally used a heat gun and plastic razor blade scrapers. Took me about 20 hours each wing to remove the plastic and about 50 of the plastic razor blades.

[Mark Goldberg]

The plastic that came on our wings for a long time was best removed pretty soon after receiving a kit. Big pain to remove years later. Now, we have changed plastic to one with a less aggressive adhesive. Mark

[jaredyates]

It just happens I had a how-to video about this in my editing queue. Here it is: https://youtu.be/ObOXV767TE4

[fairchild]

you could use a mild (relatively) spray can paint remover.

[Dpearson]

I’m going to start the process of trying to remove the white plastic from my “barn find” QB wings this weekend. It’s been in place since the wings were delivered in 2006. It peels easy from the bottom surfaces but the top side plastic is brittle and really stuck!
Plastic razor blades and heat gun are available, as are acetone, carb cleaner, and MEK. Any other suggestions, sympathy, or laughter would be welcome!