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Cleaning unfinished, musty, dusty MDF board


Medieval

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Good evening! I was giving a partially complete Pierce kit that has been sitting in a basement for about 10 years. It's not warped or damp, just musty smelling and dusty. It was not primed...not even sanded before being "stored". It was put together with a glue gun, so I am hoping I can take it apart and start over. My question is, with what can I clean it before I prime it?

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Jess, if it's a Pierce it's plywood, not MDF.  Give it a once over with a rag dampened in bleach solution and whilst it dries set a saucer of activated charcoal with it and you ought to be rid of the musties (the damp rag should take care of the dusties).  A heat gun or even a hair dryer set on "high" should take care of the hot glue, with an old table knife from the thrift store or a putty knife to scrape it off the wood will take it apart.  If you lose the plastic inserts along the way you can use any source of clear flat acetate to make replacements.  I had a hot glue-built Pierce I was rebuilding with wood glue and making new doors and windows from bass wood and new acetate when it got destroyed in our last move (the hubs decided the half-built house could hold stacks of books; a rough railroad crossing proved him wrong; I now have a Garfield NIB waiting its turn).

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2 hours ago, Sable said:

In Florida we eliminate musty smells by placing items in the freezer then placing them out in the sunshine. 
Kilz spray Primer will eliminate odors and give you a clean surface. 

Thank you! Lol I live in NY. At this time of year I ask the question what sunshine? I visited St. Augustine this summer.  You live in a beautiful state!

Edited by Medieval
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15 hours ago, havanaholly said:

Jess, if it's a Pierce it's plywood, not MDF.  Give it a once over with a rag dampened in bleach solution and whilst it dries set a saucer of activated charcoal with it and you ought to be rid of the musties (the damp rag should take care of the dusties).  A heat gun or even a hair dryer set on "high" should take care of the hot glue, with an old table knife from the thrift store or a putty knife to scrape it off the wood will take it apart.  If you lose the plastic inserts along the way you can use any source of clear flat acetate to make replacements.  I had a hot glue-built Pierce I was rebuilding with wood glue and making new doors and windows from bass wood and new acetate when it got destroyed in our last move (the hubs decided the half-built house could hold stacks of books; a rough railroad crossing proved him wrong; I now have a Garfield NIB waiting its turn).

Thank you! I had seen the tip about bleach for plywood but not activated charcoal on the internet. Im thinking I can get that at a place that sells fish tanks? But now you raised another question: I am not sure what you mean by plastic inserts. I haven't seen any. Also, as I was looking very closely at joints last night (salivating to start, it's been hard to wait) I see previous owner didn't just glue tabs with glue gun but ran a seam of it down along where wall meets wall, floor, and ceiling. Also, I expected the glue to me slightly squishy. It's hard as a rock! Does this mean if she applied it about 10 years ago it was the older formula of glue? I read something about that - the new glue is not the same as the older. But I couldn't find when the change happened.

Oh, and can I use the hot air gun if it is the old glue?

Edited by Medieval
I had more to add.
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A heat gun will melt any age glue; I collect hot glue-built kits to eventually take apart and rebuild.  The pristine new in the box Greenleaf kits come with clear plastic inserts for the windows and doors that have them (for which just take a peek at my albums) and when I have to destroy the inserts to resurrect a kit, so be it; I hoard collect flat clear acetate pieces to make replacements.  In fact, for the Washington 2,0 I also replaced all the windows and doors with ones I made myself, just to see if I could.

I find activated charcoal in the aquarium section at Pet Smart; the plastic aquarium plants can be dissected for landscape purposes, too.

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Holly, I will just keep asking questions. Lol. I also noticed she used wood putty to fill in spots and it feels like she sanded that. Should I still deconstruct with a heat gun? She never got very far; no windows or trim is put up, but i was thinking to make my own leaded windows anyway.  She just put together walls and floor, and the inner stair well, which I think will be a challenge to sand and stain unless I take it apart. If you say it's okay to take apart with wood putty on it, I will trace all my joints and walls onto floor/ceiling so I keep it clear of paint for the wood glue.

When I thought of doing this, I was thinking to prime, paint, and stain before doing the final fitting. So having it already built is throwing me for a loop a bit.

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3 hours ago, Medieval said:

Holly, I will just keep asking questions. Lol. I also noticed she used wood putty to fill in spots and it feels like she sanded that. Should I still deconstruct with a heat gun? She never got very far; no windows or trim is put up, but i was thinking to make my own leaded windows anyway.  She just put together walls and floor, and the inner stair well, which I think will be a challenge to sand and stain unless I take it apart. If you say it's okay to take apart with wood putty on it, I will trace all my joints and walls onto floor/ceiling so I keep it clear of paint for the wood glue.

When I thought of doing this, I was thinking to prime, paint, and stain before doing the final fitting. So having it already built is throwing me for a loop a bit.

Someone who uses wood putty can weigh in with any tricks to remove it; I'm a fan of metal putty knife and hammer and chip the stuff off and sand off what doesn't chip..  Once it's deconstructed reassemble it with blue painters' tape or beige masking tape and trace along your joins where you will want to glue again later.  I ought to own stock in a waxed paper company; I lay a sheet of waxed paper over my self-healing cutting mat and lay out 18" sections of the aforementioned painters'/ masking tape and slice it into 1/8" strips (the kit wood is 1/8" thick) and run the strips along those trace lines where I'll want to glue, and then I can prime away.  I remove the tape when the primer begins to dry. although it still comes up pretty good when the primer is dry.  I also tape door and window openings, since I'll be gluing trims there, too.

BTW, IMO the main function of this forum is for those of us who have figured out ways to deal with situations to share what worked/ works for us.  Having built a kit or two over time, I have learned an awful lot of ways not to do things, so you just go right ahead and ask away.

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I appreciate your patience! I try not to ask redundant questions, and spend sometime looking for what I want to know in a previous post. I hope someone knows how to remove wood putty. I really like the idea of cutting the painters take. That and wasx paper are some of the items I already bought. :-) now I know how to best use them!

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When I mention reassembly using the tape before gluing, I also do this with new kits before gluing anything.  Sometimes I have problems with the instructions, being a mostly visual and tactile learner, so this "dry" fit helps me find a way to assemble the kit and once it's mostly together and begins to talk to me I can see what it wants (or doesn't).

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