How can I get old paint off of old varnished or shellacked wood?

Question

I have a Sears and Robuck home, built in 1926. The trim and molding throughout the house is clear pine, which has either been varnished or shellacked. Over time, the people who have painted have dripped, or missed, and there is paint where there shouldn't be. I am trying to decide whether or not to try to get it off, or just paint the trim.

Answer 1

go to Lowe's or home depot and buy a heat gun. It is the most wonderful tool alive to remove old paint or varnish.

Answer 2

They make a liquid that you can paint onto the varnish or shellacked wood that kind of softens and dissolves it and then you can scrape it all off. But that would sure be a heck of a job with all the trim and molding in the house.'

Answer 3

you could try goof off. it can be found in the paint dept at your hardware store. try a little behind a door to see if it softens the varnish to much. you should be able to put a little goof off on the drips and scrape with a plastic scraper and just remove the paint. BTW i think it would be a shame to paint that old trim.

Answer 4

Please review the following before you begin.

http://home.mindspring.com/~wrltc/LSWP.pdf

Its 1.1 meg and in PDF format so loads kind of slow but well worth the read.

It is a book I wrote dealing with lead-based paint. And 'yes' varnished or shellacked wood can have a lead content also.

If you have other questions please feel free to drop me a note. Fastest way to reach me is [e-mail]

Answer 5

If it's a knotty pine, it will be beautiful if you strip it and oil it. We did ours in our home. Lots of work. Used paint stripper at first but found it to be quicker to use a hand held sander. Saved allot of time and turned out beautiful. We didn't put anything on it but oil.

Answer 6

jasco paint remover

Answer 7

Use bleach, it works perfectly!