Amine blush removal

[JohnDory]

I was just wondering if a little acetone on a rag and some elbow grease is okay for amine blush removal on epoxy where you'd rather not use water to avoid saturating the surounding unsheathed wood. I also want to avoid splashing water in areas without enough coats of spooge to act as an effective moisture barrier like my first thin coat in an encapsulation process. Mostly because I wouldn't be able to work on further coating without letting the water dry out first. Time is of the essence when it has been raining every other day and working outdoors.

[chesterm]

Systems-3 epoxy ssuggests not using acetone or toluene to get rid of the amine blush for surface contamination reasons. how about a damp soap and water paper towel followed by damp paper towles? Toluene is better to work with in my opionin if you choose to use a solvent. wear gloves my friend, regards from CT, Mitchell

[High C]

If it's not too late, I've sure been pleased with the blush free epoxy from Raka. It seems to have a little longer pot life, then dries quicker once it kicks off. And no blush, duh.

[JimD]

Best to use water and be patient and let it dry out afterwards. Since the principal raison d'etre of acetone is to disolve epoxy, using acetone and elbow grease is a good way to remove all the epoxy you just put on. I don't know that any solvent is either required or even more effective at removing blush than just a good water scrub and wipe down with plenty of clean, dry cloth

[Scott Rosen]

The ideal solvent to remove waxy stuff like amine blush is toulol.

[Scott Rosen]

Also known as toluene.

[edsr]

The water and soap routine really works well. Have you thought of drying the washed area after thorough wiping with clean cloths, paper towels, etc., with a heat gun? This will not only dry the area in a hurry but it will warm the area so that the next application will kick properly if you are outside in cool weather. It also is cheaper and a lot less dangerous to use water than thinners.

edsr

[Dutch Rub]

I usually just use a wet sponge from a bucket with water and a little sudsy ammonia. It does not need to be sopping wet. I use the scotchbright side first then use the sponge to dry the area and frequently clean the sponge in the bucket-If Im ready to get sanding right away I use paper towels to finish the drying process.

[JohnDory]

Thanks!
I always thought it would have been fine to wipe down filled screw holes and the like with acetone to clean it well before a second filler coat. I don't remember reading anything in the Gougeon literature on the topic. It never seemed to effect the epoxy adversely at leaast off the bat. I hope I don't run into problems down the road... I live and learn. I'll stick to only cleaning bare wood with chemicals before epoxying them.

[paul oman]

Blush is a waxy film that forms when the curing agent reacts with moisture in the air during curing. There is an article on blush at
www.epoxyproducts.com/blush4u.html (http://www.epoxyproducts.com/blush4u.html)

Why worry about blush when you can use non blushing (low blushing) epoxies without any extra cost?

paul

[Todd Bradshaw]

I still can't understand why the blush thing keeps popping up when removing blush is so incredibly simple. There's nothing complex about dunking a Scotchbrite pad in a bucket of water and rubbing. Chances are that if the hull's been sitting long enough for the last layer to cure, it's a pretty good idea to wash it down anyway before adding more resin - because even if it didn't blush, you can be pretty sure that some sort of airbourne crud has settled on it as it sat there and you are preparing to permanently attach it to your hull.

[oldriverat]

What Dutch said.