How to Prepare and Use Home–Made Paint Stripper

Do you want your furniture, metallic or house walls have a fascinating appearance by painting them, well you need to remove the old paint first. To do this you need a paint stripper. There are various types of paint strippers used in Kenya but let’s concentrate on chemical strippers, a simple, yet effective home-made stripper, to be specific. You don’t need to deep into your pocket to get the job done!

To prepare this type of paint stripper, you need a match box, a filter funnel, a container (5 liters), clean water and waste papers such as newspapers, exercise books, carton boxes.

Proceed as follows:

         i.            In safe and clean point that is dust free, burn the papers completely to ashes.

       ii.            Allow the ash to cool and then transfer it into a filter funnel. Add water to the ash so that it drips through the ash to the container placed directly below the funnel opening to collect the ash solution.

     iii.            Ensure that the ratio of the volume of the ash to the water added is 5:1 so as obtain a concentrated solution.

     iv.            Decant the solution to remove excess solid particles.  

How to use the stripper solution

In order to remove the paint on the surface using the prepared stripper solution, you need a brush and a scraping rod. Apply the solution on the surface where the old paint is to be removed then spread it on the surface using the brush. The solution is then allowed to stand on the surface for about 20 minutes to allow the bond between the paint particles to break. This is confirmed by the bubbling of the paint on the surface. Using a scraper, scrap off the patches of the weakened paint layers from the work surface. The surface is then made smooth using a sand paper or a wire brush and left to dry before applying a new layer of paint.

This method of stripping paint is cheap and simple; however, it requires correct measurement of the water during preparation of the solution so as to achieve the correct concentration since the concentration is directly proportional to the amount of time it takes to weaken the bonds between the paint particles.