CA1229778A - Paint removing compositions and methods for the manufacture and use thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

IMPROVED PAINT REMOVING COMPOSITIONS
AND METHODS FOR THE MANUFACTURE AND USE THEREOF
A B S T R A C T
Novel paint removing compositions, a method for their production, and. methods for using the same, are described, which employ conventional active paint removing ingredients, in combination with auxiliary ingredients, which aid in lifting paint from a painted surface, such as an automobile body and which act to prevent re-adhesion of the paint, and to convert the paint-paint-removing com-position mixture to a dry, friable mass, which is easily removed to expose the bare substrate, and produce a dry, easily handled and disposable waste product.

Description

1229'778 IMPROVED PAINT REMOVING COMPOSITIONS
AND METHODS ~OR THE MANUFACTURE AND USE THEREOF
Background and Prior Art The present invention relates to paint removal and, more particularly, to the strlpping of paint and other finishes fro~l automobiles prior to re-painting.
It is well-known to those in the automobile body repair and refinishing art that removal of the old automotive finish is the most difficult, time-consuming, and messiest part of the work. Automotive finishes can be removed by sanding and/or with the aid of chemiaa} strip-pers. When using a chemical stripper, typically a liquid, or molce usually, a semi-liquid thin paste, containing the activl3 paint stripper is applied to the auto body ~o be stripl?ed and allowed to stand until the paint has been lifted from the surface. This may require several hours or ev~sn standing overnight. nhen the paint is at its loosest, it is removed by scraping. This produces a messy deposit on the floor of the work place consisting of strips or scraps of paint film swollen with the still wet paint remover. Inasmuch as the active paint removing agents in the paint remover are irritating to the skin and eyes, protective gloves and goggles are preferably worn for this work. In any event, it is a difficult and unpleasant task to clean up and dispose of the wet paint strippings.
Another disadvantage of commercially available paint removers, particularly for automotive use, is that they have varying degrees of effectiveness, removing most of the paint in some aases, but only part of the paint or .~. .
. . . . .: . .
, ' , . .

.

