Recent content by spacedman

I think it is soot. Thick black soot. The best way I've found to get it off at the moment is to apply a thick paste of washing powder, leave a few hours, then wash off, taking quite a bit of the black stuff with it. Under that there's a thin rust-coloured layer onto the bare stone. That might...

Good point, but it seems to be an even layer, much like it was paint! Either way, it's got to go....

The stone lintel above my fireplace is covered in black paint that smells sooty and smudges on your fingers. I want to re-paint it neatly in black (it was covered up by four layers of wallpaper and woodchip until recently). Have tried HomeStrip paint stripper, but that didn't do much better...