3DPrinting
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I use a heat gun to get the filament just soft enough , then use tweezers to pull off big chunks. A vice helps here, you can clamp the heat block while you're heating, then use pliers or a wrench to unscrew the heatbreak and the nozzle. Once the parts are separated, you can drop the parts in a glass jar of acetone, and that will break down the filament so you can get the rest off with a brass wire brush. Just don't dunk the thermal sensor or heater element in the acetone. The metal parts will be fine, but the insulation on the wires could be damaged depending on composition. I've saved and rebuilt several hotends this way - it's great to not have to be ordering hotend parts all the time. 😁
I don't think I have acetone, but if I try other things and they don't work then I'll try this.
What type of filament? Acetone doesn't do much to things like pla or petg, stuff that works aren't things you generally want around the house, industrial solvents and stuff. The jar of acetone can soften it up some but you'll need to soak for some time, I've used MEK too, but that's in the "don't keep that at home" category, it's really flammable and should use ppe (I mean should use ppe for a lot of the stuff we use, 99% IPA is harsh on your skin, I use nitriles because it irritates my hands something fierce.)
Cold pull as others recommended, nozzles are consumables, def should keep some around. Cleaning filament works pretty well in my experience if you have a partial clog.
I've been there though, first block I didn't use a sock and the set screws got encased in degraded petg, I ended up scrapping it and putting it on the shelf as a learning moment, def recommend a sock if you don't have, it's saved me a lot of grief.
It definitely works on PETG, PLA and most other plastics. I use it on some of my prints that need to be watertight. It leaks through the tiny cracks and seals them. Have you actually used acetone on any of these filaments...? I use them regularly for this purpose and I can't understand why you would say it "doesn't do much"...?
Softening and that, maybe? But it really depends on the filament brand too, as far as I'm aware, acetone doesn't readily dissolve in acetone which is what's meant by not doing much
Petg is pretty resistant, why PETs used for bottles.
Personal experience cleaning up clogged nozzles by immersing them, yeah acetone barely touched the petg