How to Clean Expanding Foam
Expanding foam is an insulation product used to fill small gaps and crevices in homes and buildings. It comes in a chemical liquid form in a spray can. You attach a supplied straw to the can's spray nozzle and pull the trigger to dispense the foam out of the tube. The chemical liquid immediately becomes a foam that expands rapidly and dries to a hard consistency. It can get messy fast. The procedures for cleaning up accidental spills of expanding foam are different for wet foam and dried foam. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Newspaper
- Acetone or nail polish remover
- Cloth rag
- Utility knife or razor blade
- Sandpaper
- Pumice stone
Instructions
-
Wet Expanding Foam
-
1
Wipe the area of excess foam immediately with a piece of newspaper to remove as much of the foam as possible. You can also use paper towels, but they may tear due to the sticky consistency of the foam.
-
2
Apply 1 to 2 tbsp. of acetone or nail polish remover to a cloth rag.
-
-
3
Wipe the area of excess foam with the acetone to remove the foam residue. Apply additional acetone as needed and wipe until all of the foam is gone.
Dried Expanding Foam
-
4
Cut off as much of the dried expanding foam as possible using a utility knife or razor blade. Be careful not to cut into the surface that the foam is attached to.
-
5
Sand the surface gently using a medium grit sandpaper to remove the remaining foam. Continue until you have removed all of dried foam from the object's surface.
-
6
Wipe the area with a dried cloth to remove the foam particles created during sanding.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Acetone only removes wet expanding foam, it will not dissolve the foam one it has cured and hardened.
To remove expanding foam residue from the skin, wash the skin under warm water and rub it gently with a pumice stone.
