Which Paint Stripper Is The Best At Removing Layers Of Paint?
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“Katrina asks, Who has the best brand to remove layered old paint from wood?”
There are a lot of paint strippers and paint removers on the market making all kinds of claims about how well they work. Removing layers of dried on paint from wood work, cabinets and furniture is a smelly and messy work. But, once all of the old paint has been removed from the wood, it can be sanded down and refinished bringing new life to an old piece of furniture.
Here is a list of the different types of paint stripers.
Chemical paint stripper
Chemical paint strippers work by partially dissolving the paint. They work best when removing a few layers of paint. Chemical strippers can also loosen the glue joints on furniture.
Safety first! You have to protect yourself from the harmful chemicals used to make paint stripers do their work. Wear safety goggles, chemical resistant gloves that are made for stripping paint, chemical respirator and old clothes that can be tossed when you are finished with the project.
There are five basic types of chemical strippers based on the active paint stripping chemical. They are:
- methylene chloride
- N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP)
- dibasic ester (DBE)
- Acetone, toluene, and methanol (ATM)
- highly alkaline caustics such as lye
Methylene chloride
It has been the paint stripper of choice for the last 50 years. It works by swelling the paint by 10 times it original size. The problem is it has a very low vaporization point and thus evaporates very quickly. Manufactures usually add some type of a wax to slow down the evaporation so that the paint stripper can do its work.
It is important that you brush it on thick and leave it alone for fifteen to twenty minutes. They scrape off the loosened paint. If there are still layers of paint on the wood, apply another thick coat of the stripper.
After the wood has been stripped of the paint, it is necessary to wash it to remove the wax residue.
N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP)
It has a very slow evaporation rate, so it remains active for a much longer time. It works by dissolving the binders that hold the paint to the wood or to the previous layer of paint. Because of its long working time you can spread it out over a larger area and have to worry about it drying out before get back to scrape off the loosened paint. The key with N-methyl pyrrolidone is patience.
dibasic ester (DBE)
These paint strippers are marketed as a ‘safer’ solution to methylene chloride. They will remove multiple layers of paint at one application. However, it works very slowly. Generally, apply a thick coat and cover it with plastic wrap. Just don’t use the roll from the kitchen without first replacing it. Your wife will not be happy with you. Once covered let it do its work over night.
Acetone, toluene, and methanol (ATM)
This is a combination of solvents that effectively put the solvent back into the paint and thus allows you to scrape it off of the wood. The typical application is to spray it on the wood. Let it sit overnight and then scrape off the old finish.
Because this paint stripper is effectively three different solvents in one can be very careful not to work around any sources of ignition, such as the hot water heater’s pilot light, sparks from electrical equipment and cigarettes. Never light a cigarette where any of these chemical strippers are in use. If the cigarette doesn’t kill you the explosion and fire will.
highly alkaline caustics such as lye
This is the only fumeless chemical stripper on the market. They dissolve the paint one layer at a time. The problem is these paint strippers will not stop once the paint is gone, they will continue on eating up the wood itself, until stripper has been neutralized with acid and rinsed away with water.
Heat Gun
A heat gun works by using hot air to loosen the paint. The heat gun is a supercharged hair drier. They work best on thick multilayer paint.
It puts out a lot of heat. Not only on to the project you are working on but it also heats you up. Not a problem when you are stripping the paint in the dead of winter.
Silent paint remover
This is a new product that uses infrared light to heat and soften the paint layers. It takes a minute or two to heat up and soften the paint. The paint can then be scraped off with a putty knife. What makes this a nice paint removal system is that it produces very little ambient heat, no messy, sticky paint gunk to scrape off and dispose of.
The down side is that this tool is pricy, about $400. Fortunately it is available at many tool rental centers.
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