Quartz worktop protection film marks

[opps]

You could be lucky - they might just be adhesive residue from the protective film. You might want to try a variety of solvents on the glued side of a piece of the film to see if the glue can be dissolved. I'd try:

1. White spirits
2. Lighter fluid (petroleum)
3. Methylated spirits
4. Turpentine
5. Acetone (nail varnish remover)

and in that order to find one that works. Once you have a solvent which works you can try it out on a very limited area of the top to ascertain if it will also remove the coating. If it doesn't, happy days. If none of those work there are some more 'heavy duty' solvents you can try, but the more commonly found ones are the ones I listed and they'll generally lift adhesives

You missed cellulose thinners off your list. Admittedly, there is a degree of overlap with meths though. In the past I have had to remove (badly) applied waterbased eggshell paint over oil based eggshell. Sanding clogged my abrasives. I did try scraping it off after wiping on meths but it was a painfully slow process. I had a 5L tin of Morrells cellulose gun cleaner. I wiped it on and the waterbased paint immediately started to blister/ripple. I used a blunt scraper to remove the paint from the flats and webrax for the curved surfaces.

I even gifted some to the manager of my local pub to remove spray can graffiti from the bricks outside.

That said, it is too aggressive for many substrates.

Oh, ammonia is also useful for removing cured splashes from shellac based paints.

One of the lesser "aggressive" products that I often to resort to is the citrus oil/isopropyl based sprays such as Big Wipes Spray.

To be fair to the manufacturers of protective films, they do publish the time limits that their products are left on for.

 

[GhostIntMachine]

You missed cellulose thinners off your list.

Deliberately, because I think that cellulose thinner is a bit more specialised, so I was trying to restrict myself to products which are readily available over the counter. I'm also not certaln if cellulose thinners attack acrylic (often used as a filler in man made materials)

Oh, ammonia is also useful for removing cured splashes from shellac based paints.

I find ammonia pretty aggressive, but not necessarily all that good on adhesives. I suspect you are using ammonia on an already sealed (e.g. painted, lacquered, polished, etc) surface and in very small quantities. As a woodworker I'm wary of using it because it has the ability to remove oils from surfaces which means it can attack oiled and waxed finishes, although it can usefully be used to remove oil stains from some timbers. Worse, though, it changes the colours of certain species by darkening them - in fact ammonia fuming is used to produce harewood from sycamore as well as being used to artificially darken and age certain species such as oak, mahogany and walnut. This can be useful when trying to age repairs in historic woodwork (AFAIK it's because the ammonia reacts with the tannins or other polyphenolics which are more concentrated in darker flecks in the timber)

One of the lesser "aggressive" products that I often to resort to is the citrus oil/isopropyl based sprays such as Big Wipes Spray.

I'd say isopropyl alcohol is the better solvent. Citrus oil contain limonene which some people are allergic to, me included

To be fair to the manufacturers of protective films, they do publish the time limits that their products are left on for.

Indeed. Pity is most people don't read that bit of the label (especially our labourers)!

 

[robinbanks]

To be fair to the manufacturers of protective films, they do publish the time limits that their products are left on for.

Which reminds me, 5 months ago my FIL painted a room white, and the masking tape has been on his anthracite grey bifolds ever since. It's fair welded on and shreds rather than peels; anyone got any tips for removal ?

 

[yorksbuilder]

UPVC or Aluminium?

 

[GhostIntMachine]

It's fair welded on and shreds rather than peels; anyone got any tips for removal ?

Work through the solvents? TBH you may need to resort to getting it off as best you can, maybe with a plastic stopping knife, then go at it with white Web(rax) cloth and T-Cut. Webrax is a Hermes product - the link I gave is for an alternative (cheaper) version.

I recently did a bungalow full of white PVCu windows where there were silicone traces, old stickers (from the 1980s), overpaint, etc on every window frame. Hard work, but I did the lot in a morning (7 windows)

 

[robinbanks]

UPVC or Aluminium?

Alu

 

[foxhole]

Lighter fuel tends to remove most adhesives.
Have white quartz worktop, supplier said only two things damage it, heat and bleach .

 

[opps]

Which reminds me, 5 months ago my FIL painted a room white, and the masking tape has been on his anthracite grey bifolds ever since. It's fair welded on and shreds rather than peels; anyone got any tips for removal ?

If it is generic white masking tape, white spirit should remove the residue without damaging the finish. Use a plastic scraper or a fingernail. I would guess that it was a powder coat finish. Avoid the likes of cellulose thinners.

 

[aveatry]

Lighter fuel tends to remove most adhesives.
Have white quartz worktop, supplier said only two things damage it, heat and bleach .

Well isn’t that bleedin useless as a Kitchen work top then

 

[foxhole]

Well isn’t that bleedin useless as a Kitchen work top then

Why? Heat and bleach can damage most worktops .