Paint Removal -  Tips and Techniques

Choose the Right Product

Paint removers are not all created equal. Grab the wrong product from the shelf and you can easily get poor performance. Take 10 - 15 minutes while at the store to READ THE LABEL. Note what surfaces it will harm. Pay attention to the consistency of the finish removal solvent. If you are working on a vertical surface or a ceiling, the stripper better be a paste or a very thick gel.

Do Finish Removal Chemicals Leave Behind Harmful By-Products?

Not really. The active chemical ingredients may cause you the user to get sick if you inhaled the fumes for hours on end. However, once the paint or clear finished is removed and you wipe the surface with clear mineral spirits, you will be OK. This is true even if you are stripping baby furniture!

Required Materials to do Stripping Work

You will need rubber gloves, eye goggles, plastic sheeting to protect floors and surrounding objects, paper towels, a plastic or steel container to place stripped paint in, toothpicks for fine detail work, a stripping pad, plenty of steel wool, different scraping tools and regular tools to remove hardware.

Getting Ready to Strip

Paint that is transformed back into a liquid state by stripper will stick again to a surface. For this reason you must put down drop cloths to protect objects from the gooey paint. Newspapers or cardboard will work fine in small areas. Work in a well ventilated area but do not place a fan near where you are working. Wind will cause the strippers to dry prematurely. Excessive heat will also decrease the performance of strippers. You will get great results working in temperatures between 60 and 80 degrees F.

Stripper Application

This is a critical aspect of the job. You absolutely must follow the directions on the can. Each product is different! For example, some thick gel strippers must NOT be brushed on like paint. You can only brush in one direction. Read the label and pay attention.

Sit Back and Relax

The biggest mistake people make with strippers is removing them too early. A stripper will develop a protective skin or sometimes appear dried out. In many instances it is still working. You need to leave it alone and once again follow the instructions for dwell time - the time the paint removers must sit and work.

Scraping and Rinsing

Plastic scraping tools work best. Hard metal scrapers can gouge wood softened by the stripper. Use toothpicks or large hardwood splinters to remove paint from grooves. A stripping pad dipped in mineral spirits will remove the fine paint film after you have scraped away the heavy deposits. Steel wool should only be used on varnish only.

Author's Note: We've received other questions about similar problems. Here's one from Leigh, in Columbus, OH.

"I have a cement pad/stoop located in front of my front door. The previous owners painted this a dark brown. The paint is chipping off. I was wondering if you could please tell me how to remove this paint? The pad is in good condition, and I would much rather prefer a 'natural' cement color! Thank you! "

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Paint Removers - Performance Guidelines

There are many companies that make paint removers. However, there are just a few leaders in the field. Some paint removal manufacturers make products for commercial and industrial applications. I have hunted for the ones that make products for you and me - i.e. homeowners. Many of the products below can be found at local hardware stores, large home centers, and paint stores.

As you will see from the guidelines below, you have to be very careful about selecting the right paint or finish solvent. There is no one miracle paint stripper that is universally safe on all surfaces! Take your time and make sure that you pick the right one. For example, let's say that you intend to strip paint from some delicate aluminum object or thin aluminum siding. If you purchase an alkaline stripper you have got problems! The stripper will eat away and etch the aluminum! Read the labels, especially the area of the label that speaks to Precautions!

Several of the companies below have very handy pamphlets and charts that help you select the correct stripper. Klean-Strip is one in particular. Their chart lists properties such as strength, thickness, speed, wet time, water washability, etc. I suggest you call all of the manufacturers and request their product literature. It will be well worth it!

Dumond Chemicals, Inc.

Dumond Chemical makes the Peel Away product. This is the paste like remover that requires a special paper so that you can remove up to 30 layers of paint in one application! They make 4 primary products:

• Peel Away 6
  This safe remover is specially designed for fine furniture restoration. It will remove urethanes and varnish without harming or discoloring wood. In addition, it can remove many layers of latex paints and varnish from virtually any surface.

• Peel Away 7
  This tough remover will attack and remove tough coatings such as oil paints, epoxies, urethanes, traffic paint, chlorinated rubber, automotive paints, etc. It is safe on many substrates including hardwoods and aluminum.
• Peel Away 21
  This stripper is safe for virtually any surface and will remove many household paints.

Klean-Strip

Klean Strip makes a wide range of residential strippers. You name it, and they have it. They have many different stripping products. They range from furniture stain removers to adhesive/mastic removers.

