Customer Reviews

SoyGel Paint and Urethane Remover Stripper 1 Gallon

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My boyfriend and I recently bought a house that has a brick fireplace that was painted. We really enjoy the warmth of a fire all winter long and want to put in a wood stove insert. We had a chimney inspector come and among other things flagged the paint on the fireplace as a fire hazard for the wood stove! I couldn't believe it.
I have to tell others what worked for us. After the removing process, we learned that there were 5 layers of paint on the fireplace! White, Mint Green, Creamy Yellow, Brown and another new layer of white paint.
I selected SoyGel becuase we needed to be in the house while it was working We did a test spot first to see how long we could leave this gel on before it hardened. Well it still hasn't hardened and the longer we leave it on the easier the paint comes off.
The first layer wrinkled up and peeled off just like a layer of latex. Looked kind of like Chewed Gum. The next 4 layers were easily removed with a small putty knife by scraping the brick.
Then we took a wire brush and brushed our hearts out to reveal some really nice red brick with a few black bricks throughout.
The process went much faster than I anticipated and we did apply the gel every time we were done peeling and scraping for that session. The more you put on the more effective it was.
It is very messy so make sure you have everything well covered.
Hope this helps.

First of all, the shipping was quick. And since the USPS was able to ship it overseas to an APO box, it isn't that dangerous.

Second, very low odor, no irritation of the skin or lungs - a big difference from methyl chloride, MEK strippers.

Third, water soluble. I haven't noticed any drying problems that wouldn't be associated with putting water on wood. And clean up is a dream compared to Zip-Strip, among others. I'd never put the rags in the washer otherwise. (They're clean.)

Lastly, it doesn't need continual watching. It stays wet while you have lunch! Seems to "re-activate" easily, should one have to wait overnight. I covered it with Saran wrap (which didn't dissolve) and went right to work in the morning.

I tested this on the paint used on refilled natural gas bottles. After ten minutes the paint looked new. After half an hour, the metal was clean. A light sanding and it was ready to paint.

I used a wet tooth brush to clean varnished window mouldings after 20 minutes with the stripper, and wiped up with a rag. After drying it was ready to paint.

Too good to be true...has to be. I am still skeptical, but ordering two more gallons ASAP. Hope this helps.

I love this product! I am stripping all the wood in my 100+ year old house. I don't need gloves, there is no odor so I can work even in the middle of winter with the house closed up. It is very easy to use. I wouldn't use anything else.

I have been in preservation for over fifteen years and have tried all manner of chemical and mechanical stripping tools for paint removal. Although soy-gel is not as fast as the methelyene chlorides it is by far the fastest "natural" stripper available. It is the safest for the user, altough gloves are recommended it does not burn on contact and does not melt plastic tools. I found that if a surface has a mixture of paints i.e. oil, and latex, usually the latex is ontop the soy-gel softens the latex first, pulling it away from the underlying paints preventing it from softening the oil/lead paints below. After this is removed another application of soy-gel removes the rest of the paint. Clean up although messy is simple, just water I recommend 3M pads. Be sure to collect the waste water and dsipose of it in accordance with local regulations regarding hazardous waste, especially if you are removing lead paint. This is where most chemical strippers shine it contains the lead paint in the gel keeping it wet and thereby eleminating friable particulates that one could breathe in, or have settle on ones clothes. It does have a chemical smell so if indoors be sure the space is ventillated, I am not aware if the smell has any side effects. On vertical surfaces be sure to protect the floor below with plastic sheeting, (soy-gel will run a bit), this also helps with cleanup during the process and at the end. In all an excellent product with few short comings. Happy stripping.

Soy-gel is the best low-toxicity paint stripper I have been able to find. It blows Citristrip away, easily lifting off multiple layers of paint. It also removes difficult-to-remove paints (e.g. milk-based). It comes very close to, and perhaps even equals, the effectiveness of dangerous methylene chloride strippers like Rock Miracle and Easy-Strip.

The product stays wet for a long time, increasing its
effectiveness.

It does cost more than twice what the very toxic strippers do, but it is worth it for the health benefits. You can leave it working in your house and not worry about being gassed to death while you go about other things.

I bought a quart of this product to make sure it worked before ordering a gallon, as it is not cheap. But if you are unwilling to use toxic strippers, as I am, then it is worth every penny. It is beautifully effective on wood, and the Franmar website states it is safe for plaster. As my husband and I are stripping many layers of (probably) lead-based paint off old lumpy rough plaster, we would never have accomplished the task without this stripper.

I have found it is most effective to use a relatively thin layer of gel (even on thick layers of paint) and wait at least one day, maybe two (not covered with plastic film) until the surface is no longer gooey or wet. The paint is now very pliable but dryish and will peel away from the underlying surface in nice strips.

This stuff blows away the competition!! I've tried various other brands- Peel way, Citrasolve and 3 other smelly, messy and less effective ones. SoyGel is easy to apply, ( on both vertical and horizontal surfaces) strip and best of all, eats layers and layers of paint with only one application. . .Great for old house renovation where lead paint is a consideration as any post stripping sanding is quite minimal.

We bought SOY-GEL to remove paint from a brick fireplace and from wood trim in an 85 yr old house with many layers of paint on everything. The gel goes on a bit messy, so be sure to use drop-cloth under vertical surfaces. Best to apply a thick coat with a paintbrush and wait a few hours. Newer latex paints will bubble and peel right up, Older oil-cased or lead paints will come up too, but with a little more waiting. To get 10+ layers of paint off of our brick fireplace, it took two full coats and a few touch-up spots, but now we have a beautiful fireplace appropriate to the old house, rather than a hideously painted mistake. I've used methylene chloride strippers in the past, and they work comparably to the soy-gel (if the MC percentage is high enough), but are much more dangerous to work with. With the soy-gel, we simply opened the windows while working. Highly recommended!

I have always loved to strip & restore discarded and neglected furniture.
The joy of reclaiming an old piece was overshadowed by the unpleasant chemical strippers available. A few years ago, I purchesed a home built in the early 1920's with an abundance of architectural wood with umpteen layers of paint. I thought I would strip the woodwork.
Needless to say, I didn't get very far. Recently found an ad forSoy Gel Paint and Urethane Remover / Stripper - 1 Gallon, and decided to try again. Works great! With the low odor, I can
cover numerous areas at once and not be irritated by the vapors. I didn't have to open the windows, and my pets were oblivious to it. I found that
the first application removed the top layers of latex. A second application removed the oil-based layers (with lead). At this point, there was still some paint left here and there, but since the wood was still moist, I got it off with steel wool. Clean up is a breeze with water
and even better with a little ammonia. Since I work fast, I know I must have splattered some of the product on my skin and clothes, but I experienced no skin irritation, and none of the clothing I wore was damaged. Just recieved my second gallon of Soy-gel, and anticipate finishing a project I started a few years ago.

Attempted to strip my grandmother's dresser for my daughter. I had done some crazy paint job to in the '80's. Tried the 3M stuff, a heat gun. Was staying away from sanding due to it's age, likelihood of lead paint, and need to do this indoors near my kid. After alot of frustration I ordered this. It works incredible. In just one afternoon I have 3 sides of 3 pieces of the dresser done! You definitely have to apply it generously. I only had a few repeat areas where the Soygel wasn't on as thick. But these easily came off with a short application. The beauty of this all, is it doesn't take much time at all - maybe 15-20 minutes to become soupy and it just scrapes right off. I went through alot of paper towels collecting the goop that results. But easy to clean-up comparatively.