A tolerable finish-stripping procedure !!!!!

[Farrell]

"And I wonder: If I warm them, can I get the solvents to evaporate back out from the activated charcoal, and extend their life ???"

Yes. That was part of my master's thesis project where I had to desorb volatile organic compounds from activated charcoal air (actually, soil gas) sampling devices and then run the sample through a gas chromatograph. Standard procedure in the science world!

Terry Farrell


----- Original Message ----- 
>     As you all know, stripping old finishes is one of
> the most disgusting aspects of restoration and, after
> 30 years, I stumbled across a procedure that is ALMOST
> non-totally-disgusting, and didn't even rot my brain
> or wreck my hands !!!! This may seem dumb and
> elementary, but I'm gonna describe it, directly. 
> 
> Get: Get at least 2 gas masks from auto-paint supply
> stores. I get 3M ones for about $20 each, here, and
> they work great! Disposable, and a  lot cheaper than
> at Home Depot or Lowe's ( And I wonder: If I warm
> them, can I get the solvents to evaporate back out
> from the activated charcoal, and extend their life ???
> ) Get several pairs of stripping gloves, gallons of
> denatured alcohol, quarts of 
> "Citra-Strip", stripping pads ( the D-handle with the
> rough blue pads, and the finer green ones ) and a
> brass-bristle pot scrubbing brush, like grocery stores
> sell. Also get a  bunch of large sheets of cardboard,
> and a  plasic tarp. I get boxes from the local futon
> shop, which are like 
> 6' long, 4'wide cardboard trays, with 2 halves. 
>    Put the plastic down on the ground, outside, put
> the cardboard down on top of it, put wooden blocks or
> plastic bottles with flat sides down ( like small
> isopropyl alcohol bottles ) to keep the piece up off
> the cardboard a  bit, and put down the piece to be
> stripped. Blooge some stripper into a  glass or metal
> bowl, and dunk the handled-pad into it. Wipe it on
> quickly, without a lot of brushing, and wait a 
> half-hour. Come back, scrub the piece with the grain,
> with the pad, creating a  sludge, then scape off the
> resulting gloop with a plastic putty knife ( round the
> corners to prevent scratching. )  Then dunk the brass
> brush into some alcohol in another no-spill container
> and scrub with the grain. This will get old filler,
> finish and varnish remover out of the pores of the
> wood better than anything, yet leave no visible
> scratches. Wipe up the residue with paper towells, and
> wipe and scrub some more until it is clrean enough.
>    Advantages: The Citra-Strip doesn't go through the
> gas mask and poison you like "regular" strippers do.
> Neither does it penetrate/eat the gloves, like other
> strippers do. So, although it's twice as expensive,
> initially, it will FAR MORE than make up for this,
> both in savings on gas masks and gloves, AND in saving
> your brain from destruction, and the destruction of
> the nerves in your hands !!!!! Similarly, the
> denatured alcohol does not eat the mask, your brain,
> the gloves or your hands like "hotter" solvents do,
> like lacquer thinner, for example, yet cleans away the
> residue beautifully.  The cardboard soaks up spillage,
> and the plastic keeps it from going into the ground.
> And if I DID spill a  little ( though I'm careful not
> to ) I'd MUCH rather it were alcohol, a wood
> distillate, that evaporates quickly, than lacquer
> thinner. And no water is used, so the system is safer
> for veneer.
>    Put the soiled cardboard under a roof somewhere,
> if it is going to rain, until the solvents evaporate
> away. Then re-use it, or throw it in a  dumpster when
> it is thoroughlky dry. ( An EPA-acceptable way to get
> rid of the stuff. )
>    Thump 
> 
> 
> 
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