I applaud your efforts if you do decide to dive into this one, Glenn. I found a 60's Gretsch Round Badge 22/13/16 originally covered in aqua satin flame. Someone had painted it red - including the badges! I worked for months on this. I'm not aware of any chemical-based solvent that won't melt the finish so I resorted to a hair dryer, heating up small areas and pulling them up with my fingernails. The paint ultimately came off but because satin flames almost always have cracks and spiderwebs, the paint got down into those crevices and was impossible to remove. After all that, it still looked kind of crappy so I ended up re-wrapping the kit. I'd love to see a success story here but for me, I was done in by the cracks. I hope you have better luck.

gwm

Gwm, thanks for the info. That's exactly what I was looking for. I fear the same thing, if the wrap has cracks the black paint seeped into them. And with the fragile and textured nature of the satin wraps more difficult to remove the paint from them. My only thought was trying a water miscible solvent I use at work and add some water too it. Regular wrap might hold up ok but I'm not sure about the satin wraps. I have a small piece of regular wrap I can try it on and see if it melts. Thank you!

I'll keep my fingers crossed on that solvent. Maybe you can find a tiny spot under the rim to try it on the satin. IMO that would be a huge breakthrough. Good luck!

I have no idea if it would work, but one of those steamers you use to remove wallpaper might be bale to heat the oil base paint enough to bubble it off...

If I'm not mistaken the satin finish is very soft and has a low melting point two, so this might be a problem...

finally, if it was painted, the wrap may be severely scratch or otherwise ugly, and all your effort would be for nothing.:(

Good points Jim. The seller bought the drum painted so I'm not sure if he knows how good or bad it really is. It's just a nice players kit. He said it's 50-50 if the wrap was salvageable that's he's seen and knows of and I think those odds are right on the money. I'll need to think this one over a bit. If it was a $50 drum I'd do it but the price is a bit more plus shipping ontop.

It could very well be. I'll see how it plays out. The solvent is a press wash used in printing. It's pretty mild as far as printing chemistry goes and you can add water to it. It's used to wash ink off the rollers and blankets. I have a small piece of Gretsch wrap I'll cut a corner off and try some on and see if it melts tomorrow. If it holds up I'll brush some oil base paint on it and try it again. The satin wraps might react differently though. But it's a good base to start from anyway.

I also painted a small piece of wrap and will try the water/solvent mix tomorrow at work. Fingers crossed.

Quick update..... the first test was a epic failure. However I'm trying a few more things with new chemistry that can be mixed with water. My goal is too find a chemical/water mix that will safely remove paint off different types and makes of vintage drum wrap. It looks promising. If anyone has any junk wrap they'd be will to send me to test please let me know. All I have is a small piece of Gretsch WMP from the 50's. I'd like to try some sparkles and satins if possible for a wider range of testing.

In the meantime I decided not to pursue the painted satin drum. I don't have a effective way to safely remove the paint yet and between the drum, shipping and the chance I'd have to rewrap the drum it's just too expensive. But I am interested in finding a good solution for others to use. It's going to take time though.

My end result needs to be a safe mix that a piece of wrap can soak in for a hour with no melting, dulling or fade damage but removes the paint. I feel a hour is a good test timeframe and submerging the wrap gives total exposure. So in the real time test it can be applied and removed from the painted wrap shell with shop towels or the likes. And final wipedown with water to finish.

More to come...........

Sounds good! But a big project for sure...