Product Tip: Simple Green

For awhile I've been searching for a good paint stripping method. I had heard Pinesol worked so I tried it. While it does get the paint off...somewhat, it wasn't ideal. The paint turned into a gooey, sticky mess which was hard to actually get off the minis. This meant it took several soaks in pinesol with brushing/cleaning in-between. Quite time consuming and labour intensive. Plus, the pinesol smell stays on the minis for weeks!

I then came across a number of people recommending Simple Green on TMP. I figured it was worth a shot so I picked up a jug. And boy does it work! Just let the minis soak for awhile (I'd say at least 4 hours, if not more) then the paint is easily removed with an old toothbrush. For the small recesses you may need a toothpick or even a pin. Simple Green gets the paint off easily and fairly quickly. Far easier than pinesol, that's for sure!

Curiously, we tried it on some old GW plastic minis we got for free from our FLGS (the minis were old Necromunda plastics, no idea how many years they have had paint on them, nor what type of paint was used) and we found the paint didn't really come off them. Not sure why. Maybe the type of paint that was used bonded with the plastic? Anyone else have this issue with plastic minis and Simple Green? Though on the bright side there was sign of the Simple Green melting the plastics or damaging them in anyway, so it is safe for plastics.

So if you have any minis you want stripping it's worth it to head to your local hardware store and pick-up a jug of Simple Green. 3.7-liter jugs can be had at Canadian Tire for $14.99.