Stripping staircase - help identifying paint/varnish

Hi there,

Currently in the process of stripping my staircase. Having a devil of a time removing even the smallest amount of the paint/varnish. I guess the best way forward is to identify what I'm dealing with, because I've never seen this kind of covering before.

At the moment I'm using a heat gun and it seems the best process is to have it on about half-heat and 'push' the paint with my scraper. The paint doesn't flake off, rather it seems to congeal into sticky lumps.

Pics of newel post below - the bottom half is the stuff I've managed to scrape & sand so far, the top half is untouched.

The paint itself is glossy, and when I scrape it, it seems to leave a matt covering underneath which is also very difficult to scrape. If it helps, I don't think it is lead-based, the house was build in the mid-80s and it looks like this paint has been done relatively recently (i.e. in the last 10 years or so). Every architectural moulding in the house is covered with this awful stuff, it's a nightmare!

Thank you in advance

 

Item number screwfix 45940

https://www.screwfix.com/p/harris-h...WVG2xu0Ooie3Lqa2EshoCqjkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Well, that is making things easier. Still slow, but easier. I might actually finish the staircase this year now, rather than next year. Thank you so much!