12297~

hardly any of it in others. Previously available paint removers are particularly ineffective on epoxy, urethane and lacquer finishes, and some automotive undercaats.
S~ill another disadvantage of currently avail-able chemical paint strippers is that the paint tends tore-adhere to the stripped surface if the paint remover is allowed to stand too long. Therefore, the scraping operation must be conducted at the optimum time to avoid the need to re-apply paint remover with consequent loss of time. This presents a scheduling problem and necessarily reduces efficiency.
The deficiencies of presently available chemical paint removers are so great that some auto body shops resort to the more time-consuming and therefore, expensive sand-blasting and grinding techniques. These methods of paint removal also have the disadvantage of creating a dust problem, requiring the workers to wear protective masks and alothing. Also, as with any operation that creates a dust-laden atmosphere, there is always the possibility of a dust explosion.
In view of the very large volume of automotive refinishing work, and the obvious disadvantages of the current methods of paint removal, it is apparent that there is a pressing need in the art for an improved method of paint removal and improved chemical compositions for this purpose.
It is a primary object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved method for removing paint, and particularly automotive paint, and improved chemical compositions for this purpose, ~Jhich are not subject to the clisadvantages of the prior art.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved method and compositions for paint removal, which reduce labor, increase efficiency, do not require protective clothing during the stripping operation, and which permit easy clean up of the stripped paint.
It is still another object of the invention to ~Z~:9~7~3 provide a method and compositions for paint removal, which prevent re-adhesion of stripped paint to the treated surface.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a method and compositions for paint removal; which are not only more efficient and convenient than those of the prior art, but which are also less expensive.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a method and compositions capable of completely removing all commercial automotive finishes, including acrylics, synthetics, epoxies, urethanes, lacquers ~nd undercoatings, down to the bare metal with minimal effort in the stripping operation.
It is another object of the invention to pro-vide a method and compositions for automotive paint re-moval in which the paint is removed in dry flake form without the need for heavy manual scraping.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method and compositions for the removal of automotive paint in which the stripped paint is converted to a dry, frangible mass, which can be removed from the treated surface by compressed air from an air gun to form a dry flaky material easily swept up for disposal.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide paint removing compositions whiah have good flow and adhesion, long shelf life, non~flammability, good color and low odor.
It is still another object of the invention to provide such compositions which are capable of removing 0 multiple coats of paint in a single operation.
Summar~ of the Inventlon The foregoing and other objects of the in-vention which will become apparent below are achieved by the incorporation of one or more ingredients in a paint stripping composition which aid the primary active paint removing agent, such as methylenei chloride, to achieve complete paint xemoval and to convert the stripped paint ~229~8 and paint remover to a dry, friable mass, which is not only easily removed from the treated surface to leave bare metal, but which is also safely handled without gloves or other protective clothing.
According to the present invention there is provided in a paint removing composition comprising at least one active paint removing material and other auxiliary materials to provi~e a thickened, flowable composition adapted to be applied to a painted surface, the improvement which comprises: incorporating in said paint removing composition an inert absorbent, particulate material which, after lifting of the paint from the painted surface by said active paint removing material, functions to dry the paintremoving composition and the removed paint to form a dry, frangible mass on the treated surface, which is readily removable therefrom as a dry powder or flake material.
A preferred paint remover contains methylene chloride in the range of from 70 to 8~% by weight, paraffin refined wax in the range of from 1.5 to 4% by wei~ht, mineral spirits in the range of from 1 to 5~ by weight, ethyl alcohol, denatured in the range of from 0 to 6~ by weight, aqua ammonia in the range of from 0 to 8% by weight, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose or the e~uivalent, in the range of from 1 to 4% by weight, methanol in the ran~e of from 1 to 8% by weight, and diatomaceous earth or equivalent, in the range of from 3 to 10% by weight.
According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of making such preferred paint remover comprising dissolving the paraffin wax or equivalent in the mineral spirits with heating, slowly adding the dissolved wax-mineral spirits mixture to the methylene chloride or equivalent, with stirring, slowly adding the hydroxyproply-methyl cellulose, or equivalent, followed by the diatomaceous earth or equivalent, with stirring, adding the ammonia, adding the ethyl alcohol, or equivalent, if any, and finally, adding the methanol.
The primary novelty in the present invention resides in the discovery that the addition of from about 3 to about 10% by weight of certain dry, particulate, .: ~

12297~8 -4a-absorbent materials, such as d-atomeceous earth, to the paint remover causes the formation, ~rom the stripped paint and paint remover residue, of a dry, friable, easily removed mass, which can be handled without gloves or other protective clothing without irritation of the skin of the operator.
Additional novelty in the new compositions resides in the incorporation of certain thickening agents wXich operate in combination with the diatomaceous earth or equivalent to produce the desired friable dry mass of paint and paint remover. Various thickening agents known to the art per se and previously employed in the paint remover not containing a material providing a dry mass may be used.
There include, among others, modified cellulose compositions such as Methocel (Registered Trademark), which may suitably have a viscosity of from about 2000 to about 6000 cps., perferably about 4000 cps.
While not essential for all automotive finishes, it has been found that it is necessary to include from about 1% to about 4% ammonia in the new compositions in orde!r to successfully remove lacquer type automotive finishes.
The ammonia may be added in any suitable form, but concentrated aqua ammonia is preferred for ease of handling.
Again, while ethanol is not an essential ingredient for some automotive finishes, it is necessary to add about 3 to about 6% t:o successfully remove epoxy and urethane automotive finishes. Other optional, but desirable, ingredients are as follows: refined paraffin wax; mineral spirits or the equivalent and methanol.

