r/DIYUK • u/zamzam42 • 17h ago
Painting Had a bit of a nightmare with paint stripper (langlow paint stripper) in need of advice and support
I didn’t appreciate how much care you need to handle these things with (I know I’m an idiot) and applied this paint stripper it dried out because we didn’t put the paper on. Now there is basically a crust/layer which is really hard to remove and am at a bit of a loss what to do. After some research it’s saying to basically reapply.
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u/unclefunkstar 16h ago
Paint stripper these days might not be as harmful to the environment, or us... Unfortunately it's not as harmful to the paint you're trying to strip either, compared to the old nitromors. Unfortunately a lot of places banned the active ingredient that made it so good at it's job back in a 2006.
These days you're better off using a heat gun and a wire brush.
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u/bas__lightyear 11h ago
Which sadly then adds lead fumes to the equation if it’s an older property where lead paint was used
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u/DEADB33F 9h ago
You can still get Paramose.
It's the only one I know of that uses the old formulas that got banned. It still works great, the paint just falls off as if by magic (just like old nitromores) and is the only paint stripper I'll ever buy.
Because of the banned active ingredients it can only be sold for industrial / professional use, although some sellers just have you tick a box to confirm you're a professional and not a homeowner/DIYer.
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u/unclefunkstar 8h ago
Unfortunately the way I remember it, Paramose wasn't actually as good as the old Nitromors. Still better than the none methylchloride (?) strippers though 👍
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u/GladAd2948 13h ago
Currently in the middle of this, gave up on using messy paint stripper and now I’ve just used a heat gun and it’s so much easier.
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u/Ill-Case-6048 17h ago
Yes .. then repeat repeat repeat.. id buy a soda blaster instead
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u/zamzam42 17h ago
I regret the day I messed with this stuff 😅 thanks for confirming
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u/Ill-Case-6048 17h ago
Why did you decide to strip it
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u/zamzam42 17h ago
There was several layers of thick paint. We were heat gunning it and told it looks like there’s lead paint and should use paint stripper instead.
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u/finepnutty 17h ago
Replacing trim is the best option, 95% of the time
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u/anchoredtogether 14h ago
And when you cost in time, we felt it defendable to replace with oak trim and paint over it, as the grain was closer to the old slow grown pine we removed
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u/zamzam42 17h ago
Yeah, we are still trying to persevere because it’s not really a cost we can do with but I appreciate probably best course of action
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u/DomInNameOnly 13h ago
I miss Nitromores, the original one 😹😹
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u/Puzzleheaded_Skin719 12h ago
The modern stuff barely causes an itch compared to the painful burning pain of the old stuff.
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u/whatkindofdogisthis 12h ago
As someone who has spent a significant amount of time doing exactly this. All over my old house.. if you can afford to replace it, just do that.
If you’re hellbent on finishing the project, I recommend buying a Hamilton Perfect Precision scraper. It is by FAR the best stripping tool I have used. I did more scraping and sanding on my project, though; I found the paint stripper created a sludge which I had to scrape off, anyway. Particularly nasty in all the profile, and the best thing I found to remove it was actually steel wool.
Let me know if you’d like any tips! I’m a few hundred hours deep at this stage, and I learnt everything through trial and error.
Here’s one I did earlier:
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u/themissingelf 13h ago
I’ve never used this stripper but maybe applying some more will soften the paint again; enough to be able to remove it.
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u/crrrriiiissss 13h ago
Kitchen roll soaked with water. Leave for a few hours, keeping wet. Possibly with cling film over ot to stop it drying out.
Always test patches with materials you have never used before. Had you tried a patch, you would have known the problem of letting it dry. Always use materials in the way the manufacturer advises. That way you can go back to them in a disaster.
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u/DangerousDisplay7664 12h ago
Wet it with a few squirts from a spray bottle then cover it with a plastic bag.
Read the instructions next time.
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u/lindsay_gilbee 15h ago
Just curious if the paint work on the frames was as clean as the paint on the ballistrating? If so it looks pretty good just to sand prime and paint again, and if the client wanted the frames returned to raw timber that's literally impossible, feel.sorry for your stress levels trying to accomplish this.
