How to remove all these layers of paint on your wood without using a toxic product? Want to restore beautiful beams that are covered with a varnish that you don’t like at all? Need to get some wood back to bare, whether to renovate one of your pieces of furniture or give your floor a makeover? Do you wonder what is the easiest method to pickle? How to get the best result? With patience and a little know-how, you will succeed. No need to invest in an expensive and toxic product. Easy-to-use solutions exist. Natural, they are just as effective. Discover the 5 most common pickling techniques. Before that, let’s go back to the definition of a stripper.
A stripper is a chemical substance of acidic or alkaline nature capable of removing a film of paint or an organic coating from a solid surface, whether metal, wood, plastic or ceramic. There is a large and diverse amount of paint strippers, specially formulated for very specific uses and paint strippers whose formulations are aimed at a much more general spectrum of uses. Wood strippers are special strippers because they must attack the paint without attacking the material, since wood is very sensitive to deterioration by acids or alkalis, and humidity in general.
1 – Sanding
This technique can be used if the remaining layer of paint is thin. It can be done by hand or with an electric sander. This method works well for long floorboards, tables and furniture with large flat surfaces.
2 – Heat pickling
You can do a lot more than you think with hot air. And especially paint stripping. With a heat gun, the paint softens and separates from the support and is removed with a spatula or scraper. Be careful not to burn yourself or the wood if you get too close. High temperatures influence the physical properties of many materials such as wood and accelerate chemical processes. The reason for these processes is the energy supplied from outside, which is transported into the wood by means of heat. The effects are much more targeted with a hot air gun than with, for example, a Bunsen burner or blowtorch. The shape of the pistol and its good thermal insulation also make such a device much easier to handle. There is also no risk of explosion or fire, as no flame is produced. The heat gun is similar to a hair dryer, but it generates much higher temperatures, over 400°C. On high-quality heat guns, the desired temperature can also be pre-selected quite precisely
3 – The stripping product
Apply a coat of stripper to the surface and allow the necessary time to act until the paint lifts, then with a spatula or a scraper remove it. The best technique differs from case to case. It mainly depends on the characteristics of the object to be processed. If it has intricate lines, you can use paint stripper and sandpaper. If the surface is flat, you can advance quickly with an electric sander.
The solution consisting of using a stripping product is the most commonly used. True, you can buy a poisonous product, made from very aggressive chemicals that are harmful to health. If you have to use one of these industrial products, it is essential to use a mask, gloves, glasses, appropriate work clothes and above all the place where you use it must be very well ventilated. However, in the case of using the option of a natural product, there are not so many precautionary measures, although it is necessary to protect your eyes and skin, because it is an abrasive.
4 – Baking soda
Once again, it is an essential part of the ecological household: here is baking soda again. To remove an old coat of paint, this is the product for you. It is naturally abrasive, that is, on the surface of the wood it acts like sandpaper. It sands the surface to be stripped, without you needing a product that pollutes or attacks your respiratory tract. In addition, the wetter it is, the softer it is on the wood. So it’s up to you to dose it wisely. Of course, as with any good self-respecting natural product, it’s up to you to do the work. Arm yourself with patience, a lot of elbow grease, and scrub!
5 – White vinegar
To strip wood in a natural way, you also have the possibility of using another must-have for ecological cleaning: white vinegar. Mix it with oil and soak a clean cloth in your mixture. Then pass this piece of cloth over the surface of the wood to be stripped.