What's stronger than lacquer thinner?

Not all lacquer thinners are the same. Usually they are a mixture of acetone, aliphatic naptha, methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, isopropyl alcohol and other solvents. With enough time, lacquer thinner should dissolve just about any paint. Solvents like methylene chloride, which is common in many commercial paint-strippers, will certainly eat up virtually any paint. It is more toxic than lacquer thinner. Be sure to wear gloves and use plenty of ventilation, or better yet, use a respirator too.

QUOTE: Originally posted by leopold Not all lacquer thinners are the same. Usually they are a mixture of acetone, aliphatic naptha, methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, isopropyl alcohol and other solvents. With enough time, lacquer thinner should dissolve just about any paint. Solvents like methylene chloride, which is common in many commercial paint-strippers, will certainly eat up virtually any paint. It is more toxic than lacquer thinner. Be sure to wear gloves and use plenty of ventilation, or better yet, use a respirator too.

Definitely use gloves and a respirator...
While MEK should work better than laquer thinner you may not need to go that route. I use Chameleon paintstripper to remove paint from my models, but I've found that Castrol Super Clean at full strength in a covered container will remove paint from jars given enough time(typically 3-5 days)....Wear gloves with it and eye protection as its not labeled as caustic but can cause severe skin burns and rashes on some people. Cleans up with water and is labeled as being bio degradeable and it sure smells better than MEK...

i hear formula 409 can destroy factory applied paints. such as chrome paints.
so it might destroy the paint on your jar as well. but not sure. just soak it in the formula 409 for like 7 hours and it might destroy it. but it's gonna have to seak into the caps i guess for it to do the trick.
i've never used it to clean dried paint jars, so i don't know. can anyone back me up on this one?
plus this stuff is pretty cheap. 2-5 bucks.
good-luck

simple. acid... jk

as said above, patience

I would do as HistoryinScale said and soak them in either Castrol Super Clean or Easy-Off oven cleaner overnight in a container.
Use an old toothbrush to remove the excess paint if there is any.
Use rubber gloves if you use Easy-Off because it contains lye which is pretty caustic.

Mike

All good suggestions. Add brake fluid to the list. Readily available and it should peel off almost any kind of paint. Dispose of appropriately...

Murray

I've good luck with a good paint stripper from a hardware store or lumber. For years, I used a Zep paint stripper (could get small amounts at work). The Zep worked great and was water soluable. But it stunk to high heaven and was absolutly vicious if you got it on you (felt like you had been napalmed and gave you instant blisters). So after the wife complained enough, I switched to the stripper I now use (she uses it to strip furniture). A lot slower but still does the job. Just take precautions to protect your self.