I've messed up the paint jobs on 4 carvings (3 goat kids, one bluegill) and would dearly love to remove the paint and start over. What's the best way to do this? I ruined the goats by spraying over their acrylic paint with a finishing coat of semi-gloss polyurethane, rather than a matte finish--they ended up looking like they're made of plastic. I tried roughing the finish with sandpaper--it removed not only the topcoat but also patches of paint. The goats are basswood, small and fragile--heavy scrubbing is out. The bluegill is also basswood, with thin, fragile fins. I've painted several things successfully, but I need to try again with these ones! Help!

Hope somebody comes along with a better idea, but until they do ....
The paint has probably seeped into the pores of the wood, so; think what I would try is get a scrap piece of wood and paint it using the same methods you used on the carvings. Then, I would try a real liberal coat of paint stripper and wrap the whole thing in saran wrap (to keep the stripper from drying to fast). After it sat for fifteen minutes or so would flush it off with lots of fresh water and see what I came up with. Might have to repeat. Then again, it might not work at all. This is assuming that sanding is out due to loss of detail. If not, sand away and repaint.

Careful with the stripper, eye protection is a mighty good idea.

That was pretty decent advice from Ed. A ways back, I screwed up a brook trout carving when I sprayed white enamel instead of satin varnish. It was a mismarked can from the hardware store, and I didn't test before I used it.

Anyway, I used the spray paint remover, over the whole fish, let is stand for about 15 minutes, then rinsed in warm water while scrubbing lightly with a nylon scrub brush (fairly stiff) It was necessary to repeat this several times, with careful drying in between treatments. Finally I used an old toothbrush for the final treatment , to get any remaining paint out of gill lines, mouth corners, and scale cuts.

If you use this method, you will find that the grain may have raised some due to the water exposure and fins may need to be re-fitted, as the paint remover also deteriorates the wood filler used to blend in the fins. A very light sanding with 200 grit paper took off the grain rise, and didn't damage the scale effect too badly, in fact I've had quite a few compliments on the scaling, so maybe they were too pronounced to begin with.

It's a very tedious procedure, but not as bad as a total recarve. One tip, here though might have saved you the whole problem. If you re-spray the gloss poly with the same brand of semi-gloss or satin, the less glossy finish will dull the gloss to where you wanted in the first place. If you do this, make sure you follow the particular brand's time to re-coat
guidelines. With some brands you can re-coat at any time, and others either within two hours or wait 72 hours. If you don't follow these time recomendations, the finish is apt to blister rather badly, or alligator on you.

Al

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

you would have to do some research, but there is a paint remover out that is completely safe and won't even harm your hands . I would find that and try it. Maybe a full fledged paint store would have it....I want to say it has orange in it but not sure..any way environmentally safe.

[Captain_Bandaid]

I do some oil painting (when not carving or blacksmithing!) and use something called Pink Soap to get the hardened paint out of brush bristles. You can buy it at Michaels and probably Hobby Lobby. It comes in a plastic bottle with a picture of the Mona Lisa on it. It is water soluble, non-toxic and it works very well. It might soften and lift the dried paint with minimal scrubbing.

[Kenny_S]

I have used what they call 3M Safest Stripper. Takes several treatments but does not harm the hands. I would wear rubber gloves anyway. No need to take chances.

[woody01]

If you are using Acrylic paint you can use rubbing alcohol.

use an old stiff paint brush.

Woody01

Aunty,
I am not positive about polyurethane, but I often apply several coats of Gloss spray acrylic and then topcoat with a matte spray acrylic.


AlArchie,
Your experience with the white enamel reminded me of one I had with spray adhesive; that was a sticky situation.

Ask me if I EVER use a spray can without running a test spray first! Learned that lesson well, and don't care to repeat the experience. Glad I'm not the only one to do that though.....glue, huh?

Al