Aircraft Fiberglass Paint Stripper

The plastic media blasting process is generally used to strip the paint off the exposed metallic surfaces of aircraft. While blasting plastic media on the exposed metallic surface, great care is taken to first cover all exposed fiberglass components. The reason for this is that the plastic media used is bad for exposed non-metallic components of aircraft such as engine cowlings and nose covers.

The fiberglass material used in components such as these is somewhat porous and the plastic media tends to damage the fiberglass. Therefore, these components require a different type of paint stripper. The properties required in such a stripper include vertical cling and water washability.

Moreover, since fiberglass components of aircraft are usually painted with polyurethane coatings, the stripper used must be capable of removing the polyurethane off the fiberglass surface. The fiberglass paint stripper for aircraft is therefore necessarily a special formula, one designed to take care of all the above requirements.

Certain precautions need to be used to depaint polyurethane coatings off aircraft fiberglass components. Polyurethane coatings as you might be aware are highly corrosive. They can be extremely damaging for an unprotected depainting operator's eyes. If breathed in by a depainting operator the polyurethane particles can completely damage his lungs. They can corrode the skin too.

For these reasons, an aircraft fiberglass paint stripping operator must wear eye goggles and a face piece type respirator while depainting fiberglass components. He needs to also wear gloves during the depainting operation. An expensive completely protective body suit is usually recommended to be used while depainting fiberglass components. However, you can get by cheaply by using a number of special heavy grade towels to clean yourself before the stripped off polyurethane can damage your skin.

The polyurethane particles are even bad for the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has therefore issued detailed guidelines on the isolation and safe working procedure for such depainting operations. It has even mooted the desirability of the safe disposal of the polyurethane after completion of its stripping off the fiberglass components of aircraft.  

The entire operation needs to be conducted in a completely enclosed space to protect the environment from the damage. Some companies use robotic depainters in completely enclosed and isolated workspaces to avoid damage to human resources and the environment. However, such sophisticated equipment and the computerized operations prove to be highly expensive.

Aircraft fiberglass paint stripper special formulations generally come in one gallon cans. The stripper is generally kept pressurized inside the cans for storage and transportation. The can needs to be gradually depressurized while opening it for use.

It requires experience on the part of the paint stripping operator to optimally strip off the polyurethane coating off fiberglass components of aircraft. If less than the optimal quantity of stripper is used, the coating will not come off completely. On the other hand if the quantity used is excessive, it will damage the fiberglass.
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