How To Remove Printing From Any Piece - Without Brasso or Chemicals&#3

[Scorpiox]

Hello there, fine ladies and gentlemen of Eurobricks!

Yesterday I discovered a most interesting trick for the removal of all kinds of prints in a jiffy, and without any of these extravagant and expensive chemicals such as Brasso. It all began when I found myself forcing a member of my ship's crew to try on various bicorne hats to see which fitted him the best. I thought to myself "Hmm, I wonder how this chap would look wearing a plain, black bicorne - if only I owned such a thing..."

Well, I do own many black bicorne hats, but they all unfortunately are printed with white skull and cross-bones designs. I selected the one with the worst-looking 1980s print and set about trying to remove it. I tried everything, from chemicals to hot water, and even resorted to just scratching the darn thing. But it was no use, the printing just would not budge!

A very exasperated Scorpiox soon decided that he would try everything in his limited power to achieve his goal, and would under no circumstances give up. Many, many hours later, I found myself rubbing away a common eraser in an effort to finally get rid of the printing. And, lo and behold, it worked! After only a few minutes of elbow grease, the eraser succeeded where all other methods had failed.

So, there you have it, folks. All you need to remove printing from any piece that you desire is this:

Plus a reasonable amount of effort.

I hope that this proves to be of help.

[LuxorV]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Scorpiox.

As far as I know, the eraser method is quite known already, but few seem use it. You could experiment and see if it works the same way with different prints (old vs. new and so on). I think somebody underlined the fact that this method works quite well on wide surfaces, but is very tricky to use when you want to remove details while preserving other parts of the print.

Maybe others who experimented with it can share more, too.

[BlueberryWaffles]

Cool method. I want to erase Venom's mouth to make a custom Black Spider-Man.

[CustomJoe_MD]

I'm adding this one to the list, I actually never heard this one, a bit odd just an eraser. Thanks for sharing.

Cool method. I want to erase Venom's mouth to make a custom Black Spider-Man.

Don't we all! You can also try creating a template for the eyes in clear or white sticker and paint the eyes using - bathroom white ceramic renovator enamel. Works like a charm and is almost flat to the plastic, also scratch resistant more or less.

[Amset-Rah]

I actually tried this on a custom I'm working on (Bob Ross) and it worked like a charm. It's a bit more precise as well, since you don't have chemicals to worry about. If I get into custom work more, I'll keep this method in my bag of tricks. Thanks for sharing!

[Jargo]

The image doesn't show for me. I imagine the eraser used is the kind that feels like really fine grit? Rather than a simple rubber only eraser.

[Amset-Rah]

The image doesn't show for me. I imagine the eraser used is the kind that feels like really fine grit? Rather than a simple rubber only eraser.

Either one should work. I used a standard pencil eraser and it worked beautifully.

[Jargo]

Aha! Pencil erasers tend to be the hard gritty kind. I don't know what it is they put in the rubber but it's kinda like ultra, ultra fine glass paper/polishing paper.

Does using the eraser take the gloss off parts? I don't actually have any erasers here other than a Staedtler Mars Plastic draughtsman's one so can't check this out right now. Hence the questions.

[Scorpiox]

Aha! Pencil erasers tend to be the hard gritty kind. I don't know what it is they put in the rubber but it's kinda like ultra, ultra fine glass paper/polishing paper.

Does using the eraser take the gloss off parts? I don't actually have any erasers here other than a Staedtler Mars Plastic draughtsman's one so can't check this out right now. Hence the questions.

The eraser that I used was just a simple soft all-rubber one, like in our the picture. To my knowledge the pieces are no less glossy than before. I`d recommend testing this method for yourself on cheaper parts, however.[

[CustomJoe_MD]

The eraser pictured looks similar to the "rotring b20 rapid-erasers" we have here. I'll try it and report back.

Why is it that when you need an eraser you can never find one?

Also Scorpiox are you sure that one of the things you tried before didn't act as a loosening agent for the rubber,( like when you try to open a jar lid and are strugling, and someone comes in opens it like it was nothing and all you can say is, but I loosen it for you).

Maybe something you did made it easy to abrade the ink away later on. Worth a look.

Edited August 9, 2013 by CustomJoe_MD

[cloneman155]

Interesting, thank you for sharing Scorpiox.

[badboytje88]

For me toothpaste always does the trick.

[Scorpiox]

The eraser pictured looks similar to the "rotring b20 rapid-erasers" we have here. I'll try it and report back.

Why is it that when you need an eraser you can never find one?

Also Scorpiox are you sure that one of the things you tried before didn't act as a loosening agent for the rubber,( like when you try to open a jar lid and are strugling, and someone comes in opens it like it was nothing and all you can say is, but I loosen it for you).

Maybe something you did made it easy to abrade the ink away later on. Worth a look.

On the initial hat, perhaps, as the previous rubbings and chemical-ings may have had an effect. I went straight to the eraser for later parts and the results were equally successful, however.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Scorpiox

[3D LEGO]

I had success using a staedtler mars plastic eraser (the white ones.) and after some minor "gentle rubbing" the printing came right off no problem. I recommend this anyday over any scraping method. Bear in mind the "slight pressure" applied does make a pile of eraser shavings. Be mindful of them and others will be happy.

3D LEGO

[Infernum]

Tried this on a Hero Factory piece... worked like a charm! Granted a charm that took a lot of work and time!

[bricklayer7]

I've just used the rubber on the end of my pencil to remove the print. It worked with hardly any effort, great tip!