Home made acrylic varnish stripper

Leif

Has anyone made paint/varnish stripper?

I need to strip acrylic varnish from an elm cupboard (Ercol) and Nitromors is almost totally useless. I tried a sample of commercial stripper and it's brilliant, but I have to buy 5L for £40+. My guess based on the smell of pears and appearance is that it is ethyl acetate mixed with wallpaper paste. Has anyone made stripper by mixing a solvent with wallpaper paste? If so, does it work, or are there other ingredients, and what ratios did you use?

I can get 5L of ethyl acetate for ~£20, and wallpaper paste costs peanuts.

keystone

Leif wrote: »

My guess based on the smell of pears and appearance is that it is ethyl acetate mixed with wallpaper paste.

Thats really good chemistry.

I can get 5L of ethyl acetate for ~£20, and wallpaper paste costs peanuts.

Is the £ 20 saving compared with the proper stuff worth it when you add in the cost to you of the time you have spent deciding the chemical composition of the commercial stuff plus the time spent on other research you've inevitably done plus the time on here to post about it? I'm guessing you've already spent more than that £ 20 anyway.

Cheers

Myser

Try this stuff if you want to use a product with minimal VOC content and not as harmful as the other hazardous solvents:

http://ecosolutions.co.uk/homestrip.html

keystone

If Nitromors won't shift it then homestrip certainly won't. Its OK for some jobs but not for others.

Cheers

Leif

Myser wrote: »

Try this stuff if you want to use a product with minimal VOC content and not as harmful as the other hazardous solvents:

http://ecosolutions.co.uk/homestrip.html

As per Keystone's comment. I tried it on an elm drawer, and it turned the handle black. I had to soak it in Nitromors and sand it to get back the natural wood colour.

Leif

keystone wrote: »

Thats really good chemistry.

Why thank you kind Sir. I did only get a B grade at GCSE chemistry, 35 years ago, but clearly my modest learning has not gone to waste.

Thanks to Mr Google I discovered that there are various solvents that can remove acrylic and acrylic paint, including acetone, isopropyl alcohol, meths and ethyl acetate. I tested meths, acetone and isopropyl alcohol. Meths works, but slowly. Acetone and isopropyl alcohol are too volatile, and injurious to health. That leaves ethyl acetate which is inexpensive, dissolves easily in water, and smells of pears. So I doubt it is anything else.

keystone wrote: »

Is the £ 20 saving compared with the proper stuff worth it when you add in the cost to you of the time you have spent deciding the chemical composition of the commercial stuff plus the time spent on other research you've inevitably done plus the time on here to post about it? I'm guessing you've already spent more than that £ 20 anyway.

Well Sherlock, you seem to have missed that this is the money saving forum, and many of us 'waste' an awful lot of time thinking about how to do things on the cheap. Including thee and me. The price of 5L of stripper including P&P is £50. If I can make some for 25% of that price, I am a happy bunny.

And no I have not spent money on the meths etc, I had them lying around. Us learned chemists need to keep our hand in, don't you know.

Lobsta

Years ago I stripped an old cupboard using a mix of sugar soap, flour and water. I don't know how it worked but it did. I found the 'recipe' on the leaflet inside the pot of sugarsoap, I'm not sure if its still included but maybe google has the answer.

Leif

Lobsta wrote: »

Years ago I stripped an old cupboard using a mix of sugar soap, flour and water. I don't know how it worked but it did. I found the 'recipe' on the leaflet inside the pot of sugarsoap, I'm not sure if its still included but maybe google has the answer.

It worked because it contains sodium carbonate. (I knew about sodium carbonate, but I had no idea it is in sugar soap.) It is a less dangerous alternative to caustic soda, sodium hydroxide, which also strips paint and varnish, but it is very dangerous, and blackens wood. I happen to have some sugar soap handy, so I can give that a try later today. Thank you. I have used something called KlingStrip which is a sodium hydroxide based poultice stripper to remove paint from plaster, very effective.

The idea is that a lot of chemicals can attack paints, but they run off or evaporate before they can do their job. So by mixing them with water and starch as a thickener, you create a snot like substance which holds the chemical in contact with the paint. These strippers often require that you leave them in contact with the paint or varnish for 4 hours or even overnight.

jimmo

For the sake of £3 you might want to try this
http://www.diy.com/nav/decor/decorating-supplies/treatments-cleaners-protection/treatments/-specificproducttype-paint___varnish_remover/B-and-Q-Paint-and-Varnish-Remover-500ml-12599095?skuId=13119801

I found it very good on paint but haven't tried on varnish.

Myser

Leif wrote: »

Acetone and isopropyl alcohol are too volatile, and injurious to health.

Is that a mixture of both? Since Acetone is what is used in nail varnish remover!

Leif

Myser wrote: »

Is that a mixture of both? Since Acetone is what is used in nail varnish remover!

No, I was referring to each one individually. Nail varnish remover is either primarily acetone, or ethyl acetate, nail varnish being acrylic lacquer.