• Premium Stripper
  This is a stripper for latex and oil based paints, urethanes, epoxy varnish, varnish, shellac and lacquer. It comes three ways: #1 KS-3 Thick Brushable Paste for tough jobs. #2 Easy Sprayable is a thin bodied stripper that is water washable. Be careful as the water rinse can raise wood grain. #3. Convenient Aerosol stripper is great for small projects.

• Heavy Bodied Paint Remover
  This product is a moderately thick stripper that cuts through multiple layers of old finish. It is water washable. It is great for painted metal.
• Strip-X Stripper
  Removes paint, varnish and stain. Water washable and clings to vertical surfaces.
• Klean-Kutter Remover
  A thin liquid remover made to remove clear finishes. Great for antiques.
• Deep Down Stain Stripper
  This product helps you remove stains from wood. Penetrates virtually all clear finishes. Sold in a spray can.
• Fiberglass Stripper
  Use this to remove paint from fiberglass. Water washable.
• Adhesive Remover
  A heavy-duty paste for removing old floor covering adhesives, mastic, contact cement, asphalt and latex adhesives.
• Citristrip
  A stripping gel that contains no methylene chloride. A great orange scent allows you to work comfortably indoors.
• Gillespie Furniture Stripper
  Removes multiple layers of paint from wood furniture in a flash!

Parks Corporation

Parks makes a full line of paint and clear finish removers. they also make a paint deglosser for increasing adhesion if you are going to repaint over glossy paints. Call them for sure and ask for this brochure by title: The Facts About Finish Removal.

• Pro Stripper II
  This removes oil, latex and clear finishes safely.

• Pro Stripper
  Fast acting methylene chloride. A semi-paste.
• No Drip Strip
  Semi-paste. Clings well to vertical surfaces.
• Liquid Strip
  Liquid formula great for detailed furniture restoration work.
• Furniture Refinisher
  Removes old furniture finishes and dirt. No need to sand or scrape. Simply recoat with new clear finish.
• Adhesive Remover
  Removes hardened adhesives beneath floor tile, ceramic tile, paneling, etc.
• Wipe - It - Off
  Removes dried latex paint spills or spatters without affecting underlying oil based or urethane surfaces. Great for clean up after painting those bedroom walls without making sure the drop cloth was close enough to the wall!

Author's Note: We've received other questions about similar problems. Here's one from Leigh, in Columbus, OH.

"I have a cement pad/stoop located in front of my front door. The previous owners painted this a dark brown. The paint is chipping off. I was wondering if you could please tell me how to remove this paint? The pad is in good condition, and I would much rather prefer a 'natural' cement color! Thank you! "

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When Kathy (my lovely wife) and I were dating, one of our hobbies was to purchase and refinish antiques. The antique market was really beginning to boom in the early 1970's. We still have many of the objects we purchased. Often the pieces of furniture needed help. I don't know how many gallons of paint stripper we used, but is was significant! It used to drive my Dad crazy, as sometimes in the colder months we would strip furniture in the basement of my house. The methylene chloride fumes would permeate the entire house.

Two years after we were married, Kathy and I purchased our second home. It had a gorgeous solid oak handrail, spindles and intricately carved newel post. We spent 5 days and nights restoring it to its original beauty. I believe we caused a shortage of paper towels and toothpicks in Cincinnati during this time period! Needless to say, we both became fairly proficient at applying paint stripper and removing clear finishes and multiple layers of paint. I only wish that some of the products made today would have been available to us 25 years ago!

30 Layers of Paint at Once....?

Not on my best day could I ever have removed 30 layers of paint in one application. Today you can purchase a high powered stripper (Peel Away I) that will do just that. The stripper is a thick trowelable paste that aggressively attacks layer after layer of paint. It is especially suitable for safely removing lead paint. By softening the old paint film it creates no hazardous lead dust. Virtually every old house contains lead paint. It can cause serious health problems. Just ask my neighbors who almost lost their dog to lead poisoning. The dog chewed on some woodwork in the basement that was covered with lead based paint.

Safe Strippers

The old strippers Kathy and I used contained volatile toxic chemicals such as methylene chloride. These old strippers were very fast acting. In the interest of public safety and limiting corporate liability, stripper companies developed "safe" strippers that use non-volatile organic compounds to soften paint films. The tradeoff for safety is speed of removal. The new strippers now take hours to do their jobs. It is a worthwhile tradeoff. Old strippers could soften a paint film in 5 - 10 minutes. It is not uncommon for the newer safe strippers to take hours to perform their magic.