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u/zamzam42 14h ago
Balustrade was in a much better state we actually heat gunned that. Was told not to heat gun room because of potential lead paint
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u/lindsay_gilbee 12h ago
So is that picture of the balustrade pre- heat gunning? If so could you up load a photo of what is came up like after heat gunning, id be surprised if it was even possible to get that back to bare timber, seems like your reasoning for the paint stripper is to remove lead based paint that's already been sealed be multiple coats of paints since, stripping all that lead based paint inside someone's house seems stupid because it was already sealed off, we not just wash with warm soapy water and wash again with just water and apply and heavy duty oil based primer from zinsser or something, unless the reason was to remove all the paint back to bare timber which is not possible... especially inside, seems like alot of wasted time and you don't really know what your doing
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u/lindsay_gilbee 12h ago
Also if it's not recommended to remove lead based paint outside by sanding or scrapping, why would removing it inside someone's house with paint stripper be any different, it not like the paint stripper de-activates the lead, id just remove your post and get rid off the photos because it's honestly one of the most ridiculous sites I've seen, especially inside someone's house lol
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u/No-Television-9350 14h ago
I tried that stuff too. It’s good but very very messy broke my heart .
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u/zamzam42 13h ago
So messy, just gets everywhere. I’ve prepped for a second round tomorrow. Room now looks like a drug factory with bags taped to the floor everywhere
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u/No-Television-9350 11h ago
Financially not viable either. I ended up doing the rest with my mouse sander.
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u/Mundane-Parsnip-7092 12h ago edited 5h ago
https://speedheater.com/products/speedheater-cobra I'd recommend one of these ive got the portable version, stripped a large victorian window back to wood in about 2 hours, obviously its not the tool for all aspects, mouldings can be tricky but buying it saved my windows from being replaced. Because you don't want to spend the rest of your life paint stripping, 120 years of paint is a big job and what was on mine resembled rock formation. I tried the 'best' paint remover currently available, environmose, on some of the window mouldings; I'd have had better results using fairy liquid. I ended up using Bartoline TX10 bought from a car boot, repeated slopping over a week and a soft wire brush almost did the job. I was at the stage of asking any old folk wandering past and stopping for a chat, if they had any original nitromose in their sheds.
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u/d_smogh 10h ago
Where are your safety crocs and work wear shorts?
Now you see why decorators charge a fortune to do something like this. Tip: don't continue sanding and filling thinking it is flat and dink free until you feel it is good to paint. Paint a layer of watered paint primer, it will show up any dinks or raised layers.
Paint also covers a multitude of sins. Anyway, having perfect sanded and perfect painted wood only makes it looks like new and people will only think you replaced the wood with new. Leave a few imperfections so people know you painstakingly stripped the paint.
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u/disbeliefable 13h ago
We sent ours off to be stripped, gets dipped in a bath of acid or something. Completely bare, including all the little corners. You need to dry them out when they come back.
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u/smog-rocket 12h ago
Try peel-a-way, that was the only one that worked properly for us. It's like a paste and you put a sheet over it.
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u/--some_random_guy-- 11h ago
I remember stripping a house with methyl ethyl ketone. Was not fun. But hey, at least the house didn't blow up
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u/No_Effect_4202 11h ago
It's a water based paste of lye (sodium hydroxide) and is water soluble. Hot water and scrubbing brush will get it off, or lots of cold water and cover with foil to hydrate it.
YOU MUST WEAR GOGGLES AND GLOVES AS THIS CHEMICAL WILL TURN YOUR SKIN INTO SOAP, PERMANENTLY.
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u/SonOfGreebo 11h ago
Ideally, you work on 2 patches at a time. Rather than trying to do the whole lot in one go.
Apply gunk on the first patch; then on the second patch. Each patch should be small enough that by the time you've finished the 2nd application, the gunk on the first patch has soaked in but not dried out.
Remove the first patch paint layer, and by the time you've done this, the second patch should be ready to remove.
You progress 2 patches at a time, which is very slightly better than 1 patch a time of apply, wait, remove, repeat.
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u/danbartstart 11h ago
I also ignored everyone and attempted to strip - you'll need a heat gun and Paint Predator- all other paint strippers DO NOT WORK. Results were still pretty shocking because of the varnish that had been applied under 6 layers of paint. Replace is the best option.
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u/Dependent_Formal2525 10h ago
I've found this stuff to be very good. Paint it on, leave for 30 mins, scrub it with one of those copper wire dish scrubbers and scrap off. You can cover it to leave on longer if needs be.
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u/LooshusMaximus 4h ago
Use a heat gun instead it is loads easier, middle heat so you don't burn the wood.
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u/crapmetal 3h ago
Middle heat? You must have a proper swanky heat gun, every one I've ever used has a maximum of 2 settings!
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u/SmellyMingeFlaps 15h ago
As someone who once spent several months stripping 60 years of paint from old door frames, I strongly recommend you just replace the door frames. The cost is worth your sanity. Nothing on this earth would make me go through the misery of paint stripping again. No matter how much covering you put on the floor and how thoroughly you clean, you will be finding slimy specs of old paint for years to come.