Spray Paint got on my Flashlight

[fiberguy]

I had only owned my TK41 a couple weeks. One night, I left it sitting on a ledge after we inspected an area to be spray painted nearby. I walked away and came back about 20-30 minutes later to find the guys hard at work painting. There was a LOT of white paint in the air, and little speckles of white were all over my light Tiny little spots. Like little dots. I let it go for a couple months, figuring it was a new light and it'd quickly be covered in battle scars anyway.

Turns out, it's not scarred up. I've managed to take pretty decent care of my $100+ flashlights (aside from the spray paint incident) Now my collection has grown a good deal and this one is the only black eye out of the bunch. It almost looks like it came with this speckled finish, and it's not cool looking at all. It's the kind of look that will cause other guys to make fun of your light rather than compliment it's power. Any suggestions on how to get it off without damaging the finish? I've never actually removed paint where I had to worry about damaging a finish before. Is paint thinner safe for this? Thanks guys; the accidental custom paint job isn't my cup of tea :thumbsup:

 

[Yamabushi]

Graffiti remover is available as liquid or spray, will remove almost any spray paint and will not harm anodized finish.

 

[gripnSUREFIRE]

Product called "goof off" works well

 

[ico]

Can you post a picture of it? Maybe it's not as bad as you think it is

 

[fiberguy]

Can you post a picture of it? Maybe it's not as bad as you think it is

I will gladly post a picture this evening.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys!

 

[Empire]

I will gladly post a picture this evening.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys!

I think it'd look kinda cute, Very interested to see it

 

[fiberguy]

Here ya go. I guess it wouldn't bother me so much if it were more even

 

[egrep]

Oh, that is cute. Maybe paint a ring of carousel ponies on it to bring it out a bit more?

 

[CamoNinja]

Leave it.

 

[fiberguy]

Oh, that is cute. Maybe paint a ring of carousel ponies on it to bring it out a bit more?

This is how it starts...


Seriously, I probably will leave it. I'm just a little bored today. One day the boredom will get the best of me and I'll try to remove it, if for no other reason than to retain its resale value. At this point, it's probably had white paint more than half the time I've had it.

 

[Empire]

Oh, that is cute. Maybe paint a ring of carousel ponies on it to bring it out a bit more?

All joking aside, It is perfectly fine. I actually thought tht it'd be a lot worse.

 

[skypirate]

Rubbing alcohol might work. Avoid the lens and buttons. Good luck.

Edit: From personal experience, this happened to my parents. I had bought them a Fenix E21 to replace an old 2D Maglite. They had some sort of contractors over, who needed to borrow a flashlight and they got house paint all over it. It looked far worse than yours.

Anyway, with a liitle time and work, the E21 looks like new. It depends on the typed of paint.

 

[fiberguy]

Yeah it was about the "toughest" Rustoleum spray paint money can buy, but I'm sure I can get it off. It doesn't look bad, but if I were to decide to sell it I imagine it'd drop the value a bit. Also, since it was so expensive and it is in such decent shape, I'd rather not have the extra paint on it. I was just concerned about what solvents may or may not affect anodizing. My understanding is that it's pretty tough and is the result of a chemical reaction. While I was pretty sure I could find something to remove paint and not anodizing, I figured I'd check with the pros and see if anyone else has been around the block already or had specific ideas.

The fact that it's such small spots means they should be a little easier to remove (I image a teaspoon of paint dumped onto the light would've been much worse) but at the same time the tiny spots are the only reason I couldn't get it off sooner. If it had been a large glob it wouldn't have dried so quickly and I would've been able to wipe (at least most of) it off when I found it. I almost ordered some Goof Off earlier today, that stuff gets rave reviews online. I just figured before I order it I'll try what I have around the house. I have some 99.9% isopropyl alcohol in my truck that I use for work. I think I'm gonna scrub some of it into one of my old budget anodized lights. If the anodizing holds up okay, I'll give that a run. If that doesn't work I'll flip a coin and try something else. :thumbsup:

Thanks again for the quick responses, opinions, and suggestions guys. You guys seriously rock. This website has enhanced my life (and ability to do my job) moreso than I ever imagined! I carry a light at all times now (for a month or so) and never realized how much it'd get used! So so nice to have one when you (or someone else) need(s) it! Extra light can be helpful more than you would realize if you didn't EDC. For that moment in time, having a flashlight makes you the coolest person around!

lovecpf

 

[chmsam]

Just a slight warning -- if you use Goof Off or another solvent be sure to wear gloves. That stuff is nastier for humans than you think. Be especially careful with acetone based solvents and the like (most nail polish removers have it). Of course, use the stuff outdoors if you can but always with lots of ventilation. This stuff can cause real health problems down the road. Better to spend a few pennies on a pair of disposable gloves.

All in all, it doesn't look that bad and if it were mine, I'd just leave it alone.


Of course this is coming form someone who has an old microstream that keeps calling out to be stripped of its finish and polished up sometime when I have a day or two and am completely bored.

 

[127.0.0.1]

use denatured alcohol. [100% pure 200 proof ethanol with an agent added to make it undrinkable, otherwise it would make hella moonshine]
used as a fuel and stripping

no where near as toxic as goof off, and will take that off in seconds

everyone should have a can of denatured alcohol around, the stuff will strip anything from anything
sharpie ? gone. paint ? gone. adhesives ? gone.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Not sure if it will work but I once had some vandals spray paint a stripe down the side of my car and I used gasoline and rubbed it off. Most likely any petroleum based solvent could work I wouldn't count on alcohols having much affect though.

 

[fiberguy]

Actually, the Isopropyl took care of it. Just finished up a little bit ago. Surprising how well it worked. The only issue was that the little spots of paint didn't actually want to be "cleaned off" Instead, they'd break off the light then slide around and find a new place to rest on the light. I had to rinse a lot of it and wipe a lot of it off once the alcohol broke the bond the paint had with the flashlight.

Thanks again for all the suggestions! My light is as good as new. Okay not as good as new. As good as used with some dings. More dings than I thought. I now see that I was giving the paint credit for too many of those little white spots. A couple of them were missing Ano spots.