Performance

Consumer Reports published test results in their June 1992 issue. They tested some of the new safe strippers. The report states that they felt that the Peel Away product "..was the fastest, easiest to use, and most effective." I highly recommend that you go to your local library and check out this simple report. It may help you make a decision when deciding which stripper to purchase.

It is important to realize that performance of strippers is dependent upon making sure you match the right product to the paint. This is not always easy! I don't know about you, but I find it virtually impossible to distinguish a latex paint from an oil based paint once they have been on a surface for 10 or more years.

The older methylene chloride strippers (which you can still purchase!) can remove 4 to 5 layers of oil based paint in a single application. However they usually don't do nearly as well on latex paints. Some of the safer strippers do the exact opposite! They work great on latex paint but do poorly on oil paints.

The point is this: If your stripper performs poorly it may not be a bad product! You may have to switch products or types of stripper. In addition, the paint film may consist of different types of paint. You may have 4 layers of latex paint on top of 5 layers of oil paint. It is not uncommon. This may require you to switch stripper during the middle of the job.

Harming the Substrate

Some of the newer "safe" strippers are very caustic. They have a very high pH and as such can actually degrade, corrode or pit metals like aluminum or magnesium. Some of these same strippers can discolor beautiful hardwoods like the oak handrail Kathy and I stripped.

You must be very cautious when purchasing the strippers. Read all of the Precautionary Warnings on the label before you purchase or use the products. There are strippers that will safely and effectively remove any finish (paint, varnish, urethane, lacquer, epoxy paint, chlorinated rubber, traffic paint, paint from masonry, etc.). You just have to take your time and match the stripper to the correct finish AND substrate!

Protect yourself as well. Strippers can really burn your skin and eyes. Wear rubber gloves and eye goggles when working with these products. Do not work in confined poorly ventilated spaces. If you do, your Dad may come and get you like he did me!

Author's Note: We've received other questions about similar problems. Here's one from Leigh, in Columbus, OH.

"I have a cement pad/stoop located in front of my front door. The previous owners painted this a dark brown. The paint is chipping off. I was wondering if you could please tell me how to remove this paint? The pad is in good condition, and I would much rather prefer a 'natural' cement color! Thank you! "

Click here to read about an interesting tip for storing leftover paint.

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Twenty-five years ago, I saw the most interesting thing. I was at Kathy's (my wife to be) house picking her up for a date. A professional painter was there working. He was in the process of custom blending an interior paint color for my future mother-in-law's dining and living room.

This painter had numerous plastic ketchup and mustard bottles filled with different pigments. He would squeeze pigments into the white base paint until he got close to the desired color. Kathy's mother stood there and watched while he mixed. Occasionally he would apply some to the wall to see if it was right. Once Kathy's mother was satisfied he proceeded to mix the rest of the paint according to the quantities of pigment that were added. It was amazing how easy it was to do!

It is Still Possible

You can still do the same thing that Andy the painter did for my mother-in-law. It is possible to purchase the concentrated pigments from certain paint stores. Of course you have to be willing to experiment. The beauty of this process is that you can create an infinite amount of colors.

Andy did the exact same thing for some outdoor patio furniture. He had a green paint that was a little too green. So he simply started adding some black until the green paint became a much deeper shade. As long as you go slowly, you will get positive results. The key is not to add too much pigment at once.

The Old Days

75 years ago, the paint industry was very different. First of all there weren't any paint stores. You went to a hardware store. There you could buy basic paint in white. Often you could purchase the paint ingredients: linseed oil, mineral spirits, titanium dioxide, and pigments. You would take these ingredients and blend your own paint!

Exterior house painters would actually mix up 10 - 15 gallons at a time to paint the exterior parts of a home. The ingredients would be placed in a large garbage type can. A popular color at the time was robin's egg blue. The painter would get an approval from the house wife or husband and make sure that he had enough paint mixed up to coat an entire side or two. It was tough to get an exact match using crude paint mixing methods.

The industry started to change about 50 to 60 years ago with the introduction of premixed colors from the paint factories. There would be rows and rows of gallon cans in paint stores of different colors. There were no site mixed color machines in the hardware stores.

During the 1950's and '60's, the paint companies began to introduce site mixed color machines into paint stores. This greatly reduced the amount of inventory since the paint companies just had to supply the different bases to which the store employee would add pigment.

