Safely removing spray paint from a pick guard?

[Polk Salad]

Hi everyone,
I have what seems to be a home job painted PG - is there a product that will take the paint off without harming (melting) the plastic of the original PG?

Thank you!

[Rattman]

Hi Polk... have ya tried any abrasive polishes?? What about traditional toothpaste? (not gel).. I've saved many a CD jewel case and other messed-up plastic surfaces with a dampend cloth saturated in regular toothpaste. What about extremely fine steelwool? Carnuba wax also has fine polishing qualities for difficult, marred surface senerios too.

[bassteban]

You could try various solvents(paint & lacquer thinner)on the backside of the PG. Paint thinner would not likely be aggressive enough to harm it but lacquer thinner is quite a bit more caustic.

[62bass]

You might not be able to get it off safely if the pickguard was sanded for good adhesion prior to spray painting. What you use to take it off will depend on what material the pickguard is. If it's a cellulose pickguard, alcohol, lacquer thinner and paint removers will dissolve the pickguard. Paint thinner won't but it also won't dissolve dry paint either. A very fine abrasive might slowly get it off. Try Brasso with a cotton cloth. The solvent in it won't harm cellulose or vinyl pickguards (in fact I've used it to polish out scratches from a nitro cellulose pickguard) and the abrasive used is very fine. Coarser abrasives might scratch badly and be impossible to buff out.

If you're sure the pickguard is vinyl try using a little bit of paint remover on the back of it and let it sit for a while. If it doesn't damage the plastic then it should be safe to use on the paint. That will remove most paints. Then you can see what it looks like underneath.

[Pilgrim]

I'd try Motsenbocker's Lift-Off, available at most ACE hardware stores.


Whatever you you use, test it on the backside first - see if it softens the PG.

[Jake of Bass]

Man, using brasso would take ages. At least, it used to when I had to polish brass at work when it was quiet...

[Green Mind]

I've used automotive parts cleaner. Just spray it on then wipe it off with a rag.