I want to re-paint some old furniture. Is it safe to chemically remove the old paint first?
my grandmother is an antique-whore. She buys old furniture all the time, and what she does is get hot bleach water (hot hot hot water) and a scraper for paint and she’ll go and detail scrape the paint off because she doesn’t like toying with chemical tests and stuff. It works pretty well. You’ll definitely get a bit of a workout from it though because it takes a bit to get every spot of paint off when you scrape it. But it works.
Chemical paint remover is a highly caustic chemical that dissolves the paint, but does not affect the wood or metal underneath. It’s kind of a paste or gel that you paint onto the surface. After about 10 minutes, it penetrates through the paint, and causes it to liquefy and blister up. You then scrape off the paint goo with a plastic scraper (so as to not mar the wood) and wash off any residue with a wet rag. You might also need a small pick or something to get into small places, like intricate carving work or corners. Because the paint remover is so caustic, you have to be very careful not to splatter even the tiniest drop on your bare skin. If you do get any on your skin, it immediately starts burning and will eventually hurt like a wasp sting. But, you can immediately neutralize it (and stop the pain) by wiping it off your skin with a clean rag. For protection, you should wear long rubber gloves that go at least half way up your forearms (and designed for handling caustic chemicals)
