Citri-Strip QCG73801T Paint and Varnish Stripping Gel, 1-Quart

by Citri-Strip

• A powerful, industrial-strength remover
• Easy to use because it stays wet and active for up to 24 hours, allowing stripping of multiple layers
• Contains no methylene chloride, is non-caustic, and is safe for indoor use
• Special orange stripper has a pleasant citrus scent and is biodegradable
• Wide range of applications, remove latex and oil-based paint, varnish, lacquer, and more

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Homes need as much love as the people in them. With Citristrip, you can safely remove layers of yesteryear from your furniture, cabinets, doors, and other painted surfaces. It's biodegradable. And it smells pretty nice too. Paint remover needs to stay wet to work. Citristrip stays wet for 24 hours. So you can cover and strip an entire dining room set in one go. If it's too wintery to strip your furniture outside, or if your furniture is nailed down inside, Citristrip is safe for indoor use. That's because it's made without methylene chloride. Citristrip smells like oranges instead of eye-watering chemicals. And its orange color helps the stripper gel stand out on a surface, so you know where you've applied it.

Product Description

QT, Citristrip Paint & Varnish Stripping Gel, Fresh Orange Scent, Contains No Methylene Chloride, Strips Multiple Layers, Stays Active Up To 24 Hours, For Both Indoor & Outdoor Use, Effective On Wood, Metal & Masonry To Remove Most Paints, Shellacs, Polyurethanes, Lacquers, Epoxies & Varnish, Thick Enough To Use On Vertical Surfaces.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tried Many Others - Found This Best January 21, 2009

By College Student

I never write reviews for products, but for Citristrip I had to make an exception. I'm renovating my 100 year-old kitchen (which means, odds are, there is a 100 years of paint to be removed) and this product is making the task absolutely easier. I'm applying the Citristrip in a layer about the thickness of a plastic shopping bag, letting it sit for about an hour, and EASILY scrapping it off with a plastic putty knife. Sometimes a second round is needed, particularly in the corners where paint has more heavily accumulated over the years, but it's not a problem. It has not damaged the wood at all. To remove excess residue, I've been using a dish towel and very warm water (cool water makes the residue feel kind of gummy and makes it harder to remove). I am very pleased with the results. The smell isn't too bad - it seems like a mix of orange candy and hair perm chemical (I know, gross, but accurate). Overall, be patient with the Citristrip processing the paint removal, and you should be fine. Good luck.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding wood stripper March 22, 2008

By Paul

I decided to refinish my floor in the living room. I started out with a varnish remover and sandpaper. After much work and stinking up the house, I finished about 1/3 of the room. I then stupidly applied some stain/polyurithane mix. It did not dry evenly so I had to strip it again. This time, I happened across this citristrip. I found 1liter covered more floor than a gallon of the standard varnish stripper since you could apply this in thin coats (most others you need thick coatings). The smell was very pleasant and did not drive my family to spend time with friends than be home. It took longer to strip but that was a plus because it allowed me to spread it out better. Oh--it took off the polyurathane as well which really surprised me. I need thicker coats but sure enough, it save me many additional hours of work. I wish I had started out with this. Honestly, I think that the 1 liter probably would have done the entire room if I didn't have to deal with the polyurathane issue.

80 of 90 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for everything - certainly not concrete blocks! November 17, 2009

By Samuel Clemens

Citristrip Gel - Smells good, easy to apply, sure does loosen the paint up. But be forewarned: I don't care what it says on the label - this is NOT for use on masonry. I repeat NOT FOR MASONRY. Not because it won't take the paint off the masonry, but because once it's free of the masonry you can't get it off.

Let me explain. I bought Citristrip to take a single layer of latex paint off of a section of basement wall (concrete cinder block) so I could seal it with a hydraulic cement coating. I applied Citristrip and found it to be easy to use, easy to apply, and low-fuming, just as advertised. I came back 4 hours later, and it had sure loosened the paint right off - if it had been on wood, or some other kind of surface, I'm sure this would be golden. But it's not.

As soon as I touched it, I smacked myself on the forehead for being dumb. Concrete is porous. Full of tiny little holes. This is a gelatin product, and when it has finished dissolving the paint, what you end up with is a toothpaste-like goop that is sticky, thick, and impossible to remove - it loves those little holes. The Citristrip makes the resulting paste/goop caustic as well, so you can't really touch it either. You can't wash it off readily without using something that will kill you with fumes - so that benefit is out the window. You can't wire brush it off the concrete because the goop gums up the brush, and the brush pushes it into the pores. The best you can hope for is to try to take something like a Red Devil scraper and kind of pull/scrape the top half of the goop off. You are left with essentially a thin layer of paint/stripper that is stuck in the pores of the concrete - exactly like the paint you started with, but now you can't touch it with your bare hands. And you can't paint over it. And it's sticky and funny looking and smells like orange Kool-Aid.

The good news is that after about a week (yes a week - 7 days of creamsicle air) it dries into a weird orange/pink/white powder crust on the wall. You can then wire brush/vacuum it off. Don't breath it - whatever you do. The powder turns back into stripper in your lungs. Go ahead and ask me how I know this. After ANOTHER week, the rest of the vapors etc will have entirely dried out of what's left in the pores of the concrete and you can wire brush most of the rest of it out.

Summary and Lesson: Citristrip is a good product, but NOT FOR MASONRY. Put it on masonry and you're looking at about 10 - 15 days of playtime in orange smelling air. If you're trying to work cinder block for something, either paint over it, or get a sealant that will seal through pre-existing latex layers.

Citristrip is not what you're looking for.