Getting rid of a bad paint job

[Splinter]

I really botched a piece with an awful paint job using acrylics. Is there any solvent that will remove it? I tried mineral spirits on a small part, but that looked like the rubbing was removing more than the solvent.....

[Goody]

Acrylics are not spirits type paint so mineral spirits will not work. Windex will help remove the paint probably better than anything else. Rubbing alcohol will also work. but windex is better. Testors sells acrylic thinner. This stuff is great but expensive. It has cleaned hardened paint out of my airbrushes but so has windex if I soak the parts overnight. You can get it at any hobby shop that sells model supplies. I have also used powdered Boraxo Hand cleaner and a little water to make a paste and a toothbrush to get paint out of the details.
Goody

[AlArchie]

If it's just a surface layer, you might well go with the above suggestions. But, if you need to remove the paint right down to the bare wood, you will probably need a strong paint remover, not just a cleaning solvent or thinner. Brush on ZipStrip type removers work well, but are really messy. There are also spray-on paint removers that work well on acrylics. In most cases you can spray the stuff on, let it work for 15 to 20 minutes and then rinse off the residue with a spray from a hose nozel set at the highest stream you can muster. I've done this with several "mistakes" and it works quite well. Youmay need a second tratment if the paint is thick in spots or doesn't come out of fine lines. You may even need to go in with a pointed tool of some sort to scrape the residue off tight spots.

You should do most of this outside and wear a dust mask or respirator if using the spray type.

It's not a pleasant proposition, no matter what method you use.

Al

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

thats the nice thing about painting....just repaint it!Ice Cream

[Splinter]

You are all so helpful. This board is such a wonderful resource! Thank you and I hope to meet some of you at the open house later this month.

[santagibbs]

My response was going to be like Hi Ho said. I don't know what kind of object you are painting but with the Santas, I have had to repaint because of a bad color plan.. Usually it's not everything and so I just lightly sand it some and then just repaint over it with the color I want.. That usually works for me.. Saves a whole lot of trouble.. as you can tell I take the easy way out! Charlotte

[Irish]

Charlotte's suggeston reminds me of a paint job gone bad that got transformed into an "antique".

After the acrylic was dry I sanded as much off the work as I could to prepare it for a second painting. But after the sanding I realized how wonderfully distressed and aged the carving looked. It had the appearence of some old well worn and played with antique toy.

So I dusted the piece very well and added a couple of coats of boiled linseed oil then lightly stained the piece with a medium brown tone ... not walnut - something closer to light americana.

When it was done the garish colors came through, the worn high areas of wood came through and the medium brown stain just made it look old.

It turned out delightful.

Thanks for your posting, Charlotte. I had forgotten that one!

Susan

[Bill]

A friend of mine that does a lot of painting, told me that Ammonia and water would remove acrylics. You might give it a try, he told me it took it right back to bare wood.
Bill

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

well you can try it, but it sure doesn't remove all the paint from a brush!Talking

[Bill]

Hi Ho
As a
non painter couldn't tell you one way or the other, only here say, as he does mostly airbrushing don't know about paint brushes.
All he told me was it took it off the carving????
Bill