Stripping Wood Furniture

Old woodwork is found within older homes in the form of moldings, doors, staircases or on windowsills. Old woodwork is found on interior fittings that are often covered in old paint; sometimes decades old. Old paint may contain lead, and should be removed with caution. There are easy ways to strip paint from old woodwork that won't cost a lot and can be done quickly and safely following the steps below.

Strip old woodwork and old paint with the use of soy gel professional paint stripper. Old paint may contain dangerous lead, and the vapors can become air-born and toxic if scraped without the use of proper stripping agents. Check the online site of Franmar, the maker of this product, for various sizes and prices. Compare prices to chemical stripping agents, and choose product that is right for your project.

Apply soy gel professional paint stripper by applying an eighth of an inch layer. Use a paint brush to apply the soy gel, and let it set for forty-five minutes. Wait until the forty-five minutes are up, and begin to scrape away the paint. Scrape the soy gel with a putty knife to lift the old layers of paint. The paint becomes trapped within the gel, and that means no dangerous air-born lead paint.

Use a chemical stripping agent to remove paint on old wood if you do not have or want to use the soy-based gel stripping agent. Choose a formula particularly suitable for old woodwork. Read labels on chemical stripping agent bottles, or use a heavy paint stripper or semi-paste stripper that is long standing, and made to first oxidize the paint so that it can be easily scraped away with less mess.

Put on a chemical fumes mask, and plastic disposable gloves. Make sure there is a tarp or old newspaper spread on the floor around the work space to protect the floor from spills when using a chemical stripping agent. Make sure to properly ventilate the area when applying the chemical stripping agent.

Take a paint brush and apply chemical stripping agent in even strokes. Wait five minutes for the product to oxidize, and begin scraping old layers of paint with a putty knife or other scraping tool. For small and delicate surfaces, use the flat edge of a screwdriver to scrape. Take the strips and place them in a disposable plastic garbage bag. Seal the bag, and dispose of when finished by contacting your local waste disposal contractor or sanitation department and ask about the disposal of old paint strips that may contain lead. Dispose of new paint strips by putting them in a sealed plastic garbage bag and taking the bag outside to an outdoor garbage pail for regular garbage disposal.