The Acetone Experiment/ Unpainted Coffee Mug

On Pinterest, I came across some ladies repurposing plastic containers by taking the words off with acetone. Itching to try, but also curious to experiment with a couple of other items, I set out on an elementary-science-fair meets thrifty-domestic adventure!



With my chosen test subjects, I began by following the 2busybrunettes suggestions. I soaked a rag in the acetone for each, covered the item, let it sit for a couple of minutes, then attempted to rub of paint or words. (I really kind of loved the freeze effect of the acetone!)



Here's how it all turned out:

Test Subject #1: Plastic Cup

Nothing.





Surprising! This was the one I thought was a guarantee. But the brunettes did say it worked better on certain plastics, brands, etc.

Test Subject #2: Sunglasses

Everything.





Pretty much ruined. The white plastic underneath looks all bumpy and corroded.

Test Subject #3: Plastic Container

Nothing.




I really want to reuse this! It's from my facial moisturizer and I have several of them. Anyone have an idea of how to get these words off???

Test Subject #4: Travel Mug

Something!





Being the only one with any luck, I decided to keep working...

I used up the first bottle of acetone on 2 attempts each at these 4. So I picked up another, and went back to work, this time trying a different technique. I dumped the acetone into a bucket, and sort of slopped it on with the rag. (I donned gloves and an apron, and wish I was in an even better ventilated area than I was for this.) It took a bit more elbow grease than I anticipated, but I finally got a fairly smooth finish!

But one question still remains: why did the words stay on when everything else came off??

Guess that's branding for ya.