Most exterior and interior works for building a house or repair require the use of a mounting foam. Without it, it is difficult to imagine the installation of windows and doors, insulation and siding, sizing, piping. Foam firmly and firmly fixes individual elements and also firmly adheres to surfaces on which it should not be. Ideally, all work on the foaming should be carried out so that it does not protrude from the void and, moreover, does not fall on the open areas. But troubles happen even with professional masters, not to mention home craftsmen, who often undertake repair for the first time. So how and what to clean the mounting foam?
Fresh foam
Fresh foam is removed most easily. Immediately it must be collected( only not with bare hands!), Plastic or other, not scratching the surface, scraper as much as possible to clean, not smearing. Then use a hard cloth or sponge and thinner, depending on the type of coating. The following substances proved to be the most well-established ones.
- The most affordable option - acetone or solvent 646. However, these funds are not suitable for vinyl siding or plastic lining, the surface of which simply peel off from such aggressive substances.
- Isofoam r621 is a special Russian preparation for rinsing the gun for mounting foam, but copes with foam on other surfaces. A bottle in 600 ml costs less than 100 rubles.
- Cosmofen is a favorite tool for masters installing windows. There are three types of Kosmofen 5, 10 and 20. "5" is the strongest, "20" is weak. Suitable for removing foam from plastic and glass. Minus - sold in bottles of one liter, so to clean a small area is not the cheapest option.
- Flushing Macroflex softens the foam well and makes it further easy to rub.
Before application of the solvent, it is necessary to check on an inconspicuous area, if it does not corrode the top layer of the coating.
Frozen
Foam If fresh foam is not too difficult to clean, then it is tightly grabbed and yellowed - very problematic. The main component that you need to stock up is patience. From the first time the material can not be washed off without a trace, the procedure will have to be repeated several times.
It's relatively easy to remove frozen foam from glass, metal, stone or tiles. First of all, you need to cut a layer of foam as close to the surface as possible with a construction knife or a new blade from a dangerous razor, trying not to scratch it or cut your hands. When the thin layer of the substance remains, it is necessary, first, to soak it with a solvent, and then rub it with a hard sponge. A sponge is needed such that it is used for washing pans and steel pans, a metal mesh used for the same purposes is also suitable. As a solvent, SOUDAL PU Remover proved to be very effective, it was designed to remove the frozen foam.
Delicate surfaces
For the cleaning of plastic, wood, varnished, linoleum, aggressive solvents can not be used, since not only the foam is washed away, but also the top layer of the coating.
In order to wash the foam, you need to use an undiluted preparation and a stiff washcloth or sponge, soaking the stains for a few minutes beforehand. If the spots are small, you can use a cotton swab. Work with dimexide is necessary only in dense gloves, and, as with any solvent, first check its effect on an inconspicuous area of the coating. After treatment, the surface to be cleaned must be wiped with a damp cloth.
Leather and fabric
With the hands and other parts of the body assembly foam is removed with difficulty. Be sure to do it right away, without waiting for grasping. It is necessary to remove as much foam as possible mechanically, for example, remove paper or a napkin, and then use a skin-friendly solvent. Suitable is the same acetone or even a liquid for removing the varnish, their hands, of course, will dry up, but this is then corrected with a nutritious cream. If you can not completely clear the foam, do not worry - the skin is renewed daily, and sooner or later all traces will disappear completely. To help this process it is possible, often rubbing the skin in this place with a washcloth and lubricating it with a fat cream.
In the case of foam falling on clothes, the likelihood of it being washed depends on the structure of the fabric. With knitwear and knitted things it is almost impossible to clean it. To scrape off the foam from jeans, leather and leatherette you can use the same tools as to remove the non-hardened material, you can try to treat the spot with white spirit.
It is not easy to clean the mounting foam. The one who had to deal with this, the next time necessarily protects the hands and everything around from getting into it. It is not difficult to do this, the foam does not adhere to the polyethylene film and silicone, so the surrounding surfaces must be covered with a film or smeared with silicone oil, and only work with gloves.
