I bought a house & the previous owner got Yellow paint on the end of the kitchen cabinets about 1/2" along the wall. He probally never heard of masking tape. Is there anyway to remove this paint without hurting the Veneered side of the cabinet ?
Alcohol is a solvent of latex, if you are lucky its latex. I would try wetting the paint with alcohol till its soft, it might take off the finish on the cabinets so experiment. You might need to tape a wetted rag over the paint for minutes to get it soft, if it doesnt get soft its oil paint and what ever removes oil is guarnteed to remove the cabinets finish.
Didn't you post this already, a month or two ago? Same answer as last time- a SHARP razor scraper at a low angle, and try to pop the paint off. If the cabinet finish is intact underneath, most should come right off. Then a green scrubbie pad to remove any stubborn spots, and touch up with a matching wipe-on gel stain, to make the scuff marks go away.
Look at it this way- you won't make it any worse with this method, and it may work 'good enough'. Try it before you try any solvents or such, which can make it worse.
You're right, a razor. I've cleaned up plenty of old paint that overlapped woodwork. Half the time nobody would notice anyway but it made me feel good. The typical utility razor knives work for some areas, but to do a good job in other areas something like one of these kits this works better
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Allows more "surgical precision" and you won't nick the wood so much. Touch up where you scraped with furniture "color pen" matched to your finish and it's hard to tell there was ever paint there.
Go to HD or a local paint or hardware store. They have products specifically made for removing latex paint from just about any surface without damaging it. I recently used it on the bumper of my Porsche after it grazed the side of the house trim and got white paint on it. It's a liquid, you just apply it, wait a few mins and the paint just comes off with a towel.
If you want to save your finish you basically have to "shave" the paint off in thin layers with the type of "hobby" razor knife I mentioned. It's tedious, and you can't rush it.
I haven't had any luck with chemicals removing paint from wood. Metal grates? Yes. But really no. Wife and I recently spent some hours removing many layers of paint from metal wall registers I pulled when we repainted walls. Spent about $15 on 2 quarts of different paint removers. Thought they might be nickel finished and okay to look at. Even with the proper soaking in remover, we still had to use picks to remove paint from the louvers.
They were steel, and immediately started showing surface rust. I spent maybe another 15 bucks on spray primer and paint, wire brushed the rust and some remaining paint off, then painted them. They look real pretty. Then I found a vent sealed under the wainscotting I removed in the dining room. No register. Had to buy a 10" x 6" and found it at ACE. $5.99. We spent 30 bucks on paint remover and paint, probably 4-5 hours of BS work on 3 registers we could have bought brand new for a total of about 20 bucks. Duh.
Think hard before using paint remover. That oak door trim that somebody painted over? If you price new oak trim you'll find it's probably cheaper than the paint remover, and you'll have better wood. Especially when you consider the labor using chemicals. It "always" takes a lot of labor in my experience, and often stains the wood. Assuming you can do the work, replacing the wood isn't really hard for a novice if you get a decent mitre saw, learn just a little, and take your time.
On my old house I did strip layers of darkened varnish to refinish the beautiful 4-piece oak crown molding, but that was special. Even then the wood was almost as light as balsa from drying up over 70 years. I was shocked how it was lighter than even well-aged pine. It was a real pain getting it off without splitting, and I had some. I was younger then and wouldn't do it now. Still pretty, but to me it wasn't oak any more. But way too expensive to replace with the same effect.
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