DIY Paint, Lacquer and Varnish Removing.

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

DIY Paint, Lacquer and Varnish Removing.


Hello Wise People.

I need some advice on removing paint, lacquer and vanish from a few projects of my own and my friends.

Now I know we can sand blast, media blast and off the shelf strippers, all with their own pros and cons. But I want to try something else. Something cheep and what works.
We have.
Car parts painted.
Parts brushed and spayed with Hamerite and other metal paints.
Enamel.
Posible lead based paint.
MOD paint.
Finally something that looks like underseal, mixed with bitumen paint and plastic dip.

But I was wounding if the members here have a DIY methods they use or make. In the past I have used washing soda crystals and boiling water to remove paint on hard wood.

So any one have their method using of the shelf, easy available ingredients for finishing finishes.

 

[julianf]

If the parts are steel (or brass, etc. but not alluminium) then submersing them in sodium hydroxide works well.

If you connect up some electrodes, you can de-rust them at the same time.

 

[bigegg]

I once cleaned a load of painted lead figures by putting them in a pan of boiling caustic soda.
not to be recommended, but it did work.
They were painted with a mixture of acrylic and old airfix enamel

 

[Turbo]

Any steel items can be stripped using electrolysis in a washing soda solution. Can also be used on other metals, though results vary.