Goof Off paint remover use in home

If anyone can help me with this I'd be very appreciative!

A painter used Goof Off paint remover in my home on a wooden baseboard to remove some paint splatters. I am 7 months pregnant, and could not tolerate the toxic smell. I couldn't enter my home for an entire day until the smell dissipated. Now the baseboard area still has a potent smell, even though it's been a few days. I'm wondering if the Goof Off left a residue on my wooden baseboard, that I can somehow get off. I tried washing the wooden baseboard (although I know you're not supposed to get wood wet). But I am desperate to get the Goof Off off, because I am pregnant, and don't like the idea of a toxic substance in my home.

What is the evaporation rate of Goof Off (Professional) like, and if it leaves a residue, how can I find out and remove that residue?

Thanks!

Frogz:

I didn't get your private message because I recently reloaded Windows XP on my computer, and I forgot to reset my options to allow pop-ups from this site. My computer interpreted your PM as a pop-up and killed it. Please PM again if the following doesn't answer all your questions.

Both Goof Off and Goo Gone are petroleum distillates, just like naptha, mineral spirits, gasoline, aviation fuel, and utimately, even asphalt. They're all the result of distilling crude oil.

The difference between Goof Off (and it's twin brother, Goo Gone) and mineral spirits is that Goof Off contains some higher fractions, that don't evaporate, and leave a residue behind. Water won't remove that residue, but mineral spirits will.

Typically, mineral spirits and paint thinner are the same thing. However, paint thinner MIGHT also contain some other chemicals to allow the paint to spread smoother and self level better. So, try to get a bottle of MINERAL SPIRITS (instead of paint thinner) which won't contain anything other than the relatively low carbon number petroleum distillates which all evaporate without leaving any residue.

Also, petroleum distillates consists primarily of two different kinds of hydrocarbon molecules; aliphatic and aromatic. The aliphatic hydrocarbons are the hydrocarbons that don't have any "benzene rings" in them. They may be branched, but they don't have any branches that close on themselves to make a six sided hexagonal benzene ring. All of the hydrocarbons in the following diagram are all aliphatic hydrocarbons:



Typically, these aliphatic hydrocarbons have very little odor associated with them. You can't smell the butane coming out of a butane lighter for example. The only one that has any smell at all to it is propane, and if you can smell propane, it's because the breath you inhaled had a LOT of propane in it.

The hydrocarbons that smell are typically the aromatic hydrocarbons, and these typically have a cyclic structure, like benzene, toluene, naphthalene, etc. When you inhale these hydrocarbons, you often get a "light headed" feeling that gives some people headaches. Propane won't make you feel light headed, but toluene, which is the primary constituent of lacquer thinner, will make you feel uncomfortable and light headed like you're almost dizzy.


In the above diagram, naphthalene is what moth balls are made of, and they smell to high heaven. Moth balls actually work by "sublimating" (which means evaporating from a solid directly to a gas without becoming a liquid first), and thereby filling the air of the space they're in with naphthalene gas, which will kill just about anything given a strong enough concentration and sufficient time.

You can buy "low odor" mineral spirits which is simply where they remove the aromatic hydrocarbons from the mineral spirits. The remaining aliphatic hydrocarbons will still remove the Goof Off residue on your baseboard, but won't smell nearly as much as regular mineral spirits (which will still contain some aromatics).

If you can't find low-odor mineral spirits at your local hardware store, contact any of the oil companies bulk stations in and around your city. They might just pour off a small bottle full for you. Low odor mineral spirits are only slightly more expensive than standard mineral spirits.

Typically, MOST of the fractions in both low odor and standard mineral spirits should evaporate from your baseboard within a couple of hours. However, the heaviest ends like C12 to C16 (meaning 12 to `16 carbon atoms in them) might take two or three days. Rest assured that anything that comes in a container marked "Mineral Spirits" will eventually evaporate into the air, leaving no residue behind. And that's true whether it's low odor mineral spirits or not. The only reason it might take longer than a few days is because some of it will be absorbed into the wood, and therefore have a harder time getting out of that wood than if it were on an impermeable surface like metal, glass or plastic.

The residue from the Goof Off will not evaporate and will need to be cleaned off.

Hope this answers your question.

Wow, thank you for your very detailed response!

It was very helpful.

I did finally find an MSDS sheet for Goof Off that said that it has 99% percent volatiles. Does that mean that 99% of the product evaporates and 1% stays on as residue?

I am hesitant to get a bottle of mineral spirits to remove any residue, because I do not like to handle/be around chemicals and all of this chemical toxicity I've been exposed to with the Goof Off has me very worried, as I am pregnant.

