How to: Use a Stripper

How to: Use a Stripper
by Tony Arnold

After this How-To you will know how to use a stripper... such as Easy Off Oven Cleaner... ;) In this case we are going to show you how to strip some scratched and scraped anodizing that is looking more ghetto than gorgeous. We also know this year will be tight financially so any ideas that can bring new life to used and abused parts at little or no cost is worth a quick How-To article.

For this example, I wanted to do Axial a solid and manage one last article from some first generation AX10 crawler kit parts that were less than photogenic from way to much testing. I of course reached for an easy and cheap stripper to brighten the day... well at least a can of Easy Off Heavy Duty Original Formula. But first, why use a can-o-chemicals vs. sandpaper or steel wool? Frankly put, anything else takes forever and delivers poor results… believe me, I have tried. Yes other strippers will work, but nothing as effective - stick with the Original Easy Off Heavy Duty $3 can.

Here's how easy it was to get from un-publishable parts to stunning gorgeous:

1. Remove all plastic and other attached parts from the aluminum to be stripped.
2. I don't care what the can says... do this entire process outside or at least in the garage.
3. This should be an adult supervised activity. If you are an adult but extremely immature, you should ask for assistance.
4. Put on Safety glasses and rubber gloves - protection is always required when dealing with stripper.
5. Place parts in an old container or in my case a pizza pan that really needed cleaning with oven cleaner - two tasks in one.
6. Spray parts with Easy- Off
7. Jiggle the parts around a bit and re-spray - oooh fun, I always like jiggling.
8. Watch the anodizing magically disappear
9. Wait 5 minutes
10. Repeat 4-5
11. Wait 30 minutes
12. Rinse off parts and hand wash, because when dealing with a stripper you should always want to wash everything afterwards.
13. If some anodizing remains, repeat 4-12
14. Use your favorite metal/brass paste polish such as Flitz and put a shine on your newly restored parts with a couple old rags.
15. The more you polish the shinier the parts will get
16. Enjoy the bright and shiny result... all for only three singles. ;)

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