Grill Cloth + Acrylic Paint = Ugly

jamie · Post by **jamie** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 10:44 am

Another grill cloth question. I've got a nice vintage Deluxe Reverb and it only visable flaw is some maroon acrylic paint that is about the size of a silver dollar.

A previous owner attempted to remove it and it left a slight discoloration around the area but was unsuccessful in removing the paint.

My first thought is to use an iron and damp paper towels to get this stuff heated up and then possibly soak it in the paper towel. That trick sometimes works with wax but not sure about the properties of the acrylic paint.

Any ideas on removing it safely or should I just live with it?

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 11:18 am

By acrylic paint, Jamie, I assume you mean latex type house or wall paint, water-based?

This is easy to remove from Fender saran-type grille cloth with denatured alcohol (not rubbing alcohol).

Next time you play the Red Devil, stop in at Brownie's Hardware on Polk and Sacramento, one block south. They (or any other hardware store) will have it.

The reason I suggest Brownie's is that they are the second most entertaining hardware store in the Bay Area, being largely Gender Undetermined But Largely Trans, in their employment practices. So the clerks are quite unique.

The most entertaining?

Why, Cliff's Variety, in the Castro. A grand selection of everything from Grandma's tsatskes to $300.00 wood planes.

A people-watcher's must as well.

jamie · Post by **jamie** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:15 pm

Paul, I suspect the paint is that which an artist would have used to paint with and it reminds me of the type of artist paint in a tube. The stuff on the grill cloth is rock hard.

Jeez, Brownie's sounds like an interesting SF family type of hardware store lol! Fortunately though I have 2 great hardware stores within walking distance.

Obviously I will try to keep as much denatured alcohol off the grill cloth but will the alcohol harm the fabric or cause discoloration to areas it gets on?

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:27 pm

Denatured alcohol will not harm Fender saran grille cloth material. You can try an old toothbrush to get it out of the spaces, too...

paulv63 · Post by **paulv63** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:53 pm

This may sound like an out of whack thing to do but here goes. Being in the screen printing field I would have a spot removing gun that is similar to one of those Sears house painting spray guns. There's chemical that goes with it. The screen printer's version has an adjustable stream that could knock out that stain. Perhaps you can bring the grille to a local screen printing shop and they can do it for you.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 1:03 pm

Depends on the solvent that the silk screener's gun packs, and whether Jamie wants the hassle of pulling the cloth off the backing board. Both are big "ifs".

Most silkscreeners use butyl cellusolve if they are running standard lacquer. This stuff will completely wreck the Fender saran material. It is an extremely aggressive solvent, which does not dissolve acrylic artist's paint, to boot.

Doubtful that the screener would have denatured alcohol in his gun, in any event.

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 1:32 pm

Maybe he should visit the local moonshiner.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:05 pm

Har.

In SF, unlikely. Maybe up in Novato behind the barn...

jamie · Post by **jamie** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:06 pm

"Maybe he should visit the local moonshiner."

Perhaps not your intention but that may be the best advise

One tends not to care about such trivial things such as paint splotches when sufficiently inebriated. The fact that their product may have other uses may not be so important after ingesting it. Or it may be something to help sedate oneself after it burns a whole through the grill cloth.

I'll have to give this option some more thought.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 4:36 pm

Be sure to keep us posted. I haven't tasted some good brew since the Feds took Uncle Earl out of commission back in Gobbler's Knob.

paulv63 · Post by **paulv63** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 4:55 pm

I should have mentioned I was in the t-shirt screen printing business. I don't think sign screeners would use the spot gun anyway. If you're gonna have it shot out, go to a t-shirt screening shop.

jamie · Post by **jamie** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 2:54 pm

1000 thank yous Mr. Wilczynski! Your prescription was exactly what the problem called for!

Picked up some denatured alcohol this afternoon and gently went after the paint splotch area on the grill cloth with Q-Tips.

The first dab turned the Q-Tip bright red and a couple dozen Q-Tips later the paint was no longer visible to my eye. But even after I could no longer really see anymore paint I continued working the Q-Tips with a small vibrating motion into the fabric and it was still soaking up red paint into the Q-Tip.

The only remaining tell tale of the stain is under very close scrutiny the area appears slightly darker from a previous attempt to get the paint out with a harsher chemical but even then you really have to look in the right light and at the right angle.

I really amazed that this stuff worked the way it did!

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 3:13 pm

I discovered this trick when I bought my 1961 Fender Pro 15 Amp--in mint condition, except for a guy's name stencilled in white acrylic on the back in 1" high letters. After trying several times with different solutions, I realized that denatured alcohol is what I had learned to thin artists' acrylics out for use in airbrushes. Came out in seconds with no damage to the chocolate Tolex. I used a toothbrush to get it out of the grain, followed by a rinse with plain water.

The stencil said "Bob Bogle #2", as I recall.

(JOKE)

jamie · Post by **jamie** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 3:45 pm

I only wish that whoever tried to previously get the paint out would have used denatured alchohol!

Here's a before & after- As I mentioned the dark area where the paint was located was a stain from the previous attempt to get it off and isn't as noticable as it is in this pic with a flash.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 4:56 pm

The baffle board on these amps is painted with a dead-flat black paint which, like most flat paints, chalks a lot as it ages.

Whatever solvent the previous guy used on this, looks like it might have dissolved the black paint a bit and caused it to "wick" into the weave of the cloth...