Current Standard of Paint Strippers

[dishman]

I have been looking at the current standard of paint strippers.

Since they were neutered due to the EU regulations on the chemicals used I am having a hard time working out if there is likely to be any difference between all the off the shelf varieties.

I have seen reviews of all the usually suspects Nitromors etc. with people saying they are generally useless.

This could be down to people not bothering to wait long enough (even overnight). However, if the contents of these strippers are now restricted, are they all effectively the same formulation?

So will a 1L £6 bottle from wilkos be just as effective as a £16.00-£20.99 1L can of nitromors?

After the formula changed I am surprised there is no comparison reviews of the new brand formulas anywhere.

I am looking of strip layers of old gloss from internal wood.

 

[Gerrydelasel]

I have been wondering exactly the same thing. I've bought a bottle of Methylene Chloride to add to some cheap stripper, although so far I'm not sure if it really improves it.

For thick gloss I would have thought scraping/heat gun is more effective. I've always thought paint stripper was for thin paint / finishing off after scraping?

 

[opps]

I've bought a bottle of Methylene Chloride to add to some cheap stripper,

You can still buy MC based paint strippers. The caveat is that you have to buy 5L at a time.

You can still buy supposedly banned things like creosote but IIRC you have to buy 20L at a time and you are not allowed to use it on fences that young people might come into contact with.

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Buy it from where? I'm guessing you need to prove some sort of business nature before they let you have it?

 

[opps]

Buy it from where? I'm guessing you need to prove some sort of business nature before they let you have it?

Have sent you a PM. Given the possible carcinogenic risks I am not sure if I am allowed to link to it.

 

[dishman]

Any chance for that link too?

I decided to test Wilkos own brand. First signs were promising. After a few hours after a liberal application I have lots of pant wrinkling. On closer inspection it seems this may be limited to areas where the paint was poorly applied. In addition it seems only the top layer mayhave been affected.

I am going to try another pplication of the other coats but I am not sure how much affect it will have.

I have used the clingfilm overnight method.

 

[opps]

Any chance for that link too?

I decided to test Wilkos own brand. First signs were promising. After a few hours after a liberal application I have lots of pant wrinkling. On closer inspection it seems this may be limited to areas where the paint was poorly applied. In addition it seems only the top layer mayhave been affected.

I am going to try another pplication of the other coats but I am not sure how much affect it will have.

I have used the clingfilm overnight method.

After sending the link I noticed that Dichloromethane (methylene chloride) is available on eBay and amazon.

frenchpolishes.com (Smith & Rodgers) is the site that I last purchased MC paint stripers from.

 

[blightymam]

Bolo - whereabouts on Amazon? I couldn't find any and I could do with some! I looked before for some and just can't find any anywhere. Cheers..

 

[Gerrydelasel]

I bought my neat Dichloromethane from Darrant Chemicals.
http://darrantchemicals.co.uk/dichloromethane

 

[blightymam]

My only experience of that stuff was the old nitromors before they changed formula, is pure dichloromethane ok to use as a paint stripper? Any more precautions before I used it? Sorry to ask!!

 

[Gerrydelasel]

My only experience of that stuff was the old nitromors before they changed formula, is pure dichloromethane ok to use as a paint stripper? Any more precautions before I used it? Sorry to ask!!

It's thin like water so it's little use on its own -it will just run off surfaces, unless you want to immerse an object in a bath of the stuff? That's why I'm experimenting with mixing it with ordinary stripper which is good and sticky.

 

[blightymam]

Ahh, good idea! Would you mind letting me know how you get on please? Got an old banister rail with 50+ years worth of paint layers I'd like to get back to wood. Sorry to ask!

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Ahh, good idea! Would you mind letting me know how you get on please? Got an old banister rail with 50+ years worth of paint layers I'd like to get back to wood. Sorry to ask!

So far I've only tried it with Wilko stripper, and I'm don't think it made much of a difference. I was only trying to strip a small area of wood panelling with old varnish, gloss, and new emulsion on it. It ate through about 2 layers I think, patchy. I think even-ness of application and reaction time may be more important. Hmm...

In the end I gave up and used a heat gun and scraper. I will try again next time I need to strip something, though.
A banister is usually a smooth-ish, simple shape, so you might be better off scraping too? FYI, beware that stripper will sometimes discolour wood and make it go grey and dull.

 

[blightymam]

Cheers for you sharing! Appreciated. Some of it's quite intricate, so thought paint stripper make life much easier. I did use a heat gun to remove the paint on the sides of the stairs (not nice job as suspected it was lead paint underneath), but couldn't face the banister at the time and just repainted it. But it does look naff