Peel Away 1 or 7 - Help please

[weegieavlover]

Hi all,

Have found this site useful in the past at answering queries I have in my house from what other people have asked. However there seems to be very little help on here for Peel Away.

I live in a Victorian Terraced house. The previous owners (Buddhist Centre) decided to paint the living room in their colours i.e. red & orange. The cornicehas many layers of paint and is currently red. The detail has been lost so I am currently trying to remove the paint using Peel away.

However I am having real problems with it. My understanding is you apply to cornce, cove with blanket, leave 24hrs (maybe 48hrs) then it should have almost set then you remove blanket an Peel Away should come away with blanket. Anything left should just flake off - correct?

My experience at the moment is the peel away is not setting and is still very much in paste like state rather than having set.

Anyone on here have experience of Peel Away that they could advice on what I might try or maybe doing wrong?

Thanks
Co

 

[dcdec]

I havn't used it but it may have been affected by the VOC changes and lost its bite a bit.

You could take the plate off a wallpaper steamer and blast it. The paint will soften. Fashion yourself a couple of bits of timber in the shape of door wedges but smaller, dead handy for getting at awkward bits and kind on the surface.

PS. Suppose i should say wear the appropriate safety gear if your gonna do the steamer thing, i don't, but my IQ is just about in double figures allowing me a bit of common sense, it seems we should treat everyone like they're stupid, not saying you are but you get what i'm saying i hope!

 

[joe-90]

I think you are wasting your time. You won't get back sharpness in Victorian detail, besides, who would notice if you did?

 

[JohnD]

have you consulted the makers?

 

[weegieavlover]

Thanks for the replies.

I have consulted them & they suggested I try Peel Away 1 instead of 7. However I have also dropped them an email so awaiting a response but think it will be Monday before I hear anything.

I hear what you are saying about not getting the detail back compared to first install however the detail would have just looked likes lumpy cornice rather than how great it should look.

I might try the steaming approach if I have to but like the approach of Peel Away as you can put it on and just leave it... I know lazy but I am also stripping the orange paint off the wood work (I know horrendous!).

Col

 

[JohnD]

steaming also makes plaster burst off the wall if you keep the steamer in one place long enough to overheat it. If you have a Victorian house it is probably lime plaster (whitish) rather than Gypsum plaster (pinkish or greyish) but I don't know if that behaves differently. I have only ever stripped lime plaster on flat walls.

 

[weegieavlover]

steaming also makes plaster burst off the wall if you keep the steamer in one place long enough to overheat it. If you have a Victorian house it is probably lime plaster (whitish) rather than Gypsum plaster (pinkish or greyish) but I don't know if that behaves differently. I have only ever stripped lime plaster on flat walls.

Thanks for that one... Steaming is out! I am a proper amateur & if something can explode round me I can usual find a way making it do that!

 

[joe-90]

I think you'll find that it's not just paint up there. They were made is situ - not a cast so they were pretty ropey even when new. You are on a loser here mate.

 

[emilybronte]

I think you are wasting your time. You won't get back sharpness in Victorian detail, besides, who would notice if you did?

OP would notice, for a start. And anyone else who finds Victorian architectural detail in Victorian houses pleasing.

 

[JohnD]

not a cast

some were cast and screwed up, especially the deeper and more ornate ones.

 

[emilybronte]

I was wondering whether the 10" high 'woman's head/bust' which forms part of the cornicing in the hall of our Edwardian semi (painted over the years with many coats of white emulsion) could be stripped or sanded back to expose more fine detail, and if so, how?

I don't even know whether it's plaster or wood under all the paint.

Expert advice gratefully accepted!

 

[joe-90]

I think you are wasting your time. You won't get back sharpness in Victorian detail, besides, who would notice if you did?

OP would notice, for a start. And anyone else who finds Victorian architectural detail in Victorian houses pleasing.

That's like cleaning the patina off an antique - it just looks like a repro. Just leave it be and do something useful around the house.

 

[JohnD]

A thick layer of old paint is not quite the same as patina.

It's more like a layer of muck.

 

[joe-90]

But that is what Victorian detail looks like today - I too live in a Victorian house.

 

[emilybronte]

But that is what Victorian detail looks like today - I too live in a Victorian house.

Then sell it to someone who'll appreciate it more than you do, and go and live in something more modern!