Mirror backing removal

[Roderick Treece]

I am looking for a way to remove the paint backing from commercially produced mirrors.At this point we are masking the back of the mirror and sandblasting the backing off.That works great if your just trying to back paint the sandblasted areas.I am trying to get the backing off so the silver is exposed,then the silver can be removed with silver strip,after that I can put art work back on the glass in the clear windows.I have also tryied a product called citrus strip.On the first attempt the stripper ate the vynil paint mask,A heavyer mask was tryied and was successful but it wouldn't work for small details do to all the scrubbing needed .I have heard of some screen printed,electro dipping tecniques but haven't found any details yet.

Thanks
Roderick

[Danny Baronian]

Rod,

Use Jasco Epoxy stripper to remove the paint backer from commercial mirrors, leaving the silver untouched. From there you can apply a vinyl mask and strip w/ silver strip to produce clear areas.

If you mask over the commercial backer, then use a paint remover, I would assume the stripper would migrate under the mask, removing any adhesive it contacts with on the mask.

On commercial mirrors I believe the backing is baked on, which produces a very durable coating. The Jasco stripper will remove the backer with little effort, though a second application is sometimes necessary.

[Roderick Treece]

Danny,
I did a test with a product called cirtus strip.It took to much scrubing to take off the backing causeing some lose and maring of the mirroring.I'll try your idea (jasco) but I am not hopfull at this point about the outcome.I did find a product called Armour etch but I don't know about it yet.
It maybe better to do the art work first then mirror in the end.
Roderick