Best Method to Strip Paint From a House

Anybody knows that the simplest way to rejuvenate a tired surface is to put on a fresh coat of pigment. Eventually, still, all new paint becomes old paint. Whether information technology cracks and blisters or just forms a lumpy blanket of pigments and binders, information technology begs to come off. The platonic fashion to showtime over is to strip furniture of the one-time stuff and begin with a babe-smooth, bare woods surface.

What is the best fashion to remove paint from wood?

Three mutual means to strip paint from forest are heating, chemical stripping, or sanding. At that place are a handful of different products to choose from for each of these methods. To help y'all determine what arroyo to accept, we've laid out options beneath. And, nosotros've shared pace by step instructions to guide yous through each stage of the process.

Steps on How to Remove Paint From Wood

i. Find Out If the Wood Is Worth Exposing

Scrape paint to see if wood is worth exposing.

"If you're hoping to expose woodwork and end information technology with a articulate coat instead of pigment, you need to determine whether it was originally varnished or painted," says painting contractor and TOH contributor Rich O'Neil.

He recommends finding a subconscious spot, such as within a drawer or closet, and using a scraper to shave a test patch through the various paint layers. If the bottom layer is pigment, it's a good sign that the wood is unworthy of stain. "If it's worth exposing, it was originally varnished," O'Neil says.

2. Decide if Whether to DIY or Bring in a Professional

Person Stripping Paint Off Of Wood Furniture

It'southward always better to determine beforehand that a job is also large, complicated, or unsafe to tackle yourself. In that instance, yous take a couple of options.

Ship it out

If the pieces you want to strip are easily removable (such as doors, windows, or furniture) and feature intricate detailing (like mantel-pieces or stair parts), consider sending them out to a professional with a dip tank; pros use these special vats to soak entire pieces in liquid paint removers for faster, more than thorough results.

Hire in

If yous take a house's worth of trim or siding that must be stripped bare quickly, or if y'all have lead-laden paint and can't remove information technology safely, bring in a qualified pro to do it on-site. Visit the EPA's website for certified lead-removal experts.

iii. Select The Right Tools and Arroyo for the Project

Heaters

Heaters use high temperatures to soften varnishes or multiple layers of pigment so that the gunk can easily exist removed with a scraper. They minimize grit and tin can lift years of paint.

Downsides: Fumes and the risk of charred forest.

Chemical Strippers

Chemical strippers are liquids, gels, or pastes that deliquesce paint. No dust. No paint chips. They're ideal for fine details, awkward shapes, and hitting spots you may have missed with a heat gun.

Cons: They tin be messy, smelly, and dull.

Sanders

Sanders, including power sanding disks and clapboard sanders, grind away pigment. They're great for large, flat exterior surfaces but, unless hooked up to a vacuum to capture grit, sick-brash for indoor piece of work and anything with lead-based pigment.

four. Weigh Your Paint Stripping Production Options

Keep in mind safe, ease of use, and price when making your conclusion.

3 Tools to Melt Abroad Pigment

ane. Rut Guns

Using heat gun and scraper to help melt paint.

Heat is a tried-and-true method for softening thick layers of paint on flat surfaces or in tight spaces. The trick is to find the right temperature; also depression and the chore takes forever, likewise high and you could create harmful vapors, char the wood—or even set the house on fire.

Heat guns look like high-powered hair dryers and blast hot, concentrated air through a nozzle to loosen paint. Most models have high and low settings, just burns and fires can result even on the lowest setting if you allow the gun rest in 1 place for also long.

2. Infrared Devices

Infrared Device Used To Strip Away Paint.

Infrared devices use infrared rays to heat up and loosen the bail between paint and its substrate without generating noise or dust. They work chop-chop; a 30-2d blast tin can soften decades of pigment.

They also proceed pigment temperatures below 500°F, well under the bespeak at which wood ignites. The oestrus draws moisture from the wood, improving its ability to hold new paint. But these tools are beefy (meet example, to a higher place) and hard to use in tight spaces.

iii. Steam Strippers

Steam strippers utilize water vapor to soften paint without heating it higher up 212 degrees F, eliminating burn down risks. And the condensation minimizes dust and fumes. On the downside, the process can generate a lot of moisture and saturate wood.