Is there any other way (such as with soap and water) to remove this remaining residue? I really don't want to handle any more chemicals.

Thanks!

frogz said:

I did finally find an MSDS sheet for Goof Off that said that it has 99% percent volatiles. Does that mean that 99% of the product evaporates and 1% stays on as residue?

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Correct. But, notice they don't say how long it took to get down to a 1 percent residue, It may have taken a month or two to go from 3 percent of the Goof Off still there and to 1 percent still there. That is, it may have taken a month or two for the last 2 percent to evaporate.

I am hesitant to get a bottle of mineral spirits to remove any residue, because I do not like to handle/be around chemicals and all of this chemical toxicity I've been exposed to with the Goof Off has me very worried, as I am pregnant.

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You're forgetting that detergents are chemicals too.

Is there any other way (such as with soap and water) to remove this remaining residue? I really don't want to handle any more chemicals.

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If it were me, I would use a cleaner called "Simple Green" if you have any. If not, then dilute a tiny amount of Mr. Clean with 10 parts water and scrub the residual Goof Off with that. Then wipe the area down with clean water using a sponge. If you haven't got Mr. Clean or Fantastic, then use liquid dish washing detergent.

Thank you for your helpful responses.

Do you think cleaning with the detergent will get the remaining 1% off?

I have also bought an air purifier and have it on near the area.

Another option I am considering is painting over it--I am using a non-toxic, low VOC paint. Would this encapsulate any remaining residue?

frogz said:

Do you think cleaning with the detergent will get the remaining 1% off?

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Yes, it should. The remaining 1 percent are the heavier ends that are too large and heavy to evaporate and stay suspended in the air. Any detergent should remove them, but the more chemically similar the detergent is to the soil you're wanting to remove, the more effective that detergent will be at removing it. In this case, I'd recommend using Simply Green because it's meant for removing lubricating oil type soils rather than cooking oil type soils.

Another option I am considering is painting over it--I am using a non-toxic, low VOC paint. Would this encapsulate any remaining residue?

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No, don't paint over it. you may have trouble getting the paint to stick to that spot until you clean off that residue. Certainly a latex paint won't stick to that oily residue, and it may even cause adhesion problems for an oil based paint. You're best bet is to just clean it off. And, once it's cleaned off the baseboard, there won't be anything left to encapsulate with paint.

The way to tell if it's still there or gone is to use some painter's masking tape. Stick some painter's masking tape to where the Goof Off residue is and see how easily it pulls off the baseboard. If there's any residue still on the base board, it will interfere with the adhesion of the tape, and the tape will pull off easily. You know that the residue is gone completely when the painter's masking tape requires as much effort to pull of the affected area of baseboard as it does any other section of baseboard in your house.

Nestor_Kelebay said:

Yes, it should. The remaining 1 percent are the heavier ends that are too large and heavy to evaporate and stay suspended in the air. Any detergent should remove them, but the more chemically similar the detergent is to the soil you're wanting to remove, the more effective that detergent will be at removing it. In this case, I'd recommend using Simply Green because it's meant for removing lubricating oil type soils rather than cooking oil type soils.



No, don't paint over it. you may have trouble getting the paint to stick to that spot until you clean off that residue. Certainly a latex paint won't stick to that oily residue, and it may even cause adhesion problems for an oil based paint. You're best bet is to just clean it off. And, once it's cleaned off the baseboard, there won't be anything left to encapsulate with paint.

The way to tell if it's still there or gone is to use some painter's masking tape. Stick some painter's masking tape to where the Goof Off residue is and see how easily it pulls off the baseboard. If there's any residue still on the base board, it will interfere with the adhesion of the tape, and the tape will pull off easily. You know that the residue is gone completely when the painter's masking tape requires as much effort to pull of the affected area of baseboard as it does any other section of baseboard in your house.

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Excellent points! I will do these things and keep you updated. Thank you for your responses. You have eased my anxiety considerably!

i used goof off to remove motor oil on my white vinyl siding...it left a shiny residue and now is turning yellow...can I use mineral spirits to remove it????

Goof Off will actually melt plastic materials, including vinyl. It's likely that the vinyl softened and the stain blended into the material or it could just be a slightly different sheen to it now since the vinyl has melted and rehardened.

Use citrus based cleaners in the future, not petroleum based, the vinyl is also petroleum based and well it will melt.......sorries......

Try this......use a very fine grit sand paper to take the slightly melted layer of vinyl off. The sheen should return to normal.