Question about removing old milk paint from a chair

I picked up a set of four ladderback chairs from a farm sale, and the old milk paint was flaking but also fused to the wood in spots. I figured a chemical stripper would handle it in an afternoon. It took me three full days of careful scraping with a cabinet scraper after two different stripper applications just to get down to bare wood on the first chair. The paint in the crevices was the worst. Has anyone found a better method for this kind of stubborn, old coating?

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3 Comments

jake6386mo ago

That sounds like a brutal three days of work.

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emmag226mo ago

Ever think about just sanding the whole thing down instead? That old finish might be so far gone it's not worth the fight with chemicals. Sometimes starting fresh is less work in the long run.

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the_brian6mo ago

Three days per chair is a real project killer. I wonder if a heat gun on a low setting could help soften those fused spots before you even touch the stripper, making the scraper work easier. You have to be so careful not to scorch the wood though, especially on those thin spindles. It might save your elbows on the next three chairs.

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