Tip: The Best Technique for Handling Rut

Heat stripping is like a tango betwixt the hand holding the heater and the one with the scraper. Hover the device over the surface. When the pigment bubbling, slowly motility the heater forth and try to develop a rhythm so that you're scraping and heating in unison. Keep a metal pigment tray handy for when you take a intermission and demand to set the device downwardly.

iii Safer Options for Removing Paint With Gels and Pastes

If y'all're going to use a chemical stripper, know that anything that eats paint is dangerous and that doing the job without methylene chloride (see above) will be safer but slower. These wood stripping products contain less toxic, less noxious ingredients and remove both latex and oil paints.

one. SmartStrip

SmartStrip: A paste with a frosting-like consistency that can be brushed, rolled, or sprayed on. Clings well to vertical surfaces.

Active ingredient: Benzyl alcohol

Strength: I glaze removes upward to 15 layers of paint.

Dwell time: 3 to 24 hours

Removal: Scrape off the paint, scrub off the residue with a wet nylon castor, and rinse with h2o.

Toll: about $65 per gallon

2. Pare Away

Peel Away1: This paste works with a paper encompass to control evaporation. Ideal for lead paint and masonry, merely tin stain furniture woods.

Agile ingredient: Lye

Forcefulness: Up to xxx layers of pigment can come off every bit easily every bit stripping sheets off a bed.

Dwell fourth dimension: 12 to 24 hours

Removal: Peel off the newspaper and scrub the surface with a wet castor; permit dry out thoroughly, then apply a neutralizing solution.

Toll: about $45 per 1¼ gallons

three. Citristrip

Citristrip: This forest stripper is an orangish gel, best on furniture details and apartment surfaces since information technology is sparse.

Active ingredient: N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)

Strength: A ⅛-inch coat removes up to seven layers of paint.

Dwell time: 30 minutes to 24 hours

Removal: Scrape off the paint with a plastic scraper, and utilise an annoying pad and mineral spirits to remove any lingering residual.

Cost: about $twenty per half gallon

Tip: DCM is The Paint Solvent All-time Left Alone

Years ago, if yous needed a fast-acting chemical pigment stripper, y'all chose a production that contained a seriously baneful chemic called methylene chloride (also chosen dichloromethane, or DCM), cranked up the fan, and got the job done quickly. By and large speaking, the faster a chemic eats through pigment and finish, the more than toxic it is, and DCM is fast—paint starts to bubble in minutes.

But this paint stripper is also dangerous. Prolonged exposure to DCM, through the lungs or pare, has been linked to liver damage, cancer, and fifty-fifty death. The vapors can overwhelm air-purifying respirators, and just a few whiffs can leave y'all wheezing and airheaded.

Europe banned it for residential use in 2010. While DCM-containing paint strippers are notwithstanding widely sold in the U.Due south., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tied the ingredient to 13 deaths in ten states. Our advice: Bank check your labels and steer clear.

Pigment Scrapers 101

Hand using paint scraper to remove paint.

No paint-stripping endeavor is complete without an arsenal of scrapers to usher abroad softened paint.

A 5-in-one paint scraper—as well known equally the "painter's tool" because the curved edge tin can exist used to clean a pigment roller—is the go-to tool for removing most types of pigment.
Metal pull scrapers come with replaceable bract profiles to match the surface you demand to strip, offering more control than push scrapers in tight spots or on fine details.
When your paint scraping results offset to wait sloppy, rotate the head on the metallic scraper until you run out of fresh edges. After that, supplant or resharpen the blades.

Pro Advice on Paint Scrapers

Carbide blades hold an edge much longer than steel, only resharpening requires a diamond stone and some skill.
Steel blades ho-hum speedily simply can easily be resharpened with a mill file, a pocket rock, or even a piece of medium-grit sandpaper.
When using button scrapers, cull plastic over metal, to avoid gouging; this is especially important with chemical strippers, which can soften woods.

3 Easy Means to Examination Paint for Pb

About 90 pct of homes built before 1940 have some paint laden with this toxic metal. Although its use went into steep decline after 1950, pb-based paint wasn't banned in the U.Southward. until 1978. Here's how to detect information technology.

