Question: melted polyster tarp on exhaust

[Forsooth]

Hey fellas,

So my bike is garaged most of the time, but I left it outdoors at my folks last night and with a chance of rain, thought I'd throw a tarp over it. Woke up this morning and the tarp half-melted on to the exhaust. I was able to get the tarp off without issues but there's a fair bit of blue residue on the exhaust. Does anyone know of any solvents that'll take the tarp (polyester) off without damaging the chrome?

Thanks for any help!!

[Tiger1]

Photos will help your cause

[Roger Explosion]

Been there. Turn your motor on and allow the exhaust to heat up. It should then wipe straight off. This was on a steel scooter exhaust, so can anyone offer a reason why its a bad idea to doo this on chrome?

[Tiger1]

I had my own car detailing business for eight years and was constantly faced with problems like this.

My "go to" product for removing stuff was always Aerogard. You might chuckle but if you saw the amount of random shit Aerogard removes you would never spray it on your kids.

For example, Aerogard will soften powder coat which is a polymer, very similar to the polyester used to make your tarp. Try it and let us know how you went.

Not entirely convinced about getting the exhaust hot because the melted plastic might stain the chrome if it gets too hot

[potato]

any stains left try a bit of gumption on them,thats pretty heavy duty and shouldnt harm the chrome.

[Forsooth]

Been there. Turn your motor on and allow the exhaust to heat up. It should then wipe straight off. This was on a steel scooter exhaust, so can anyone offer a reason why its a bad idea to doo this on chrome?

Fingers crossed! I'll give this a go when I go for a ride tomorrow. Failing that I do have both gumption and aerogard to fall back on.

Here's a pic if it's of any use: imgur: the simple image sharer

Cheers guys, thanks for the quick replies, can feel my anxiety fading

[Tiger1]

Judging by that photo, taking your bike for a ride and then trying to wipe off the melted plastic is about the worst possible thing you could do. Even if the plastic simply melted and became runny, trying to wipe it with a cloth would simply spread it around making an even bigger mess. That is if it didn't go black and fuse itself onto the chrome, if that happens you are really screwed.
As for the Gumption, a total waste of time. I checked the chemical composition of this product and even the company failed to provide info about it. But the active ingredient will be either an alkaline or a caustic, neither will emulsify plastic so don't even bother and at worst caustic will cause permanent staining on chrome. Also, Gumption appears to contain a mild abrasive which will scratch the chrome for certain.

No disrespect to RE or Potato but they are both wrong in this case. But hey, its your bike and your resale value and you can do whatever you want but in this particular instance I would be following the pros advice.

Pop down to Bunnings and buy yourself a small plastic paint scraper, spray a small part of the plastic with aerogard, wait about three minutes and feel the plastic to see if it has softened. If so get the scraper and gently scrape the plastic off and wipe it onto a rag, repeat until most of the plastic has gone and then get a soft rag and spray a small area of the remaining plastic, wait and then wipe it off gently until it is all gone. Keep turning your rag and use as many as necessary.
Make sure the Aerogard doesn't run down the muffler and get onto something else, that shit really is potent. Good luck

[19andrew59]

Pop down to Bunnings and buy yourself a small plastic paint scraper, spray a small part of the plastic with aerogard, wait about three minutes and feel the plastic to see if it has softened. If so get the scraper and gently scrape the plastic off and wipe it onto a rag, repeat until most of the plastic has gone and then get a soft rag and spray a small area of the remaining plastic, wait and then wipe it off gently until it is all gone. Keep turning your rag and use as many as necessary. Make sure the Aerogard doesn't run down the muffler and get onto something else, that shit really is potent. Good luck

This.
Acetone is also very good at disolving polyester.

[Forsooth]

Yikes, thanks tiger... bloody glad i didn't go for a ride today. Looks like I have a sunday project ahead

Will keep you guys posted on any developments. Fingers crossed.

[Isaac]

Me personally, I had the same issue with mine last week,
but in my circumstance, I just let it heat up and washed it off and you wouldn't know the difference, I think you would be safe, but tigers idea sounds alright aswell.
However I did once take a piss on my exhaust (long, long story) and that shit does not come off it just boils in and stains.