;2977~

Description of the Pre~erred Embodiments More specifically, the new paint removers have the following compositions.
The Compositions Percent By Weight Ingredient Mln. Preferred Max.
Methylene chloride 70 78 82 Paraffin refined wax 1.5 2 4 Mineral Spirits 1 2 5 Ethyl alcohol, denatured 0 3 6 Aqua ammonia 0 4 8 Hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose 1 2 4 Methanol 1 4 8 Diatomaceous earth 3 5 10 It should be understood that the foregoing pro-portions are approximate and that they are based on theweight of the total composition.
The preferred active paint stripping agent, methylene chloride, is commonly used for this purpose in chemical paint removers. While, less than about 70%
methylene chloride may be used, i~ desired, there i9 a consequent loss of paint stripping effectiveness. It is preferred to use about 75 to about 78% to provide a com-position which will have the desired effectiveness.
While more than 82~ methylene chloride could be used, it has not been found necessary to do so, and such large amounts increase the rate of evaporation from the com-position, and consequently its odor.
The ethyl alcohol is not an essential ingredient, but is desirable, since it aids in the penetration of various paint surfaces, and particularly automotive lacquer finishes.
The aqua ammonia or its equivalent is an essential ingredient, particularly for lacquer removal, since it createls a bubbling effect in use which helps to lift the paint from the treated surface. While anhydrous ammonia could be used, it is more convenient to handle aqua ammonia. Any suitable concentration of aqua ammonia 12 ~ 9 may be used up to about 36 Baume, which is an aqueous solution containin~ about 30% ammonia, by weight. Other sourcews o~ ammonia may also be employed, such as organic amines. While somewhat more than about 8% aqua ammonia may be employed, it has not been found to be necessary and it is undesirable to add more water to the composition than is contained in tha~ amount of aqua ammonia.
A thickening agent is added to lend body to the composition , not only to add in holding it in place on the surface to be treated, but to aid in the formation of the dry frangible mass. Any suitable thickening agent known to the art may be employed. Modified aellulose available under the tradenames "Methicel"
(Regi~tered Trademark) and "Cellosize" (Registered Trade-mark) are suitable. Carboxymethylcellulose, methycellulose and hydroyxethyl cellulose are also very effective. The preferred thickening agent is hydroypropylmethyl cellulose, suitably having a viscosity of about 4000 to about 5000 cps. While less than 1% thickening agent may be employed the resulting compositions are thin and difficult to use.
More than 4% of the thickening agent may be used but is seldom necessary. Other thickening agents are operable at viscosities of from about 2000 to about 6000 cps.;
4000 cps. being preferred.
The methanol is also an optional, but desirable ingredient, since it swells the modified cellulose thickening agent and enhancese its thickening properties.
Less than about 1% methanol may be used, but with reduced effect. More than about 4% methanol may also be used, but is seldom necessary, and would require labeling the composition as a poison.
Any suitable refined paraffin wax may be employed in amounts from about 1.5 to about 4%
by weight. The ~wax serves several functions, i.e., it reduces evaporation of the volatile ingredients and for this reason also reduces the odor of ammonia. The wax also forms a film to a surface to be treated. The wax ~2297~8 film aids in holding the other ingredients in place while the composition is working. While less than about 1.5%
wax may be employed, such small amounts reduce control of evaporation. More than about 48%wax is undesirable, since it reduces the bubbling effect of the ammonia.
The mineral spirits are employed to dissolve the solid paraffin wax for addition to the liquid or semi-liquid composition. The preferred mineral spirits are a hydrocarbon cut having a boiling point in the range from about 200~F. to about 400F. Other wax solvents such as xylene or toluene, for example, may also be employed. From about 1% to about 5% wax solvent may be employed depending on the amount of wax used. The solid wax is placed in the solvent in a con-tainer and the solvent is heated sufficiently to dissolve the wax; typically to about 130F.
The most important ingredient and the one which is primarily responsible for the advantages of the new paint stripping compositions is a dry, inert, particulate absorbent material. The preferred material for this purpa,se is diatomaceous earth. This material absorbs the F~aint remover and stripped paint, prevents the stripped paint from re-adhering to the treated surface and drys the mixture to form an easily removable, dry, frangible mass. Certain materials other than diatomaceous earth also serve this purpose, expanded perlite, for example. E~owever, a number of commonly available absorbent particulate materials which mi.ght suggest themselves for this purpose are, in fact:, inoperable.
Such inoperable materials include saw dust, or wood flour, talc, bentonite, potato starch, cmd clay among many others. However, having disclosed the utility of diatomaceous earth for this purpose, those skilled in the art will be able to find other operable materials by routine trial cmd error, and, therefore, it is the con-cept which constitutes the invention and not the use of diatomaceous earth per se. The diatomaceous earth or 7~

