New look for your Thunderbolt using alcohol

montecristo1

Senior Member

Oct 29, 2008

356

42

Northern CA

• Jan 3, 2012

• #1

Not the kind of alcohol that you drink but rubbing alcohol....

I had a plastic case on my Thunderbolt sporting with an extended battery. Nice looking. But the case kept pulling on my screen protector which kept causing it to bubble up or peel back. I had a case because my Tbolt had its housing casing with patches of its paint peeling off. Seeing my wife remove her color off her nails using alcohol, I decided to give it a try. It smoothly removed the paint off (which was glittery) to a more gunmetal paint job. Giving my Tbolt a new bold look. You can also use qtips to remove paint from curvy areas.

Happy new year!

 

Last edited: Jan 3, 2012

jumpman1229

Senior Member

Jun 24, 2011

627

36

• Jan 3, 2012

• #2

Any pics?

Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt using XDA Premium App

 

N

number5toad

Member

Dec 29, 2011

41

10

Crooklyn, NY

• Jan 3, 2012

• #3

my T-Bolt gets a new look thanks to alcohol right around 11pm most weeknights...

 

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Reactions: imagelost, localceleb, trter10 and 2 others

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tahj78

Member

Nov 30, 2010

12

2

Connellsville

• Jan 4, 2012

• #4

I think I need pics to believe this one. . .

 

montecristo1

Senior Member

Oct 29, 2008

356

42

Northern CA

• Jan 7, 2012

• #5

tahj78 said:

I think I need pics to believe this one. . .

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Here are the pics...

 

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Reactions: Koragus and Retpallylol

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Retpallylol

Member

Dec 13, 2011

8

0

• Jan 10, 2012

• #6

Nice look, looks very sleek. How hard did you have to rub the alcohol in to get the silvery-gray paint off? Did you just use paper tissues?

 

montecristo1

Senior Member

Oct 29, 2008

356

42

Northern CA

• Jan 11, 2012

• #7

Retpallylol said:

Nice look, looks very sleek. How hard did you have to rub the alcohol in to get the silvery-gray paint off? Did you just use paper tissues?

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Click to collapse

No. Just rubbed it gently. I used cotton balls, tissue paper and qtips. Cotton balls should work just fine.

 

solarpolitiks

Senior Member

Jun 9, 2009

1,152

38

Brooklyn

• Jan 11, 2012

• #8

Might just have to try this myself. Not a drastic change as far as I can tell but it does look nicer.

 

montecristo1

Senior Member

Oct 29, 2008

356

42

Northern CA

• Jan 12, 2012

• #9

My phone's original paint job was mostly peeled off...bought it used. I wished I would have taken pictures prior to doing this. I honestly thought it was just going to completely remove all of the paint. Anything would have looked better than they way it looked. It came with a nice gel case and for me, as long as the screen was scratched free- its what mattered more...or so I thought. I also bought a new case. But after using alcohol, it worked out better for me. Now I am happy. No need for cases.

I only suggest this if your phone's OEM paintjob is peeling off- not the battery case- just the casing.

 

Last edited: Jan 12, 2012

V

VoodooGTR

Member

Jul 11, 2011

9

0

• Mar 18, 2012

• #10

I like this look over the stock looking color. I think it may even blend into my dash better.

 

B

brandogg

Senior Member

Jul 27, 2008

673

86

• Mar 18, 2012

• #11

I just tried this with some 91% alcohol and paper towels...didn't take any paint off...phone looks exactly the same.

 

M

mike.s

Senior Member

Apr 2, 2010

1,128

563

Google Pixel 6a

• Mar 19, 2012

• #12

montecristo1 said:

Seeing my wife remove her color off her nails using alcohol, I decided to give it a try.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Nail polish remover is acetone, not alcohol.

 

D

dewgong

Member

Jul 18, 2010

43

1

Samsung Galaxy Watch 3

• Mar 31, 2012

• #13

I tried it with 70% isopropyl alcohol and it didn't work either.

 

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Reactions: Dannar

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worwig

Senior Member

Jan 19, 2008

334

18

• Apr 18, 2012

• #14

mike.s said:

Nail polish remover is acetone, not alcohol.

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Click to collapse

Correct.
Alcohol won't do a thing except clean off any grease and fingerprins.
Acetone will remove nail polish and will soften and strip most paint and plastic.

 

S

syed2007

Member

Oct 29, 2011

8

1

• Jun 29, 2012

• #15

I just used up $ up Nail polish remover and it didn't work either. Is their a certain brand I should use? What about paint thinner? Alot of my paints chipped off so this would be really useful.

 

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Jdely31

Member

Jul 24, 2012

34

6

• Aug 27, 2012

• #16

Looks nice dude. Just a minor change but it makes your a little different than the rest.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

 

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jimmyco2008

Senior Member

Dec 12, 2010

746

94

Jacksonville, FL

• Sep 14, 2012

• #17

So how did you get around the edges, lime around the speaker, kickstand, buttons, micro USB port? Just careful?

Sent from my ThunderBolt using xda app-developers app

 

killahrey

Senior Member

Aug 23, 2009

816

71

East Texas

• Sep 16, 2012

• #18

jimmyco2008 said:

So how did you get around the edges, lime around the speaker, kickstand, buttons, micro USB port? Just careful?

Sent from my ThunderBolt using xda app-developers app

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Alcohol does not damage electronics.

Sent from my ThunderBolt using xda premium