Finding the best Paint and Varnish Stripper
- , by Trudy Chuoke Trudy Chuoke
Last week, I tried out three strippers to see which one was going to work the best on a project. The piece was a little stool that looked like it had many coats of paint on the surface. I wanted to try to get to the bare wood on this stool. Not that I thought that the stool was made out of anything beautiful, but I wanted to see which one of the strippers would work the best. Here is what I found out.
Dad’s Spray Stripper- this stripper says that it strips paint, stain, and varnish from wood, metal, or masonry. It works fast. In fact, it worked a little too fast. It started bubbling up on the surface, but it started to dry out quickly. I had to go back and wet it down again so it wouldn’t completely dry and be impossible to remove. So yes, it strips quickly, but it’s thin in consistency, so you have to keep spraying and then cover it with plastic wrap to keep it wet. And it dripped, so be careful.
Soy Gel by Blue Bear- I have a long relationship with Soy Gel and the sister product Bean E Doo. Soy Gel is a paint and urethane stripper that was one of the first strippers that had no smell. I stripped a table in my living room while my husband was watching the Dallas Cowboys in the den. And it was so convenient – it was summertime, and I stayed nice and cool inside an air-conditioned home. This stripper is made from soybeans. Now it doesn’t work that fast. but it’s priced well and it works. And if you are just stripping varnish or a single coat of paint, it works pretty quickly. But if you are stripping off several layers of paint, you can’t rush it. Put Soy Gel on the project you want to strip, cover it, and take a few hours and go to the movie.
Smart Strip by Dumond – this is the stripper that I was really excited to try. I have been sitting on a gallon of it for a few months. At the last show in Indianapolis, I went by the booth and was talking to the rep, and she mentioned that this stripper actually removes the orange stain that some older furniture has. I like older furniture. It’s usually all solid wood and pretty sturdy. Since the surface is not just a thin wood veneer, you can sand it without causing any damage. Smart Strip is very thick, like buttercream icing thick. I had a hard time getting it out of the container. But then it went on easily and did not drip, even in vertical areas. And it did exactly what the rep said it would do. It stripped it down to the bare wood. As they recommend, I covered the stool so it didn’t dry out. They suggest using the “Dumond Paper,” but I found that Saran Wrap worked just fine. This stripper is not cheap; it retails at about $75 per gallon. But I loved it, and it will be my choice from now on.
Even though all these strippers removed the paint, you still have to clean the sticky surface afterwards. The Dumond Smart Strip is water-based, so using Dawn dish-washing soap and a Scotch Brite sponge works great.
Now to the email….
Question: I bought a piece of furniture that had been in a flooded house. Most of the desk is fine, and I like the color that it is stained. It’s the legs that look dry and have a cloudy finish. Will I need to strip and refinish them? I can, but I was wondering if there might be another way to handle them. What do you think?
Answer: I have been through a flood or two and know how awful flood waters can be on wood. So let me tell you what I did for a piece that had the same problem. Howard’s Feed and Wax helps restore moisture to the wood. So, I put on a coat, and the next morning I looked at the piece, and it looked the same. I actually had to put on about 10 coats of Feed and Wax before the legs started looking better. But once the legs looked good, they stayed looking good. It just took several coats. So be patient and just keep putting moisture back into the wood with Feed and Wax.