I have brought back to life a 1948 emersen portable radio which must have belonged to a painter in it's previous life. It has paint specks on it. This isn't the paint we have today that won't last....this is the real thing. Any suggestions as to how to remove these paint specks without also taking off the brown color of the plastic case?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Nick Bettis

Hi,
If it is a bakelite case, you can scrape the paint specks with a styrene plastic chunk, such as cassette, or CD case that you have snapped for a sharp edge. This has proved to be the least destructive manner to remove old paint from clear plastic also. Any scratches that you may create, you can also remove by using finer and finer sandpaper, down to about 1200 or 2000 grit if you can find them, and then using waterbased automotive rubbing compounds to return the clear plastic to near pristene condition. This is exactly what the kit that AES markets. The rubbing compound can also be found at many frame shops if they have the "plastic scratch remover" for sale.

If it is only on the bakelite, you can try spotting with real Turpentine to soften the paint before scrape it, but keep this away from any clear plastic, or plastic knob.

: I have brought back to life a 1948 emersen portable radio which must have belonged to a painter in it's previous life. It has paint specks on it. This isn't the paint we have today that won't last....this is the real thing. Any suggestions as to how to remove these paint specks without also taking off the brown color of the plastic case?

: Thank you in advance for your help.

: Nick Bettis

I have used Goof Off #2 (the water suluble version) to get paint specks off of wood & plastic cabinets. It's available at any Home Depot.

Hi,
It is certainly fine for a bakelite radio, but if the plastic is not known, there are a number of plastics that will be attacked by this type of solvent, so I only raise the caution.

I have stripped paint off of model railroad items one layer at a time using various paint removal solvents, like "Goof -off", and "Oops", and found that some of these rather mild chemicals could attack certain styrene formulations- some not all at once. D-limonene, the active stripping agent in some citrus based chemicals will attack clear styrene.

So it is best to identify the plastic first.

: I have used Goof Off #2 (the water suluble version) to get paint specks off of wood & plastic cabinets. It's available at any Home Depot.