My biggest learning experience.

[plasticpigeon]

Or my biggest mistake. I stripped the 100 years of paint, I'd guess at least 20 layers, from my bay window with peelaway 1, the caustic one. It works well, it stops lead paint from blowing everywhere and takes most of the paint off in one hit. It is very caustic though and comes with very strong acetic acid to neutralise. After stripping i washed the window with water and wire wool, and then neutralised with acid and observed a fair amount of fizzing and washed with water again. Then I painted. It looked great. However the paint never got dryer than tacky. Today with higher humidity than normal, the paint could be peeled off with a fingernail. I tried some more vinegar on the exposed wood and observed more fizzing. Aaaaaaaggghhhh. It will all have to come off, be sanded and neutralised again, washed, left to dry and repainted. So if anyone uses a caustic paint stripper and is planning to paint afterwards, make sure it is properly neutralised or you will start to wish you plumped for PVC instead.

 

[Zebra]

Aaaaaaaggghhhh
Oh no.
If it's any consolation, I've now got totally used to the idea of getting nothing right the first time.

 

[88v8]

Oh dear.
In the 1970s I had a '46 Wolseley 14/60.
I started repainting it with brushing Belco.
I took the old paint off with Nitromors.
Several weeks later it started bubbling.
Have rather had an aversion to paint strippers since.
Inclined to think that the merits of removing old paint are exaggerated, unless one has bunged-up mouldings to restore.

Ivor

 

[plasticpigeon]

I agree Ivor, but on my window the paint was so bad it had split and peeled off the wood in some places and was a couple of milimetres thick in others. Having stripped and washed down a fair area now I am disappointed to find that the wood still feels damp, what to do??

 

[88v8]

Yes, at this time of year you're a bit stuck.
Heat gun perhaps... build a polythene sheet structure around it while it dries off.
Arrrgh, indeed.
Especially when you thought it was done and dusted.

Ivor

 

[kreyszig]

My commiserations PP; I have fairly recently used the same stripper and have had no such problems (touch wood). I did cave towards the end and get the last bits off with a heat gun; perhaps that has saved me somehow?

 

[Penners]

Sorry to hear of your frustrations, PP. The failure of the new coat of paint may not be entirely due to residual stripping chemicals - it's possible that the wood might still be damp, which would of course have a highly deleterious effect on any new paint.

So I would tend to do another neutralising operation, then wash thoroughly then dry thoroughly.

 

[plasticpigeon]

Thanks for the advice, I have neutralised again, and the wood looks much better, a lot lighter and it doesn't have that friable spongy surface now, but there are still a few damp patches, so perhaps a third round of neutralisation in some areas is necessary. I would like to get this painted before the bad weather starts!

 

[Penners]

I can understand your impatience, but don't rush it. The wood needs to be thoroughly dry before you paint.