other operable absorbent is added to the paint remover in amounts of about 3 to about 5% by weight. Less than 3~ may be employed, but with reduction in the desired proper ies of preven~ing re-adhesion of the paint and drying of the mixture to an easily removed frangible mass. More than 5% by weight of the absorbent may be used, but to do so is unnecessary to achieving the desired properties and, of course, reduces the pro-portion of active ingredients.
As noted above, some of the ingredients are optional. ~owever, three of the ingredients have been found essential to achieving the complete removal of an automotive finish as a dry frangible or friable mass easily separated from the treated surface, These essential ingredients, diatomaceous earth, thickener and ammOnia, or their equivalents, work in combination to produce the novel properties of the new compositions.
The invention also includes the method of makiny the new compositions, since it has been found that the order of addition of at least some of the in-gredients is critical to achieving compositions having the desired properties.
The preferred method of making new aompositions is as follows. The methylene chloride is stirred in a suitable container with conventional blending equipment.
In a separate container, the wax is dissolved in the mineral spirits or other wax solvent by heating and melting the wax in the solvent. The solution of wax and solvent is then added to the methylene chloride, slowly with continued stirring. Next, while the stirring continues, the hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose is slowly aclded Xollowed by the diatomaceous earth or equlvalent,. The aqua ammonia is added next, followed by the ethyl alcohol. The methanol is then added as the last ingredient.
In this way a paint stripping composition is made which has long shelf liXe, is non-flammable, has 12~7~78 g good color and a low odor, and which is capable of com-pletely removing any automotive finish down to the bare metal.
The new compositions may be applied to the sur~
face to be treated by techniques known in the art, such as by brushing or rolling, or even spraying, if desired.
The new compositions lift the paint from the metal and dry in about 4 to about 6 hours, in most cases. If desired the compositions may be removed by scraping or wiping while still wet after the paint has been lifted.
This is not preferred however, since the primary advantages of dry stripping and clean up are lost. It is preferred to wait until the paint and paint r ~ ver mixture has fully dried to a friable, dry mass. This mass is then very easily re-moved by any suitable mechanical method with minimaleffort, as by scraping or brush;ng, either manually or by t~e use of a power tool. The easiest method of all is to use compressed air from commercially available hand held air guns, which direct a jet of air at the friable mass to swiftly and fully remove it~from the bare metal.
The flaked or powdered mass containing the removed paint is t]hen simply swept up and discarded as clean dry, easily handled loose material.
The preferred practice is to apply the com-positions to the surfaces to be treated at the end of thework day and to let the composition work and dry overnight for removal in the morning. This leaves the remainder of the work day for L~e~inishing the auto body. The new compositions are very economical, since they are made from inexpensive ingredients, and usually only one gallon is needed to strip most automobiles.
The invention will now be described in greater detail in the ~ollowing examples.
Example I
35Production of a Paint Strippin~ Composition Place 2 lbs of solid, refined paraffin wax into a metal pot containing 2 lbs of mineral spirits, the wax 1;22977~3 should be cut or chopped into small pieces to ~acilitate melting and solution. Heat the pot with occasional mild stirring, until the mineral spirits reach the ~elting point of the wax, i.e., about 130F., and continue stirr-ing until all of the wax has melted and dissolved.
Add the mineral spirits - wax solution very slowly to 78 lbs of methylene chloride in a vessel fitted with a conventi.onal stirrer~ Stir the mixture slowly, during the gradual addition of the wax solution, until all of the wax has been added and the solution in the vessel is homogeneous. While continuing mild stirring, add 2 lbs of hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose followed by 5 lbs of diatomaceous earth ("Celatom Diatomite") to form a suspension of the particles of diatomaceous earth in the liquid vehicle. Then, while continuing mild stirring, add 4 lbs of 36 saume' aqua ammonia followed by 3 lbs of denatured ethyl alcohol. Lastly, add 4 lbs of methanol and continue stirring until the mixture is homogeneous. Continue stirring while filling the finished paint stripper into drums or gallon cans in order to i.nsure the uniformity of the composition.
Example II
Use of the Paint Stripping Composition The paint stripping composition of Example I
is preferably poured onto the surface of an automobile to be stripped and brushed in one direation using an ordinary paint brush. Use about one gallon of the com-position to coat a full-sized automobile. Allow the paint stri.pper to stand in contact with the auto body for from 4 to 6 hours or preferably overnight, until the lifted paint and paint stripper is thoroughly dry to the touch.
Then remove the dry, friable paint-paint stripper mass from the auto body by any suitable ' mechanical means, such as a scraper, a common scrub brush or, prel.erably and most easily, by the use of a commercially available compresse~d air gun. Then sweep ~229~

