"Home Strip" paint stripper

I don't often do this sort of thing but I want to share my experience with "Home Strip" paint stripper which I tried for the first time the other day. In short, I am very impressed with it. I am providing this for the benefit of anyone who might be looking for a suitable product. I have no connecton with the company - I am just a satisfied customer.

I got a small tub as a trial. It is very pleasant to work with - water based and no fumes. It comes in a thick gel-like form - a bit like thick wallpaper paste. It is thick enough to be painted on horizontal, downward facing, surfaces and stay on. It's probably best not to get it on your hands but, if you do, it doesn't burn your skin off like Nitromors and similar.

I was stripping wood in a 30s house - a door frame that has never been stripped. The instructions say that for large numbers of coats, the stripper should be left for an hour, the paint then stripped as far as possible with a knife or stainless steel scourer, and then treated again with the stripper, covered and left overnight. I was disappointed by my first experiment, where I followed these instructions. The paint didn't seem to come off very well after the first application. I should say that the paint appears to be in two groups of layers - the outer one that becomes pliable and sheet-like when subject to various forms of stripping, and the one beneath with becomes more 'gunk'-like. I imagine that this is the boundary between the old lead-based and newer non-lead based paints. Anyway, just leaving for an hour, what I was seeing was that the outer layer was not being sufficiently penetrated to come off easily and just parts of it were coming off in very small bits.

Next time I decided to leave the first coat overnight. I used pieces of plastic decorating dust sheets taped with masking tape and sealing it as well as I could. This was much more effective. Next morning, I used a stripping knife to get the top layers off. It came off in nice big sheets with relatively little mess. I then treated the remaining paint with another application of the gel. I had been careful when I folded back the plastic sheet, so I was able to reuse it and leave the area covered over again for most of the day. Later, in the afternoon, I went back to it and the remaining gunk came off a treat using a combination of a stripping knife and a stainless steel scourer for the odd slightly more awkward bits.

In summary, although it took a long time in elapsed time, the time I was actually working on this was very short. I have previously used hot air guns and Nitromors-type strippers and these were much harder work and created more mess. To be fair, I imagine that Nitromors would be more effective if covered and left to work overnight, but it is much nastier to work with and I would be less happy in having it hanging around.

I hope this is of some use to some one.

Bob

Reply to
bob.smithson
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It's very timely, Bob, thank you.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

================================ I think Nitromors attacks most plastics so choice of any covering material could be critical.

Cic.

Reply to
Cicero

But WTF is in it? From the manufacturers web site - " You say your products are safe, but you do not say on the label what it contains

Eco Solutions' products are mainly water - it is the innovativeness of the invention which causes the water to soften, remove paints and other finishes. Eco Solutions' products have a CE mark for safety and are classified as safe for use by children of 5 years+. (DIYers are becoming younger every day!)"

Bit of a strange policy to not say the active ingredient.

H
Reply to
HLAH

It makes perfect sense if they don't want competitors to follow suit

Reply to
Phil L

Try covering the stripper with tin foil,it'll keep the stripper moist and penetrate better.

Reply to
The3rd Earl Of Derby

He used plastic dust sheets, taped at the edges.

HTH

Reply to
Phil L

Doesn't work as well as tin foil.

Reply to
The3rd Earl Of Derby

Why would competitors want to follow suit and not list ingredients in their products?

Not stating what is in an "environmentally friendly" product to the sort of customer that would worry that a product may contain for example dihydrogen monoxide, seems a folly to me.

H
Reply to
HLAH

N-methylpyrrolidinone is apparently the active ingredient. Try asking for that at your local chemist!

Reply to
Stuart Noble

Stuart, I think you've got that wrong. As I read it "N-methylpiripiridanone" is listed as a nasty it *doesn't* contain.

"We've gone far beyond producing another hazardous solvent-based alternative to Methylene Chloride, such as N-Methyl Pyrrolidone (NMP), Benzyl Alcohol or Dimethyl Sulphoxide. Furthermore, our products do not contain any caustic or caustic-based derivatives.!

Does rather beg the question as to what it does contain that is strong enough to break down resins polymers etc. but does not attack skin, eyes, lungs etc ?

DG

Reply to
Derek ^

Why do you think people who care about the environment are daft?

It's BECAUSE I know about various sciences that I am concerned about the environment.

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Tell us what's in it & how it works then.

Then we can satisfy ourselves it is better for the environment.

DG

Reply to
Derek ^

As if anyone has ever called you daft Mary.....

H
Reply to
HLAH

Having had a little think about this I wonder if the reason they won't say is maybe because the active ingredient has unsavoury associations. Date rape paint stripper anyone?

H
Reply to
HLAH

Wouldn't be the first time:-) I actually enquired on sci.chem about this a while back and am just quoting the reply. Too many syllables for me.

As I read it

I'm sure eco strippers are way overpriced, which always makes me curious. Obviously a lot of surfactants and possibly paraffin? I suppose it's what the graffiti removal firms use, so shouldn't be that difficult to track down. I've seen them apply it and hose off in 20 minutes or so. Brilliant on masonry, probably less so on wood.

Reply to
Stuart Noble

Depends what you think of as 'over-priced'. The cost to the environment is worth avoiding.

Reply to
Mary Fisher

You shouldn't have to pay a premium to go green if the vital ingredients are cheap.

Reply to
Stuart Noble

Suppliers have a lot of costs from overheads and storage of slow-moving products.

When more people take advantage of the goods the prices will fall.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

In this case the goods are slow moving because they're expensive...

Reply to
Stuart Noble

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