Hello All I noticed a post somewhere on here recently regarding difficult paint removal from founts etc. Nitromors and others have, as you probably all know, all had their teeth removed in the name of Health and Safety. There is a product which I can only describe as incredible. I have used it restoration work on Tudor ( and other) buildings which have had the studwork and beams painted over-usually black. It's called " Solvistrip" and available from Anglia Lime in Sudbury Suffolk U.K. It will not damage brass at all but needs washing of from steel as soon as the paint has dissolved. Sounds like an advert but it's not! RESISTANCE IS USELESS ! . Now some smart a**e tell me it's what everyone uses! Dick
I'll have to try that then when i run out of paint stripper, i started out with Nitromors and as you say its lost its bite, it worked ok with repeated coats on non baked on paint but wouldn't touch the baked on stuff so after some research i found Starchem Synstryp which is advertised as industrial strength paint stripper but still took two to three coats to remove the baked on paint, if Solvistrip managed it all in one coat that would be a boon!
Hi, This stuff removes ALL paint in one hit from metal. On 400 year old oak,( if you're doing any ) it sometimes needs a light second hit. It stinks so apply it in the open air with a paint brush and leave for a couple of hours. You can then wipe the resulting " Quatermass" off with rag and then wash with warm soapy water.
Well, I've usually used Nitromors in the past and, although it works, I find it messy to use and disposal of the paint residue isn't easy. And when you get it on your skin - ouch! So when I had cause to strip a Bialaddin bowlfire tank recently, I thought I'd look elsewhere and found out that Screwfix sell 'No Nonsense' Paint and Varnish Stripper. I was a bit dubious at first given it contains no methylene chloride but the reviews were good and the price was right - about £6 for 500ml. I put the tank in an old plastic carrier bag and painted on the stripper as per the instructions - it's got quite a nice smell - and then tied the top of the bag to keep the fumes in and around the tank. I left it alone for an hour as per the instructions and when I untied the bag, the results were excellent. I hardly needed to apply a second coat as the instructions suggested - on only a few small areas I'd probably missed or put on too little stripper. That's as far as I can go - I've tried it on only one tank from one manufacturer but I'd say it's definitely worth a try on other stuff...
Good idea to put it in a carrier bag which would also stop the paint stripper from drying out, i will try that next time.
Oh, and I removed the paint using a soft scraper with the tank still in the carrier so when I'd taken the tank out, I simply re-tied the top of the bag and lobbed it all in the bin - the paint-stripper is biodegradable. I think Nitromors would have melted the bag as well as the paint...
@Ben cutlet I tried to find the MSDS information on line for Sovistrip but to no avail. Did the materials safety sheet come with your Sovistrip? Cheers Tony
Don't have much need for paint stripper on my old Bialaddins as the paint tends to come off easily, especially the green lamps! I don't care for highly polished brass lamps, 120 grade production paper and a bit of elbow grease gives the perfect surface finish ready for primer.
Probably because the design brief for their lamps and lanterns was for a lifespan of maybe only 10 years or so and it was felt using primer, especially etch primer, wasn't going to be cost-effective. Obviously we're well outside the expected lifespan now so it's perhaps not surprising the paint finish is failing, especially considering the hard life some of these lamps and lanterns will have had...
Of course that is the case David, the lack of primer helps us before we 're finish them to a far higher standard than when built, it is fortunate that the lamps are otherwise so well built that they have survived so long.
Tony, Solvistrip do have a safety sheet. I'm going to Sudbury one day this week so i'll pick a paper copy which I know Anglia Lime have, and post it.
Hi Tony, I have the MSDS sheet for solvistrip. I'm no great shakes with a computer and not sure how to load the email they sent me onto this site. Anyway, it's several pages. I can simply forward the email to you , but i'd need an email address of course. Likewise, I tried to download the decals from here with no success. Price of growing up with pen and paper i'm afraid. Dick
