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My son and I have been removing paint from the console of his '64 Eastport. The console had been painted, over the varnish, with a dark brown paint.

We have been using Interlux InterStrip that I have left over from another project. The InterStrip works well removing the paint, but the varnish takes a long time to soften to any degree. Is it normal for varnish to be such a bear to remove? Any suggestions for a good varnish remover?

Thanks,
Mike

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I did 100 year old oak trim on windows in my house. The only thing I found that worked was a really nasty chemical stripper I found in Home Depot - the name escapes me now. But it seemed that most other finish removers were no match for the old varnish.

Depending on the surface, the oak had a nice grain, you'll wind up first scraping, then picking and brushing the stuff off. After making a mess with the softened removed varnish that was just thin enough to run, I found that when removing the initial heavy coat it was a good idea to sprinkle some sawdust on it first as it helped keep the glop together and on the scraper blade.

I'll see if I still have a container of the stripper home to get the brand. It was definitely the nastiest stuff they had.

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I use "Zip Strip" to remove many layers of old varnish, a few applications may be needed, paint on w/ an old brush, let bubble up, remove w/scraper, it's strong and "Non-flammable".

Good Luck,

mw

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Nike,

Try a heat gun and putty knife.

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..and if that does not work, the best chemical stripper I know of is JASCO Premium Paint and Epoxy Remover (not to be confused with JASCO Paint Remover).

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You can also try KWIK Marine Paint remover. I used to use it refinishing old furniture and it would take off old varnish, old paint, old anything right down to the wood.

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What ever kind of stripper you use, you can save time by removing the stripper and the varnish with a pressure washer. It makes fast work of a nasty job. Just make sure you wear long pants, long sleeve shirt, and glasses, because the stuff will burn your skin if it gets on it. no, it won`t raise the grain or damage the wood in any way.

rich

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Nothing annoys a man more than a stripper that doesn't work fast...;)

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The best way to remove it all is mechanically. It's easier on the wood and the environment. It just takes a lot of elbow grease.

If you want to soak it off with something, there are some really good soy based strippers out there that are much less caustic and irritating.

Blister

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Thanks for the tips.

I have a putty knife, heat gun, power washer, and some stripper, so we're good to go for a couple of the methods. I'll report back with the results. That 40+ year old varnish is sure tough!

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Mike,
Maybe you are working with huge areas and this trick will not be up to the task, but the best technique I have ever used for refinishing is to scrape old varnish off my restorations with broken glass. Take some window glass, glass shelving, etc and break it up. Use the broken edges as scrapers. The varnish will yield to this leaving the wood patina and character intact. This is great for doing furniture, and is how I got all the years of junky coatings off the RPS teak I recently restored. Handled correctly, it will not gouge the wood. Try it, you might be surprised how effective it is. Again, if you are working with large areas it may be too fine a cutting method to reduce your area down. I'm not personally fond of chemical methods, whatever they are labeled. They seem to solve one problem at the expense of creating others, but if your area is quite large, you may have to resort to them.
Best of Luck,
Grady

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I think a lot of people get impatient, and don`t wait for enough time to elapse before they begin scraping or blasting with a pressure washer. I found it is best to wait at least 1/2 hour before removing.
Rich

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This pressure washing thing bothers me.

1) It is pretty harsh on the wood. In many ways, not much different than sandblasting. It can gouge the wood rather quickly. Plus you are forcing water into the wood under pressure. I once read an article (I'll never be able to find it if I tried) that made some good points about the forced cycling that happens when you pressure wash wood, and the added stress that it causes.

2) What about the chemical stripper that is being sent down the storm sewer so-to-speak? While some strippers are supposedly environmentally "friendly" does that still apply to the "stripped" product (varnish/paint)?

Blister

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Pressure washing wood. WOOD is a generic term. There are soft woods and hard woods. There are also degrees in pressure washing. pencil point sprays and fan sprayers, which also varies from narrow fan to wide fan., so you cannot make a statement that pressure washing is bad for wood. Mahogany is a rather hard wood. If you leave the paint remover on the wood for 1/2 to 3/4hr, the varnish will be very soft, and it doesn`t take a lot of pressure to wash it off. Also I use a 2400# electric washer not a gas washer. I have never had a problem with water being forced into the grain of mahogany. On aged grey teak, pressure washing can raise the grain. but we are talking about removing varnish from mahogany, here, and pressure washing does a nice clean job with little effort. Try it.;)

rich

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Hull -- Have you ever used the soy based strippers? I made the mistake on 2600 sq ft of floor I was trying to remove old glue from. It is nasty, does not work that well and a pain to get the residue completely gone. NEVER again -- give me the harsh stuff.

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Our local Water Authority is a haz-mat disposal site. The waste from my house went into coffee cans and the metal containers the stripper came in, and was carted off to RWA. The rags and such were disposed of with other construction waste.

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You bet I have. They work great.

It did take them a few years to get things working as well as ZipStrip, but now they are on par with anything out there.

Plus they won't make you grow a third or fourth arm.

Blister

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Soften her up with a hairdryer/heat gun...and strip her down.....with a cabinet scraper...beach glass.....leave the first coat....it's sealing the wood...
Use TURPENTINE....not mineral spirits.....
The new varnish dries faster.....lays flatter......smells better.....;)

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I like the "Chemical Attack" w/ "Zip Strip", apply and just wait for the "Bubbles" and scrape, "over splash" just drops onto newspaper on the floor and dries up, then just roll up the newspaper and dispose of properly when done. I belong to a volunteer group of local boater's that periodically go out together picking up plastic bag's and other garbage out of the Bay.
mw

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