studiot Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 (edited) I have a pair of miniature National Trust wellington boots at a pen holder that has become encrusted inside with old ink and other detritus from the pens. I am looking for suggestions as to how to clean this out. So far I have tried white spirit petroleum spirit caustic soda, drain cleaner hot persil solution without success Cleaning suggestions welcome. The wellingtons are made of thick pvc or polyethylene. Edited April 4, 2014 by studiot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwagen Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Soak it in a bath consisting of water and a dishwasher tablet (this kind) for a few hours or through the night. Those things work magic with resistant stains on utensils and whatnot. Coffee mugs become crystal clear, for example. No guarantees it'll work on ink, but at least I don't think it'll hurt the material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiot Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Thanks, Worth a try it before I go to bed, but dishwasher stuff is similar to persil ie washing soda plus polyphosphates so I'm not sure. I know printers used to use large quantities of benzene to clean things up, but I don't have any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schneibster Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 The washing tablets may contain enzyme cleaners which work differently from solvents and are much less likely to damage whatever the boots are made up of, as well as more likely to work on ink than solvents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acme Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Are you wanting to clean them for looks, or to protect your pens? If for looks, you might try scraping out the detritus. If for protection, paint on some type of sealant and start a fresh detritus collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schneibster Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Acme is purveyor of another wisdom: elbow grease is not a bad solvent either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiot Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Acme is purveyor of another wisdom: elbow grease is not a bad solvent either. Thank you both for your good thoughts. I must get MikeSmithCosmos to draw me some pictures of elbow grease. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainPanic Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 If something is really crusty, it may be useful to use a vegetable oil (e.g. sunflower oil) to dissolve the non-polar components. The difference between this and petroleum spirit is that it won't evaporate quickly, giving the crusty gunk some time to dissolve (or the other way around: for the oil to go into that gunk and to make it more liquid). Another advantage is that it is quite likely that you already have this in your house, and it is not toxic at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiot Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 (edited) If something is really crusty, it may be useful to use a vegetable oil (e.g. sunflower oil) to dissolve the non-polar components. The difference between this and petroleum spirit is that it won't evaporate quickly, giving the crusty gunk some time to dissolve (or the other way around: for the oil to go into that gunk and to make it more liquid). Another advantage is that it is quite likely that you already have this in your house, and it is not toxic at all. A bit like castor oil into the ears of small children? Thanks for the thought. I did try elbow grease in the form of various brushes on the end of a modellers drill. Not really a huge success. Finally got it all out by soaking in cellulose paint thinner (composition not stated, but the Lidl cheap one worked better than the glassit proprietary one "contains toluene") and scraping with a toolmakers small cleaning kit of scrapers and brushes. I am just left with a stain in the bottom, which is acceptable. Please note that if anyone is thinking of using these techniques, I do this in the open air on a concrete slab fore safety reasons. Thanks all for your thoughts. Edited April 10, 2014 by studiot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schneibster Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Cheap paint thinner contains more fractions than proprietary ones, I would bet. I'd've suggested acetone but I was pretty sure if they were miniature real wellies made with rubber it would melt them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiot Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 I didn't dare try acetone as it dissolves or softens too many plastics or, almost as bad, the plasticiser in some harder plastic. I think the wellies are pvc of some sort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie L Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 I've had success with Steradent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schneibster Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 I didn't dare try acetone as it dissolves or softens too many plastics or, almost as bad, the plasticiser in some harder plastic. I think the wellies are pvc of some sort. Yes, so I guessed. Good thing. Glad it worked out the way you wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiot Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 I've had success with Steradent. Thank you , Lizzie. I did try bicarb/vinegar but it had no effect (except for the fizz). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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