Removing Minicell Foam???

Advice
#1

I have some minicell foam glued on my thigh braces that I want to remove and do over again.



I have not yet tried to remove it, but I am worried that it will not come off completely and will end up peeling off incompletely while leave chunks of it intact (thus making my re-do job lumpy underneath unless I can get it off somehow).



Can anyone give me some advice for how to get it to come off completely so that I can avoid the problems as described above? If there are “chunks” of it that don’t want to come off, what would be best for taking it off? Will “Goo-Be-Gone” and similar products work? Mineral spirits?



thanks for your help



Matt

#2

Foam’s no problem…
… but glue can be.

#3

Hack Saw Blade

– Last Updated: Aug-27-06 5:50 AM EST –

slip that in one of the corners and slowly slice as close as you can to the braces. The whole pieces should come off pretty easily and intact. Some veneer of foam will be left in place but relatively flat and smooth. You can either remove the remainder with a scraper or sandpaper, and/or just cement over it with the new layer of foam.


sing

#4

I have removed foam
by using a 1" putty knife and pushing it in and out at an angle to get under the foam and just keep working along the foam until it’s all out. To get the glue off you could try scraping it first and then try some mineral spirits.

#5

Cut/sand/rasp off as much as possible…
…then remove the glue residue with lacquer thinner. Another option if the foam is well adhered is to take it down enough to allow you to glue the new foam over it.

#6

Sharp wood chisel.
A properly sharpened (razor sharp +) wood chisel works very well at taking off foam. There is a good amount of control with this tool. I have typically used a 1/2" chisel and just slowly and carefully cut the foam off keeping the edge carefully against the surface the foam is glued to. A great amount of the contact cement will remain on the foam when it is taken of this way. Of course, this works best on flatter surfaces with good access.



This has worked so well for me in the past that the removed foam can be used again in the same spot (say, after a repair was done to the seat underneath the foam) as the chisel allows removal of the foam with an exceptionally small amount foam lost/damaged in the process. Just take it slow and easy.