Removing varnish with DCM?

[Gavin]

Anyone used DCM for removing varnish / old paint? I have a staircase covered in what looks like decades of weird dark brown paint / varnish /polish (I really have no idea what). I am trying Nitromors on it and it doesn't seem that effective. Would straight DCM be better?

Any other recommendations? I have success with a combination of heat-gun (to take the top off) and heavy sanding on the flat bits, but it would require days to give that treatment to the finer detail.

All advice v gratefully received.

[Eric Rowen]

DCM seems to be a bit tricky to use.......... like banned in paint strippers

http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/dcm_in_paint_removal.htm

Nitromors always used to work, maybe RTFM, which may say leave it on a while. 

Old Nitromors did contain dichloromethane

Latest type and instructions... 

http://www.restexpress.co.uk/acatalog/New_Formula_Nitromors_All-Purpose_Paint_and_Varnish_Remover.html

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[Richard Ibbotson]

Straight DCM tends to evaporate too quick, the commercial DCM strippers had a polymer added to make it to more of a gel.

[Gavin]

On Tuesday, July 28, 2015 at 6:32:24 PM UTC+1, Richard Ibbotson wrote:

Straight DCM tends to evaporate too quick, the commercial DCM strippers had a polymer added to make it to more of a gel.

Ah, that makes sense.
 

From: reading-...@googlegroups.com [mailto:reading-...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Eric Rowen
Sent: 28 July 2015 18:11
To: reading-...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [Bulk] Re: [RDG-Hack] Removing varnish with DCM?

 

DCM seems to be a bit tricky to use.......... like banned in paint strippers

 

Unfortunately I have the new Nitromors. I left it on for a good hour and it barely took the shine off! If only they'd banned idiots from decorating as well :) 
Heat stripping and then sanding takes an eternity and it is very easy to damage the detail. Ultimately I have ended up getting a quote for replacing the balustrade

 

[Eric Rowen]

A possibility is to scour the surface without going through to the wood, allowing the stripper to penetrate through the top layer which sounds like something stripper proof.  i.e. not paint.

Scour as in with a craft knife or similar not a pad like Scotch-brite 

Heat stripping is an art.  Heat (and letting it cool)   may be another option before applying some Nitromors 

Also after heat stripping the top layers it should then be possible to use a paint stripper, but even with a paint stripper you would need to sand it down

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[Andy Hayward]

Nitromors, wirewool and rubber gloves. The wirewool should scratch the surface layers enough for the paint stripper to penetrate.

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