Green Paint Stripping with Smart Strip

Happy New Year! After a few unexpected travails, we're back in full swing on the project.

Our townhouse has beautiful original woodwork, much of which had been

Fretwork: The fabulous detail in the moldings is obscured by years of paint. Photo by AMR

painted over many, many times in the last 100 years. Most of the windows and doors had been painted, and we wanted to get an idea of the work involved and how feasible it was to strip them back to their original condition. BUT, no nasty cancer-causing chemicals for us, so we tried out 2 of the green paint removal products we found:

• Soygel: highly-rated, made from soybeans by Franmar Chemicals


• Smart Strip: brand new product from the Peel-Away folks

We put them both to the test. Read More...

Hands down, Smart Strip worked better for us on the multiple layers of paint on top of the original shellac. Also, Smart Strip had *no odor* at all, had a thicker consistency and was much easier to clean up. Used in tandem with the special Peel-Away paper, we made short work of the windows and doors ikn the master bedroom. To the right is a shot of the windows before stripping, and below the detail that we found after using Smart Strip:



Our Method (YMMV...)

1. Set up your work area by taping down rosin paper, and taping off areas you don't want to be stripped.
   
2. Apply the Smart Strip with a brush. It's a thick, white paste that sticks to the surface pretty well. We slathered it on as thick as possible (~1/4").
   
3. Next, we cut the strips of Peel-Away paper and applied to the doors and windows, completely covering the paste and overlapping it a bit. The paper slows down the drying process, allowing the product to work on the layers of paint.
   
4. First, we waited 24 hours, but found that 48 hours was the right amount to get through all the layers.
   
5. This is a good time to go and find Allway CS6 Contour Scraper Kit, a flat scraper, contractor bags, a nylon stripping brush, denatured alcohol, latex gloves and a ton of rags to clean the scrapers off. TIP: we used saved plastic grocery bags to wipe the scrapers off in. No mess!
   
6. Gently pull off the Peel-Away paper, s-l-o-w-l-y, working perpendicular to detail in the molding. You should be getting several paint layers stuck to the paper, and sometimes all of the layers, with the shellac or varnish in a gel.
   
7. Grab your scaper(s) and gently glide it across the now bubbled and soft paint layers on the wood. The paint should slide off easily. If it doesn't, work on the areas that do slide off, and plan on applying another treatment of Smart Strip.
   
8. Wipe the scrapers off on the rags, or in the plastic grocery bags. Resist the temptation to wipe it on the rosin paper, as you will then be stepping in the goop, and tracking it around. Yes, that is from experience...
   
9. Once all the loose paint is removed, pour the denatured alcohol into a spray bottle and spray it liberally on the woodwork, scrub it vigorously with the nylon brush, and then wiping it off with clean rags. Move quickly over small areas, as the alcohol dries fast. TIP: if it's shellac underneath, Denatured Alcohol works. If it's varnish, use Mineral Spirits.
   

Hopefully, all of the shellac and varnish comes off easily with the rags and Denatured Alcohol/Mineral Spirits. If not, STOP, and just re-apply Smart Strip for 6-12 hours, and it will loosen the shellac. You will not get it off easily otherwise.

• Do not scrape at hard paint - the woodwork will be destroyed, and you will be frustrated.
  
• Do not let the Smart Strip dry with the Peel-Away paper on it. It's a hassle to get it off when dry.
  
• Do not coat on more than you can remove in one stretch. What you put on, make sure you get it off before it dries.
  

Voila! You should have some darn fine woodwork in front of you. (Of course, the usual sanding, etc.will have to happen before applying a new stain or shellac.)

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