As time passed, the quality control of the pigments increased and the calibration of the pigment measuring devices. These improvements allow you to go to a paint store two weeks after buying a premixed color and walk out with an exact match.

Unknown Formulas

If you know the formula you can get a match. But often the paint can is discarded. Knowing the color name can help but it is not a guarantee. Color names can change and are unique to each manufacturer.

A paint store employee with a good eye for color and three or four days can often get you very close to a color. This will happen only if you bring in a clean, large (greater than 1 square inch) sample of the paint. Flakes of plaster are just not big enough.

Time is a critical factor. If you expect a perfect match on a color matching attempt the first time AND within 10 minutes you are dreaming! An exact match by a store employee can take 10 or more attempts. The store manager will not let an employee work on samples in the back while other customers walk in. So, you need to give them time.

Blending a Color

If the walls or ceiling you are trying to match are clean and uniform in color, you will have a good chance at matching the color. Dirt blotches, smudges, heating duct dirt tails on the walls can make matching virtually impossible. If you have these conditions and apply fresh paint nearby, the new paint will stand out even if it is an exact match.

To blend a color into a wall once you have gotten a match, you need to feather the paint. This means apply it thinly at the edges of the painted area. This creates a thin edge of paint instead of a hump. Practice the technique in a closet. The paint, even when applied thinly will still look somewhat heavy. Once dry it will look like it was applied with a feather!

Related Articles:  Matching Paint Colors Perfectly,  Color Wheel,  Paint Colors - Tips & Tricks

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Paint Tinting Tricks

OK, so you have decided to mix paint colors to match the color or tint you desire. All that is required is a large amount of patience, some accurate measuring, an eye for color, and a clean wall. Let's get started.

Find an Experienced Paint Store

Try to locate a paint store in your area that has been in business for many years. Visit it on a weekday if at all possible. Why? Because the experienced employees often have the most seniority and get the weekends off. You want to work with a pro to get your color choice close.

Identify the Closest Color Chip Sample

The trick to matching paints is to use the technology of the paint store to its fullest. Remember, they only have a finite (fixed) amount of colors in the store, color books, and their system. There are infinite possibilities!

Get close to your wall or ceiling color with the chips. If you are working with a light color, notice how the chips have progressively darker colors on the same page or slip of cardboard. The darker color really shows you what you are dealing with. Imagine your wall or ceiling darker.....what might it be like? You MUST identify the proper color family or you will not stand a chance. If you get into the right family, it just becomes a matter of diluting the paint with white to get the exact color.

Stay Darker - That is the Key!

Purchase a quart of the paint color you think is correct. Try to stay slightly darker than the color you are matching. If you apply a little of the paint to the wall and let it dry (15 - 20 minutes) you might not think it will work. The color may appear too rich.

Immediately take a teaspoon of white paint (same brand - same type as colored paint) and a teaspoon of the colored paint and mix in a paper cup. Once blended apply to the wall adjacent to the full strength color. Note how different it looks. Note how cutting the full strength paint in half makes a difference!

If you are lucky, you will see that you are getting very close to the original color. It is possible that the first attempt makes the paint too light. If so, modify your mixed amounts.

Tricky Color Chips

If you are selecting a paint from a chip, be aware that once the color is on the wall it will almost always appear deeper in color. Why? The impact of an 8 foot high wall by 12 foot wide or so of solid color can play a trick on your eyes. If the store can't reduce the color any more, you can do it by mixing one gallon of white with your colored gallon. Just try it once!

Related Articles:  Matching Paint Colors Perfectly,  Color Wheel,  Paint Colors - Mix to Match

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The above illustration is a reduced copy of an actual Grumbacher Color Wheel. This device allows you to create new colors by dialing up a color on the outer ring. The inner white ring has windows that let you see the new color you created. You can see what happens when you add red, white, black, blue, or yellow to any of the 12 primary, secondary, or intermediate colors on the outer ring. This is a useful tool if you plan to work with deeper colors.

Artists use this tool to help them see what will happen when they blend different paints together on a canvas. You can use it to help see what will happen with certain colors as you squirt different types of pigments into the can. The back of the color wheel also has a helpful complimentary harmony guide. It shows what colors go well with other colors in an overall color scheme.

You can get this color wheel for less than $10. It is usually sold in any art supply store where artists buy brushes, paints, and canvases. You can also contact M. Grumbacher Inc.

Related Articles:  Matching Paint Colors Perfectly,  Paint Colors - Tips & Tricks,  Paint Colors - Mix to Match

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