How To Strip Paint From Wood (DIY Guide)

There are various ways of stripping paint from wood. Before all these methods, you should make sure that your wooden medium is completely dry. You can dry your wooden piece using a tack cloth or a hairdryer. You can even work your way through with a heat gun by keeping it at a safe distance to avoid burn marks and hapless fire. You should wear your gloves to avoid blisters or splinters along with a face mask. Ways to strip paint from wood furniture.

The following are some of the methods commonly used to strip paint from wood

1. Sanding

Choose some sandpapers with both rough and smooth grains. The rough sandpaper would be used initially to get rid of the unwanted paints, while the smooth one can be operated to finish sanding to polish your wood medium. Make sure that you don’t sand too hard, as friction can cause heat to be produced.

You can even use an electric sander. Sanding can be a tiresome task since your sandpaper gets stuck with a paint making its grain less effective. Sand the wooden piece along the grain to avoid scratching the wood and ruining it. Our review on the best type of Paint For Wood Crafts

After sanding and polishing, Dust the wooden medium to remove any wood dust on it, with a rug imbibed in paint solvent. After making sure that the surface is completely smooth, you can start painting.

2. Heat Gun

Before starting this procedure, you should make sure that you are wearing gloves, goggles, and a face mask. You should even keep the water close to prevent the wood from catching fire. The heat gun should be placed at least 6 to 8 inches away from the painted wooden medium after turning it on to avoid burn marks.

You should slowly move the heat gun over the surface and place it above the surface you want to work on. Pass it from side to side and up and down without ceasing. The gun’s heat would make the previous paint wrinkle, and it would be time to scrape the paint up. Once the paint begins to bubble and wrinkle, immediately scrape the paint up with a broad paint scraper.

It would be best if you then did the final sanding and polishing of the wood. It would help if you scraped the object with sandpaper to make it smooth. It will get rid of the paint you can’t scrape off with the heat and spatula.

3. Chemical stripper

You can even use a chemical stripper if stripping the paint is hard. You should select a specific chemical stripper as each has its own purpose. Liquid chemicals are often applied in spray form and are usually used to clean coatings or a couple of layers.

Always shake the bottle or can before pouring its content into an open container. You should cover your brush with an adequate amount of chemicals to apply to a medium-sized area. You can also use a spray but spray 4 inches (10 cm) away from the wood. Apply coats of the chemical onto the wooden medium in only one direction. You should never recoat the chemical in any area that has already been covered by a paint stripper. Find out Best Paint For Wood Floor Reviews & Top Pick’s

Leave the wooden piece until the paint starts to soften. This is sometimes indicated by the bubbling of the paint. Rub the blade of a paint scraper over the surface in a circular motion to test the chemical stripper. If the scraper cuts into the paint, the chemical has worked correctly.

You can use a painters’ spatula to scrape all the ‘softened’ paint off when you feel it is soft enough to be scraped off. You can then sand off the wooden medium using sandpaper manually or even utilize an electric sander. Imbed a cloth in paint solvent and then rub it lightly over the wooden piece to remove any lingering chemical stripper.

4. Scraping

If the paint is covering the wooden piece in bulk quantities such as blob, then you can utilize the scraping method. Sharpen your scraper by scraping the scraper across a metal surface in a direction where the tip of the scraper can become sharper. It should be now easier to scrape the paint off.

If it’s still too hard, apply some vinegar, spirit, or water. After each time of scraping, you may notice that the scraper is blunt again so sharpen it again both ways. You shouldn’t use a lot of force as a scraper could scrape the wood with the paint. This method is only good if the wood is polished or if it has a wooden floor. Detailed Review on Best Paint Strippers For Wood.