Andorian:TOTAL removal of belt stain from tunic! See inside. Thanks, Dave Mc!

[Dave Mc]

WARNING- THE REMOVE-ZIT WILL TAKE THOSE DIAMONDS OFF IN A HEARTBEAT!

Any paint will come off very quickly with this stuff. It's good on removing unwanted marks on vinyl heads like bruce wayne blue stain, but if you touchit to any part of the paint job, you'll ruin it.

Anywa, glad this worked well for you K. Told you there was nothing to worry about.

[cjefferys]

^ Yes, it must be ordered. You can get it from Twin Pines:

www.twinpines.com

Thanks for the link.

It's good on removing unwanted marks on vinyl heads like bruce wayne blue stain, but if you touch it to any part of the paint job, you'll ruin it.

Cool. My 12" ST Ilia has a few blue spots on the back of her head, so I thought I might give this stuff a try (I was also curious to see if it worked on the blue spots that always seem to appear on the ankles of Mego 12" female figures).

[saildog]

Love a Mego Restoration success story. Congrats!

Thanks for documenting the process and including photos. I've benefited from people that have taken the time to do that and I'm sure your doing so will help someone else out.

[Hulk]

Brilliant! Literally. Great tutorial, I nominate it for the Tips and Tricks section (although this is in CustoMego, so are things like degraying heads and restringing bodies.

http://www.megomuseum.com/custom/tipsindex.shtml

[K]

glad this worked well for you K. Told you there was nothing to worry about.

Yes, you did, Dave Mc! Thanks for the reassurance. It sure was worth "taking the plunge"!

Thanks for documenting the process and including photos. I've benefited from people that have taken the time to do that and I'm sure your doing so will help someone else out.

My pleasure, saildog. I know that I have benefited so much from the advice and experience of others here, so if I can share any tidbit, then I'm happy to do so.

Brilliant! Literally. Great tutorial, I nominate it for the Tips and Tricks section (although this is in CustoMego, so are things like degraying heads and restringing bodies.

Ah, thanks, Hulk!
I wasn't really sure where to put this thread, in Megofact, Customego, or in the Buzz, but I figured since I posted the original question here in the Buzz, I'd stay here. *shrug*

If our wonderful Mighty Mods here want to use my post as a Tip for the Museum, I'd be honored!
__________________________________________

Oh, I forgot to mention two things:

1. Thanks Dave Mc for reiterating that the Remove-Zit will remove paint. I was ultra careful about working around the silver diamonds because of your warning in the original thread.

2. Earlier in this post, I wrote:

I should note that Remove-Zit smells a lot. I had a fan on the whole time and was careful not to touch it. I collected the material I scraped off after stain removal and put it in a glass jar with a lid and labelled it. I will take it to my local hazardous waste center for disposal. I emailed Twin Pines for a material safety data sheet on the stuff and they don't have one, but I recommend erring on the side of caution. Don't use it around kids, pets, food, drink, etc.
Okay...end of lecture.

Well, I heard back from the Twin Pines' Customer Rep when I inquired about safety of the product. Here's the reply:

The product contains organic peroxides. Inhalation is not an issue. the effect of skin contact is about the same as with Clearasil (10% benzoyl peroxide). Excessive and prolonged skin contact can dry the skin. Excessive and prolonged skin contact can have the same effect as continued exposure to hydrogen peroxide.
When exposed to air the active materials dissipate. The product is then inert in a fashion similar to a skin cream.

My gut tells mere there's much more organic peroxide in Remove-Zit relative to Clearasil, since it takes a fraction of the time to work relative to Clearasil. I've used Clearasil on the blue stains on RC batman heads in the past and it takes days to work, versus hours for the Remove-Zit.

I'd still recommend using only toothpicks to touch the Remove-Zit and keeping it away from food, drink, kids, pets, and also using it with good ventilation.

Just my two cents, as I'm a SafetyNag.

[Dave Mc]

Brilliant! Literally. Great tutorial, I nominate it for the Tips and Tricks section (although this is in CustoMego, so are things like degraying heads and restringing bodies.

http://www.megomuseum.com/custom/tipsindex.shtml

Already in progress Paul.

[Dave Mc]

And now done! Thanks Dr. K!

http://www.megomuseum.com/custom/stainremovalonvinyl.shtml

[K]

^ Thank YOU, Dave!

One question, though: is the font difficult to read, or is it just my 42 year old eyes? LOL!!!!!! Sorry! I don't mean to be critical! Just thought I'd ask.

I am supremely honored to be amongst the Tips and Tricks! Thanks again!

[Dave Mc]

Yeah, I had something in there that changed the font from the usual font I use. I've switched it now so it should be easier to read.

[K]

^ Again, I say proudly: Bless you, Dave Mc!


THANKS!!!!!!

[hobub]

Yes, Mr McCormick, Bless you, you genius you!

I just wonder if it would really remove zits?

[Dave Mc]

I think that's Len's subtle way of saying he's the one that pointed out this product to me.

[Bizarro Amy]

Since I'm on call for work today, I got together my Megos that need TLC and am working on that while waiting for the phone to ring. I found this thread and had an additional question. Is the RemoveZit that works on clothing the same kind that works on vinyl, or are there two different varieties? Since it's the same active ingredient as in Clearasil, I've been using that to gradually remove an ink stain from a Wonder Woman head. But I always thought that this peroxide ingredient would also bleach cloth. Has anyone used Clearasil to remove ink stains from Mego clothing? I have a few items that even OxyClean isn't working on.

[Dave Mc]

This product works on Vinyl, not on cloth. In the case of K's Andorian Tunic, it works because the material being cleaned is Vinyl.

If he doesn't see this thread and respond, PM Flynne. He's about the best there is at removing stains from Mego clothes and can point you in the right direction for products to try.

[hobub]

Great thread. I tried that on an Andorian years ago and it worked like a charm. But yes, it only works with vinyl. I'm sure there are some items that will remove stains from cloth but sometimes they are just permanently discolored and you have to make the best of it. What I have done in the past is traded upward for figures that didn't meet my expectations on condition. If it's an original (or even quality repro/reissue) Mego in decent shape, someone out there wants it.

I do know that the grocery stores sell a stain remover (I think Tide) that will remove old permanent marker stains. But they strongly suggest that on something permanent, you try to remove the stain as soon as physically possible before it sets. (I don't think they even conceived the thought of a 30+ year stain), but worth a try.

On the tunic, I did note that when I did it, it was purely experimental on a second Andorian I had landed (it was meant for doll heads) but I tried it anyway. At first it softened the material and buckled the heck out of it in some sort of chemical type reaction but it soon dried and stiffened back up to normal. The stuff is amazing. It just literally transfers the unoriginal pigment from the item into itself and you scrape it off. You just have to keep in mind the shelf life. I tried it on a vinyl head about a year after the expiration date and it began removing the fleshtone pigment. In my case, it got stronger before it finally dried up inside the jar. This is an item that can be bought jointly or resold to members (within the shelf life) because you really don't need as much as you buy.