Carpet Glue Remover

M

mpowers1984

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Aug 31, 2014
Messages
8
Location
Sidney, OH
Display Name
Display name:
mpowers1984
I'm replacing the upholstery and carpet in my Cherokee Six. I need a good adhesive remover. The carpet is glued to the aluminum floor. Any help would be appreciated!!
 
Last edited:
Goof Off... works great for many such things. Home depot, etc.
 
The original adhesive is 3M 1300 or 1300 L. It should be yellow although it turns brown with age. The correct solvent to remove that is MEK. Laquer thinner will also cut it, although it will be slower, but less toxic. MEK requires the use of a respirator and thick nitrile gloves. MEK is very hazardous to your liver and is easily absorbed through the skin, or by inhalation.
 
Aircraft paint remover found at a lot of auto parts stores will typically do the job. It's a nasty job wear gloves and a respirator
 
Less volatile than MEK is Toluene. Probably not less dangerous, but it does not evaporate as fast, works nearly as good. Fill an oil can, peal up a corner and use the tip of the oil can to apply the MEK or Toluene directly at the area as you apply tension and or work it up with a plastic putty knife or similar. Keep a little "pool" of liquid at the glue line. Same technique works for removing deice boots.
 
Heat gun and a scraper......less toxic...same amount of elbow grease.
 
It always amazes me how stuff like carpet adhesive can fail so utterly in one spot, and be easily removed with your bare hands, while in another spot it will resist every effort and method to remove it, as if it were welded to the floor.

I've removed a LOT of carpet adhesive. Sometimes it's a piece of cake, other times it's one molecule at a time, with a needle nose pliers. A heat gun helps to remove the carpet, but the adhesive will still be there. MEK helps to remove the adhesive, but apparently kills you. (Although we used to use it on a rag, sans gloves or respirator, and I am apparently still here. YMMV.)

Bottom line: It's going to be a combination of physical, chemical, and thermal methods that ultimately gets the job done. There is no magic bullet, and by the time you've done a Cherokee Six you will know why it costs so damned much to have a shop do it.
 
I think you will find that Goof-Off will work better than MEK and is more readily available. MEK evaporates too quickly when trying to remove dried adhesive like this. Another thing about MEK is that the fumes are extremely irritating which leads people to believe that it is possibly the most toxic chemical on Earth but actually it isn't, not nearly as toxic as Trichlorothane. The nature of the fumes themselves actually cause you to limit your exposure to it because you just can't stand to breathe the stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top