DIY Exam: Use a utility pocketknife to make a V-shaped cut through all the layers of paint, then castor the groove with a LeadCheck swab. A bright red colour indicates lead is present.
Lab test: Scrape a tabular array-spoon of chips into a bag and ship them to a lab for testing. It tin accept up to 2 weeks to go the results, just they're more reliable than a swab and typically toll less than $30 (prolabinc.com).
Phone call a pro: For a few hundred dollars, a licensed lead inspector will conduct an X-ray fluorescence test to identify the amount of lead present in all the painted surfaces in your home.

Get The Lead Out—Safely

Lead is nasty. Exposure tin can enhance your blood pressure, stress your nervous system, and damage your memory, among other risks. Information technology's particularly toxic to children, whose developing brains are more sensitive to its furnishings. If y'all desire to remove lead-based paint yourself, in addition to the dress and prep steps (next), follow these precautions:

Employ merely heat or chemicals to avert kick up lead-laced chips and dust
If you must sand, use equipment fitted with a shroud and a HEPA vacuum attachment.
Wet-sand stripped surfaces to minimize dust.
If working outdoors, cover the ground with six-mil plastic, extending the sheeting x feet beyond the piece of work area.
Place debris in contractor bags; seal with duct tape.
Observe more useful tips at www2.epa.gov/pb.

Ready to Strip Indoors in 3 Steps

Bucket of tools ready to strip paint indoors.

Skip sheet drop cloths in favor of half dozen-mil plastic sheeting, which won't trap fine dust or let chemicals seep through. Extend the sheeting at least 6 feet beyond the work area and overlap and record the edges. To aid avoid slips and absorb spills, comprehend the plastic with a layer of paper or contractor's paper.
Remove or cover items you practise not programme to strip. If using chemicals, mask hinges and other hardware you can't remove with solvent-resistant painter'due south tape, like ScotchBlue. If working with heat, protect adjacent surfaces with aluminum-foil record or a metallic paint shield.
Use 6-mil plastic sheeting and duct tape to seal off the workspace from the rest of the house.

Dust control:

If working indoors, cover air vents in your workspace to keep dust and droppings from circulating throughout the house.

How to Dress When Stripping Paint

Gear for handling fumes, paint chips, and caustic solvents

Put on clear wraparound safety spectacles to guard confronting splashes, dust, and flying debris.
Apply a respirator with a chemical cartridge for indoor work with pigment strippers.
Wearable disposable coveralls or erstwhile pants and a long-sleeve shirt to protect your skin.
With chemic strippers, article of clothing green nitrile or black butyl condom gloves as recommended on the manufacturer's MSDS. Opt for structure-grade gloves for scraping and heat stripping.
Wear disposable booties, and incorporate dust and clay by taking them off whenever you leave the work expanse.

Use a respirator with a P100 particulate filter when sanding or dry out-scraping.

Tools for Particular Stripping Work

Teaspoon To Scrape Paint From Concave Staircase Moldings

Some simple tools can help you remove paint from wood runway and other intricate details.

Dental picks make information technology like shooting fish in a barrel to dig out the remaining specks of droppings that hide in nooks and crannies.
Sanding cords work like dental floss to remove residue from crevices in turned columns and spindles.
Old credit cards or gift cards can exist repurposed equally custom scrapers past cutting them to friction match the surface yous need to strip.
Teaspoons and tablespoons are handy for scraping pigment from concave or convex moldings.

The Right Way to Make clean Up a Paint Stripping Job

Use water to mist the debris on layers of paper and plastic drop cloths underfoot earlier carefully folding them, dirty side inward. Tape all edges close or seal in heavy-duty trash bags for disposal.
Vacuum the entire work area with a vacuum equipped with a HEPA filter to option up any dust and debris.
Wipe surfaces with a damp material or sponge and a household detergent; empty the dirty rinse h2o into a container, never a sink, bathtub, or toilet. Check with your boondocks virtually hazardous-waste drove programs.
Give the surfaces and any uncarpeted floors a final wipedown with a make clean, damp material.

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Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/woodworking/21018208/how-to-strip-paint-from-wood