Customer Reviews

1G Ready Strip Plus Paint Remover

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I purchased Ready Strip after having read a variety of reviews and preferring to believe the positive ones - and I have paid for my error in judgement.

First - my project was to repaint a couple of sliding closet doors - wood, with multiple coats of what I assume is oil-based paint in glossy finish. The house is 50 years old, and the previous owner apparently used some pretty high quality paint in his day. I say that because on other trim items, similarly painted, I have had to strip the paint down to the wood when I discovered that the primer I applied after sanding and "roughing up" the painted surfaces simply did not adhere - it would peel off like sunburnt skin. In fact, these very doors had peeling paint, where the top layer was starting to peel off the underlayer purely from age.

I peeled off what would strip away with my fingers, and then decided to try the chemical approach rather than my tried-and-true method of blowtorch and scraping (which I've done to other woodwork in the house). So after reading about Ready Strip, decided to give it a shot.

I live in SoCal - ambient temperature yesterday about 75 degrees, low humidity - and applied the stripper to the surfaces after having removed the doors and laying them on the ground. This way, the goop would not have the inclination to run to the bottom.

Indeed, after about 4-5 hours the color did change to an off-white (it starts as a booger-green color), so I took my trusty scraper and went to work (the instructions warn against letting it stay on too long, so I figured this was the right time). And I got precious little for my efforts - the chemical actually caused some peeling and cracking on the paint over perhaps 10% of the surface, mostly all it did was dry to a new hardened coating of its own. So I scraped off what I could, and was left to break out the blowtorch and burn off.

Bottom line, I wasted 5 hours (well, I did do other things - didn't just watch this stuff dry) and $30 (1/2 gallon plus $10 s&h - 50% for transport from the AsseenonTV outfit - but that's another story). And still had to go through the traditional burn approach, which was made a bit harder since this dried goop acts as a sort of protective layer!

Perhaps if you have latex based and/or matte finish painted surfaces to deal with, Ready Strip might work. But if you're dealing with high-gloss oik based paint (or maybe either) run, don't walk, away from this stuff.

Just order a gallon of Ready Strip. I am currently stripping our banister and hand rails. I brush this on and let it set. For my first time, the product dried on the rails and posts. I scraped off what I could and then used a water bottle to mist the product as suggested by the instructions. I like the very low low oder. As for my situation, the product is working good. It is winter time here up in the north so having a product that I can work with when the windows are closed is great. Also by letting the product dry, the product does not remove any finish when it hits the floor or other painted surfaces as I scrape it off. Later I just swept it up or vacuum it up. I have better control with this product. I find that what I can not scape off, comes off reasonably well with a fiber or coarse finishing pad. I also purchased some small brass wire brushes for the detail on the spindles. So far, I have no complaints except the local price for this product is high.

I am a huge fan of Ready Strip for more than one reason--the biggest reason is that it is odorless!!! I have been stripping my bedroom furniture this winter in my basememnt w/ minimal ventalation, and all is well! This is KEY, as when I get to the bigger pieces, regardless of the weather, I cannot move them out of the bedroom. (I have no intention of sleeping in there w/ the solution on the furniture, but point being, this can be done in the "main house" without worry of harming the family!)

I did find that removing 7 layers w/ one application did not prove true in MY SITUATION. HOWEVER, I can say that there were at LEAST 7 layers of, paint, varnish--really no one knows what all was put on top of another on this furniture.

Therefore, it took 2 applications, allowing overnight dry time for each. Once it is dry, it has to be dampened. The instructions suggest spraying it, as I did not have a sprayer of any sort, I just got a pan of water, some paper towels, and wet it all down. I waited more than minutes--probably hours, and then it all slid right off!!!!

Really I find it amazing how everything eventually comes off and you are left with the UNMARRED bare wood! I ran a littel fine grain sandpaper over the pre-existing dings and dents and that was it! As you aren't really scraping, there is minimal to no risk of scratching or gouging the item.

I recently visited my local home store to see if I could find the same or comprable product--and save all the shipping $, but there was nothing similar. The "harmful vapors" products were around $45/gallon!

I HIGHLY recommend this project. I suggest going through trial and error w/application thickness, wait time, dampening, and reapplying--IT DOES WORK!!!

Having seen several informercials, I decided to try the ready strip project on a shaded front porch and a table that needed to be stripped. I planned the project for a time of day when the temperature was moderate. First I applied a thin coat, a bit thicker than a coat of paint. When the product turned white, I tried removing the paint with a scraper. A portion of the paint came off, but the area still looked painted. I added another thin layer of the product, per instructions and let it sit for 12 hours. When I attempted to remove the product there were two results. One, the product could only be removed when I used the scraper like a chisel. Two, there was still paint on the wood. Now my entire porch is covered with a cement like product. I anticipate several hours of scraping, power washing, and ultimately sanding. Perhaps the results would have been different with an indoor project, but if you are considering using this project outdoors, reconsider. Just put in the time necessary to scrape and sand, because you are going to end up at these steps anyway. For forty dollars I doubled the amount of work I had to invest in this project.

Truthfully, I am surprised to see negative reviews on this product! I recently started working on refinishing our dining room table and chairs... in the process, I tried several different products on the tough-as-nails finish. Let me tell you, Ready-Strip won hands-down! I did a lot of the refinishing in our basement, so it was very important to me to use a safe, low-odor stripper. The other products I tried (I won't name any names, but one was a big-name company "safe" stripper) dried too fast, didn't remove the finish, left horrid black streaks and spots in the wood... it was a nightmare. I was so happy when I tried Ready-Strip... it did a great job, it was easy to tell when it was time to remove the finish, there was no odor, it was MUCH easier to remove than the other strippers, and, most importantly, it left the wood looking great. Wish I had done the whole project with Ready-Strip!

I am refinishing an old dresser that has two colors of paint, white over green. I believe the white is latex, the green is oil. The stripper worked fairly well on the white, but it is not working well on the green - in spots it turns to a tar-like consistency and is very hard to remove. However, I am on my third application, and am hopeful that I will only have to buy one more bucket to finish the project...The original varnish seems to come off well, though.
If I were stripping only latex, I would definitely get it again. It is pricey, and I would look for another product if I was stripping something that may have oil paint on it.
About the odor, I liken it to a very mild vomit, which, strangely is better than noxious chemicals.

I bought this with the intent of stripping our oak banister and refinishing it (by the way - hire someone to do that - its horrible). There are several layers of polyeurethane on the banister & it just cannot get through the layers at all. However, some dripped onto the wood trip (its a very messy product) and it took the paint off quicker than I could clean up the drip. I would only recommend this for removing paint and only if you can take your project outdoors or somewhere that you can make a mess.