Paint Stripper vs Hot Air Gun

clg86

I have quite a lot of paint that needs stripping off doors, frames, tables etc... but I don't know what would be more effective.

Would you recommend paint stripper or a hot air gun?

screwedagain

We have recently done this to our staircase banister and side panelling etc, which had been treated with multiple coats of white gloss over the years. We wanted to strip it back and finish with woodstain.

In our experience the heatgun is more effective, quicker and not as messy - you can easily clean up with a stiff brush and a vacuum cleaner. Paint stripper leaves a horrible gungy mess that can't be swept/hoovered so you need to put down disposable dustsheets/old newspaper or something similar to catch the mess. Also I think there's a bit of a misconception that using paintstripper somehow lessens the work/elbow grease required - it doesn't magically dissolve the paint, you still have to give the surface a couple of good hard scrapings to get it all off.

We did use Nitromors on some fiddly bits that were difficult to reach with the heatgun and scraper, but generally for large easily accessible areas, the heatgun is the way forward. We got all coats of gloss stripped back, and then used an orbital sander to sand down the old coat of primer and get the timber back to a natural, bare surface - it looks as good as new at present, we haven't got round to staining it yet.

Take precautions whichever method you use - the heatgun can visibly melt/scorch a carpet from about a foot away, and the fumes from using paint stripper can be suffocating. Whatever method you use wear a dust mask, protect your eyes, keep the area well ventilated, and when you get to the sanding stage seal off neighbouring rooms/areas as best you can as the dust will get EVERYWHERE

Ben84

The fumes from a heat gun when stripping paint are horrible. It made me feel sick, I had a terrible headache, my eyes itched and I was finding it difficult to breathe. That was after just a short period of time.

So, I bought some polycell paint stripper gel, which has very little smell and worked well. It did benefit from leaving it for a long time. It's not an instant method, but you can just paste it on, leave it and do other things while it works. There's goo to clean up at the end, but it's much better as a solid goo that you can scrape off than noxious fumes you're inhaling.

cyclonebri1

Re titled, paint stripper V hot air gun V blow torch, yeah???

Paint stripper slow, not good on multi coats, messy, expensive

hot air gun, fine, but get a powerful one. and it won't get out the stubborn bits.

Blow torch, best of all, but horrid fumes, danger of scorching and blaady smelly.

Stooby2

+1 for the heat gun, but wear good gloves and keep the room well ventilated.

stan5001

I took the stairway banister apart and sent it to be stripped. Took 20 minutes to remove the banister rail, once done the spindles just pop out.

Doors - just take off and send them to get stripped.

Heat guns are fantastic with no pets, pregnant women, children and loads of ventilation.

Since 2010 or so all chemical painstrippers such as Nitromors are, err, time consuming...

I have used Peelaway, but it's expensive...the results are excellent, so it can pay for itself..

BlueC

stan5001 wrote: »

Since 2010 or so all chemical painstrippers such as Nitromors are, err, time consuming...

But you can still make your own with caustic soap (diluted!!), very MSE and it can be as strong as you like.

cyclonebri1

BlueC wrote: »

But you can still make your own with caustic soap (diluted!!), very MSE and it can be as strong as you like.

Whilst I'm the most fervent advocate of saving money, I think that takes it a stage too far.

H&Safety does have to come into play at some point, even though the dumbbing down of such as paint stripper, solvents, weedkiller etc, has castrated those products.:mad: