Finish Stripping 101

As the afternoon temperatures on Thursday climbed to 97 degrees at the Aerie (104 was the reading at the Elmira-corning Airport according to weather.com and AccuHunch), I "escaped" to the slightly cooler garage to strip the finish off a pair of old headboards and foot boards for twin beds that were once used by my sister and I as kids. The beds date to at least 1958 and have never been refinished. The wood appears to be maple. I once stripped the dresser and chest on chest that were part of this bedroom set and those pieces are sitting in the basement being used for storage.

When Terry and I were new home owners way back in 1973, I took it upon myself to strip the paint off our old home's solid wood panel doors. Each door was two-over-two; that is, had two square panels on the bottom and two larger rectangular panels on the top. Each panel was bevel edged and was surrounded by cove molding. And each door had a gazillion layers of paint on it. (The house was built around 1906 and this was the first time these doors were stripped.) THE product of choice for that task was something called Zip-Strip. It took me all summer and about eight gallons of stripper to clean the doors so I could repaint them. Zip-Strip worked but I could only get three coats of paint off at a time. It also was extremely volatile--and not in a good way--which is why I did all my work on a set of saw horses set up in the back yard. By the end of the summer the fumes from the Zip-Strip may have damaged some brain cells...or maybe it was all the beer I drank while toiling away in the hot afternoon sun. I figure the beer to Zip-Strip ration may have been 3:1, maybe even 4:1.

The bed pieces had only one coat of finish on them (varnish?) so I thought I'd give something else a try. I had read about an orange colored and odored product called Citristrip and found it on the shelf at Lowe's. The fact that the directions say it's safe to use indoors and makes no mention of using it in a well ventilated area intrigued me. Could it be that safe and un-obnoxious? It claims to work on varnish, paint, other finishes, and many, many coats, too. As a gel, it should cling to the work, no? So, even with a price of $18 for half a gallon, I thought, "Why not?"

Let me tell you something: Citristrip is Great Stuff!

I applied it as directed using a paint brush, waited 30 minutes and used a plastic scraper--also as directed--and watched the finish come right off. Little or no elbow grease needed. That simple. If I left the gel to sit for a longer time, it did dry somewhat, but it still scraped off easily--perhaps even more so as it didn't run. (The package says it will stay moist for up to 24 hours, but that must be with a much thicker application than I used.)

The only caveat on the use of the stuff is to NOT use in direct sunlight or when there's a stiff breeze blowing. They're worried about evaporation. I was concerned about the heat so the garage was the ideal place to be! (The basement would have been cooler, but the cats....) There was a slight orange citrus aroma that beat the tar out of the strong, head spinning vapors other strippers produce. (I did open the window and garage bay door when I popped the top on the mineral spirits--just to be safe.)

I finished up using a stainless steel scrubbing pad and some mineral spirits to get the last of the stripper and goo off the pieces. With a little light sanding with very fine grit paper, the pieces are now ready for a fresh coat of paint. Or, perhaps, even a staining.

Citristrip is biodegradable and easily washes off your hands with soap and water. Same for any spatters you may get on your clothes. Latex gloves or their ilk are recommended for when you're scraping, however. That residual paint and stain doesn't come off so easily.

My work was on a single layer of finish, if dealing with multiple layers, a thicker application and longer sitting time may be necessary.

My only problem with Citristrip is also a plus: It is so thick it's nearly impossible to get out of the plastic jug it is sold in! They should market it in squeeze tubes like toothpaste so you can get that last little bit out of the container! (Not that I have to worry about that for a while. The four pieces--both sides--only required a little over half the jug--call it a pint+ used. And just one beer.) This thickness is a plus if you were working on door or window moldings or anything that is vertical. Citristrip will stick around on those surfaces to do the job.

[Disclaimer: I am not now, nor have I ever been, an employee of W.M. Barr & Co., Inc., Memphis TN, manufactures of Citristrip. I have received nothing from them in making this endorsement of their marvelous product. However, should they wish to contact me....]