up the flaky and powdered residue and dispose of it as clean rubbish or fill.
No protective clothing or breathing device is required either during the appl.ication of the paint stripper or during its removal as a dry sa~ely handled material.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing description and examples are mer~ly illustrative, and that other compositions, and other methods of making and using them are included in the scope of the invention. For example, and without limitation, any known active paint stripping ingredient other than the preferred methylene chloride may be used.
The ammonia may be supplied from any known source, other than the preferred, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose. Most importantly, while diatomaceous earth is presently the preferred inert, particulate absorbent material, which provides the major advantages of the new compositions, the invention resides in the concept of using such a material in a paint stripper and any functional equivalent of the diatomaceous earth may be employed.
Indeed, functional equivalents of any of the ingred~ents may be used, and any other ingredients commonly employed in such compositions ma~ also be added so long as they do not alter the character of the claimed compositions.

Claims (13)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
OPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. In a paint removing composition comprising at least one active paint removing material and other auxiliary materials to provide a thickened, flowable composition adapted to be applied to a painted surface, the improvement which comprises: incorporating in said paint removing composition an inert absorbent, particulate material which, after lifting of the paint from the painted surface by said active paint removing material, functions to dry the paint removing composition and the removed paint to form a dry, frangible mass on the treated surface, which is readily removable therefrom as a dry powder or flake material.

2. A composition of claim 1, wherein the inert particulate absorbent material is selected from the group consisting of diatomaceous earth and expanded perlite.

3. A composition of claim 1, containing in addition, a thickening agent which acts in conjunction with the inert, absorbent, particulate material, to form said dry, frangible, easily removed mass with the removed paint.

4. A composition of claim 3, wherein the thickening agent is a modified cellulose.

5. A composition of claim 4, wherein the thickening agent is selected from the group consisting of carboxymethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose and hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose.

6. A composition of claim 5, wherein the thickening agent has a viscosity of from about 2000 to about 6000 cps.

7. A composition of claim 5, in which the thickening agent is hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, having a viscosity of about 1% to about 4% by weight of the entire composition.

8. A composition of any of claims 1 to 3 which contains, in addition, about 1 to about 4% of ammonia by weight.

9. A composition of any of claims 1 to 3 which contains from about 3% to about 6% ethanol by weight.

10. A composition of claim 1, which contains:

Ingredient Methylene chloride Paraffin refined wax Mineral Spirits Ethyl alcohol, denatured Aqua ammonia Hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose or equivalent Methanol Diatomaceous earth or equivalent

11. A composition of claim 1, which contains about:
Percent By Weight Methylene chloride 78 Paraffin refined wax 2 Mineral spirits 2 Ethyl alcohol 3 Aqua ammonia 36° Baume 4 Hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose 2 Methanol 4 Diatomaceous earth 5.

12. A method for the production of a paint remover of claim 10, which comprises:
(a) dissolving the paraffin wax or equivalent in the mineral spirits with heating;
(b) slowly adding the dissolved wax-mineral spirits mixture to the methylene chloride or equivalent, with stirring;
(c) slowly adding the hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, or equivalent, followed by the diatomaceous earth or equivalent, with stirring;
(d) adding the ammonia;
(e) adding the ethyl alcohol, or equivalent, if any; and (f) finally, adding the methanol.

13. A method for removing paint which comprises apply-ing to a painted surface, a composition of claim 1 or 10;
allowing the composition to be dried to a frangible mass, and removing the same by physical means as a dry, flaky, non-irritating material.