I’ve got some painted (exterior latex, I think) wood (the frame to the service door to our garage), onto which I sprayed some graphite-containing light mineral oil (nozzle pointing the wrong way when I was trying to squirt the oil into the sticky lock on the door).
This wood is typical of the trim on our house. It’s pine (or something similarly soft) that had a wire brush run over it to “texturize” it, so the oil is well and truly into the grooves in the wood. And the graphite is pretty unsightly.
Any tricks for removing this sort of thing? I’m expecting that if I paint over it, the paint won’t stick, so maybe I need a barrier layer of shellac or something (primer would be the other obvious choice) first.
Thoughts? Prayers? My sweetie noticed it this morning, so now I’m in the doghouse until it’s “fixed.”
Yeah Mineral Spirits would be my first try. If it's graphite in mineral oil, that oughta do it. Probably scrub it with a toothbrush to get into the grooves real good. If that doesn't work, the dish detergent might. If not that then something like Simple Green. If not that, then just sneak away in the middle of the night and start a new life somewhere else to avoid the wrath of SWMBO.
First I'd try Nathans pitch, that Dawn really does remove Oil, and would probably be the mildest of fixes. If all else fails, stiff wire brush again, and refinish the entire frame so it matches again.
Thanks, folks. I’ll try Simple Green, as it’s a degreaser I have on hand.
I’m also hoping to add a storm door to that south-facing service door this summer, since the door open inwards, and if we get rain with a south wind, we end up with water in the garage, and the frame of the door swollen enough that the door won’t open.
This might sound crazy, and I'm not sure why I'm even suggesting it, but as a last resort, try some bleach on one small spot, apply sparingly using a Q-tip. Guess I'm thinking the bleach might make the oils color lighter. Then use a good sealer, like shellac. Sounds crazy I know, but as a last resort, whata ya gots ta loose.
Citrasolv and an old fingernail brush got 90% of it. Also took off some paint near the bottom where the wood got water-damaged before we bought the house, so I got to cross off “remove the oil” and got to add, “patch rotted wood, repaint the trim, and get the damn storm door installed,” to the list for this summer. But I think I got enough off that I won’t have to worry about the next coat sticking.
