Aircraft remover: Stink.
Brake cleaner: Stank.
Oven cleaner: Stunk.
I tried odorless mineral spirits. It didn't really smell, but considering that it wasted my time, energy, and money, it stank.
The aircraft remover was $20, the brake cleaner was $6, the oven cleaner was fortunately just $1.25.
Should I have sprung for $5 Easy Off?
The mineral spirits were $9.
That is around $36, but how much time did I spend buying and trying out 4 different products?
Some people ask "Why aren't you using gasket remover? It's the tool for the job!"
I couldn't find definitive answers for that, either, like where I could buy some.
Google said there was Permatex Gasket Remover--at Advance Auto Parts.
We don't have an Advance Auto Parts in-town.
It turned out it is one of those chains with multiple names--in Snowflake--and closed for the day.
That doesn't do me any good.
Google said that Napa had it, but when I checked it said in Snowflake--and it was closed.
That didn't do me any good, either.
I tried AutoZone and they didn't have it. I needed to look long and hard before I found it on O'Reilly's site.
They had one package and it was already open, but there was only one package, so what could I do?
I don't know where my brass brushes are, so I bought another.
It just made noise.
I ran back to AutoZone before they closed to buy the brass wire wheels they showed on their site, which claimed it was in-stock.
It wasn't on the shelf and the monkey said they didn't carry it.
I don't have any idea how many clients I will see tomorrow. I might see one and I may see four, but I have two hours of driving, and then I guess that I am going to Harbor Freight for a brass wire wheel.
Google shows 58 reviews of Permatex gasket remover with an average score of 2.2/5, so that is annoying. Curiously, vendors say that it is safe for metal, but users said "It didn't touch my gasket, but it stripped my paint!"
I got rid of almost all of my gasket, but I still have most of the paint on the mating surface, so I actually want that.
It is rated 4.1/5 on Amazon with 226 ratings.
I thought it was weird, when I was trying to find a paint remover that would work on automotive paint I found a woman taking a picture of the product next to her face.
Why on Earth would she do that?!
Well, besides:
Everyone else posted pictures of successes and failures, but apparently her face was the failure.
I tried to read her review. I did. However, her first three letters were "OMG" and I could not imagine anything worth reading the rest.