I betcha that would take off the decals in a hurry.

I have never used this product. It sounds harsh compared to naptha. Have you used this before Steve? I know of it we can get it here to . And no Miriam it is not the same stuff to light your charcoal. We are in Alabama and can't get almost anything LOL. I will just keep to my naptha. Toluene and xylene will take off decals if clear coat is thin. Leave it to CAlifornia and I don't see this being safer that naptha.

We use this product as a sub for turps and paint thinner.

According to its MSDS, that stuff contains very little xylene (<5%), and no toluene. It's mainly naptha, ethyl acetate and petroleum hydrocarbons, with small amounts of trimethylbenzene and xylene. I suspect it would behave much like pure naptha, although I would be careful using it on decals. It should be a fairly good degreaser, though.

Now I'm going to spend tomorrow wondering why this is considered an "environmentally friendly" alternative to naptha.

Every day of my life in this wonderfully goofy state. Although in truth I suspect it has more to do with what this cannot be used as easily for like "pure" Naptha can ....

Steve, you live kinda close to me. I saw that stuff at ACE and the store manager said that this is what they carry now instead of Naptha. because, "it's safer." I read, "toluene," in the list of ingredients and I thought..."I really don't think this is any safer," so I passed it by.

Glenn, I'll just stick to soap and warm water. Thanks again for all of your tips.

~ Cindy

Yep, In fact we will be up in Willits for the Kinetic Carnivale again this year in August

I think by doing the test that my machine is lacquered? I tested a small area on the bottom with pure acetone. The cloth looked like tobacco, I did it again and it was lighter, I did it a third time and it was much lighter. All the while looking like a tobacco brown. I then waited a few minutes and tested the area by touching it with my finger thinking it might possibly be sticky. It wasn't, it was squeaky clean and looked like brand new shiny black! So does this mean it is for sure a lacquer? Did they apply shellac over lacquer or was there no need with lacquer? Sorry I am not really savvy on the sewing machine paints yet. I am very grossed out to think that the whole machine may be covered in layers of tobacco brown icky stuff. I wiped her down with warm water and a drop or two of soap and thought she was pretty clean when I got her home.:eek:

Your machine is not lacquer it is shellac. If you tested it with acetone it would be sticky. Test it with denatured alcohol and you will see the shellac get soft. What you are removing with the acetone is old yellow oil and may not be covered in brown cig smoke. The acetone can remove old shellac that as turned brown so be careful with the decals with acetone and denatured alcohol. Many of us confuse the brown color as smoke when it is really old oil and shellac. Now I would clean the machine and decals with sewing machine oil and cotton balls or a soft white T-shirt.

That was my first thought that it should be sticky from the acetone but I got the results reversed. Thank you Glenn for clarifying. This is a great thread and I appreciate all of your time and shared experience. I will be very careful as the decals are gorgeous on this machine and I don't want to ruin them.