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Dissolving Hair

Started by Hemisaurus, December 28, 2011, 03:47:41 PM

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Hemisaurus

What can dissolve hair from your casters (small wheels, not Strats) without harming the plastic, rubber and metal parts?

I've tried HCl (muriatic) acid that I used to etch the jam room floor before painting, but all it did was remove the brass coating on the metal parts.

This is an awkward caster as it's riveted together, and I don't want to have to drill it out to get at the hair, and it's press fit, so it's not as easy to just replace as one that screws to the outside of the cab. Couldn't find one with the same size fitting at the hardware store either, maybe try another store if I can't melt the hair.

zachoff

Maybe liquid plumber?  I know that stuff melts hair but I don't know if it's harmful to the metal or plastic parts.

justinhedrick

Quote from: zachoff on December 28, 2011, 03:54:42 PM
Maybe liquid plumber?  I know that stuff melts hair but I don't know if it's harmful to the metal or plastic parts.

you could try this. i would also recommend trying to cut it out. that's what always has seemed to work best for me.

also. GET A HAIRCUT!!!! damn kids.

Lanticus

Quote from: zachoff on December 28, 2011, 03:54:42 PM
Maybe liquid plumber?  I know that stuff melts hair but I don't know if it's harmful to the metal or plastic parts.

that's what I was thinking, too.  It's safe for plumbing, so that's copper and PVC.
Hot Wings of Hell @ Slayer's Bar&Grill

RacerX

Yeah, drain cleaner sounds like the answer. Dissolves clogs, doesn't hurt pipes.

For a cheapskate Scot such as yourself, I'm sure the generic stuff'll work just as well as Liquid Plum'rR.
Livin' The Life.

Lanticus

cheap?  How about fire?  the hair should burn up before it can mess up anything else.  Stink of course, but maybe easier than messing with the liquid plumber. 
Hot Wings of Hell @ Slayer's Bar&Grill


Metal and Beer

Fire. Pencil torch even, heavens to murgatroy
"Would it kill you fellas to play some Foghat?"

Chovie D

Have your mother in law scream into the caster. all the hair will fall right out.



BrianDamage

"My son Jack just got out of rehab, he's 17 years old and he got hooked on Oxycontin and I'm just a little pissed off that he never gave me a few."

Ozzy Osbourne - 2003

Hemisaurus

Yeah I think fire would melt the caster first. I think I got my liquid plumr and regular toilet cleaner confused. Regular bowl cleaner is muriatic acid, hence me using the super strength stuff, must have used the last of my liquid plumr, I been snaking the drains out recently, rather than using chemicals.

Metal and Beer

Hair would combust much, much sooner than the caster material, unless you were trying to smoke the wheel   :D
"Would it kill you fellas to play some Foghat?"

jibberish

i think some sodium hydroxide based drain cleaner would be worth a shot.  very caustic, but not big on dissoving things beyond large molecules like organics.  std fryer boil out ingredient too. it wastes all the grease and remnants and is itself non-toxic, just very chemically active.

you have to watch it with solvents around plastics and acids around metals. i believe muriatic acid is a combo of several acids and is meant to dissolve minerals(cement).

Hemisaurus

I'm with you on the drain cleaner, but afaik muriactic is just HCl. I learned this doing the concrete etching, the same stuff they often put in bowl cleaners, uk chemistry didn't give us the olde new-world names for things, we just called it hydrochloric. ;)

jibberish

ahh ok... wonder what i was thinking of.  i know i wasnt thinking of aqua regia.