Great Stuff, in its place

[willfick]

Other places, a pain.
I was re-working drain lines for an elderly lady neighbor, fixing it so that the showers and washing machine drained out into the woods so as to avoid $thousands to put in a new leach field. Where the new line came out through the cinder block wall I needed to fill around the pipe. I told her I'd pick up some filler mortar next trip to town. She allowed as how she had a can of Great Stuff that she had used only a little. I know that that stuff is mostly use once and discard the leftovers, but she seemed eager to help. Sure enough the nozzle was fairly plugged, but I have a reputation as resourceful so I pulled out my (twenty-two-year old, housewarming gift from my sister) Leatherman and gave it a poke. At least I was wearing gloves&glasses. The entire contents came out all at once.
I put the tool in a grocery bag to ride home on the backhoe. When I got home I looked up on Dow's website how to clean it. I quote: "There is no solvent that will remove cured polyurethane foam."
They talk about scraping, sanding, etc. Can't do that between the parts of a Leatherman.
Do any of y'all know something Dow don't?
Thanks, WM

 

[55acwd45]

I would think that automotive solvent (omni ms251, etc) would dissolve it. Could try paint stripper or oven cleaner.

 

[kebo]

Wonder what boiling it would do to the foam???? That is, assuming there is nothing on the tool that high heat would damage.

Here's a wild idea that might just help some...... Dip it in something really sweet like honey, then let it dry. Set it on top of a fire ant mound and come back in a day or three. If those little buggers are hungry enough (and they usually don't turn anything down), they will probably at least get the top layer off that has honey soaked into it. If they do, then just keep repeating the process until it's all gone.

At the hunt club, sometimes when somebody kills a buck and they saw a wedge into the skull to cut the antlers off, we will set the wedge (with antlers) on a fireant mound and I promise you the fireants will pick it clean in a day or three. Good luck....

 

[E/S]

I would try acetone.

E/S

 

[SSRTOW]

M.E.K

 

[brandoro]

I would rather not be anywhere near MEK but agree that acetone should take that stuff off.
Not saying MEK wouldn't work, just won't be used by me.

 

[SSRTOW]

Use with caution and lots of protective gear for sure, fantastic for cleaning though.

 

[Rickstir]

Or, you could renew your wedding vows and make sure your sister gets an invitation.:laughing:

 

[davkir]

We used to use products from this company. Maybe they would send you a "sample" for "testing".

Urethane Products - Dynaloy, LLC: Semiconductor, specialty application advanced cleaning solutions manufacturer

 

[BXpanded]

Forget the MEK, acetone, gasoline, xylene... Drop it in boiling ethylene glycol (green antfreeze) Not kidding. Used it to clean nozzles and such from industrial high volume mixing equipment.

 

[woodlandfarms]

I guess Boiling Antifreeze would not give off any gas, right?

 

[boggen]

great stuff (red can) is a closed cell spray foam, i honestly should buy some stock in it, the way i use it.

if you get anything on you, clothes, skin, etc... let it dry and i mean totally dry. if on skin. a couple hours to do its initial curing. then once dry you can almost peal it off your skin. but if on cloths, or paneling, other wood work, and places you do not want it. then let it "fully cure" meaning not initial curing. but the 7 plus days of curing.

once it has fully cured, you can normally take your fingers and get the bigger chunks off. and then take a paint scraper, (finger nail could work but that hurts me fingers) and scrap majority of it off. on cloths you may have to wiggle the stuff back and forth. wiggle may be bad term. fold the cloth over itself and rub the 2 parts back and forth together. so the spot you want removed is the part that is constantly bending the U shape of the bend / fold of the cloth. this can help "break" stuff up and allow it to fall out of the little crevices and dents of the fabric of the cloth.

everything else that has good smooth surface, metal, paneling, pipes, flooring. you are normally just better off taking a paint scrapper, or taking a razor blade from a utility knife and slowly scraping the stuff off.

BUT THE KEY IS, letting it fully cure, not the 2 hour initial cure, but full 7 day curing. if you do not. then the foam will still be "gummy" and "mushy" and will not be brittle enough to work with to clean it up.

needless to say, when i get it on my hands, it generally takes 4 to 6 hours to let it dry, then i just rub my hands together and majorty of it comes off. ((soap, water hot or cold doesn't work, just makes it worse and more sticky even longer)) and then over the next couple days rub my hands together a couple times and majorty if not all gone exception for were finger nails meets skin on my fingers. ((some times i have to let that stuff be and give it a week or 2 and let dead natural skin flake the stuff off))

on cloths, i may still have a spot were the foam was "discolored" but wearing normally ragged cloths when working with spray foam (learned lessons)

everything else for most part always cleans up with above. notations.

just never try to clean spray foam up when it is wet even if it is a little dap on something very important. let it dry first. and less likely to gum more area up and more likely to have it come off cleanly once it has fully cured.

 

[BXpanded]

I guess Boiling Antifreeze would not give off any gas, right?

I don't know of any serious hazards. You would likely be exposed to the same gases when you take the cap off a hot radiator.

Obviously, you would want to make sure you have good ventilation.

I would suggest you do it outside and heat the stuff with a camp stove, turkey fryer, torch, etc. Stay upwind.

Keep anti-freeze away from pets! It tastes sweet and they will drink it! It is poisonous when ingested.

Info based on my personal experience. Standard disclaimers apply. Use at your own discretion and risk. Obtain the MSDS and follow recommendations.You are responsible for conducting your own research.

 

[willfick]

Thanks, Guys
I think I'll try the boiling antifreeze first; I've got that on hand and a way to boil it.
Dow specifies acetone for removing uncured Great Stuff and is very clear that it doesn't work after the cure.
Scraping won't do it, as the worst of the stuff is down in between the folding parts of the Leatherman.
My fallback try is going to be melting/burning with the propane flamethrower I got to deal with the weeds in the gravel walks. I don't think I'll get it hot enough to damage stainless steel, and at that point there'll be naught left to lose.
Wm

 

[sandman2234]

Or, you could renew your wedding vows and make sure your sister gets an invitation.:laughing:

Problems with that idea are:
1) She knows she already gave you one.
2) She probably would go to Harbor Freight and get one made in China that would last a week or two.
3) She didn't give me one.
David from jax

(Good luck getting the old one cleaned!!)