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Anonymous
Guest
Does anyone know where to get a product that removes old paint from plaster cornices? I have tried damping it down and picking away at it with toothpicks etc but this is incredibly labourious.
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Anonymous
Guest
The tap?
Cleaning cornices, however you do it, is a very laborious and tedious job. There are products, using very strong alkalais, that are sold for this purposes but I have read a number of conservation articles which advise against their use.
Water or steam is the safest bet, plus lots of hard work.
I have cleaned a number of ornate cornices (and had a pro do a number of others in my house). The pro used a steam generator of his own invention plus steel tools. I used water and wooden tools, except for getting off the top emulsion layer, for which I used a very thin small palette knife to get between the emulsion and the distemper. The bulk distemper removal was done with boxwood sculptors tools, then the final detail with cocktail sticks. My technique resulted in fewer scratches in the original cornice than the pro's athough his was equally effective at removing the paint. My use of water rather than steam meant however that I had to seal the cornice before redecorating to avoid damp stains.
Nigel
Cleaning cornices, however you do it, is a very laborious and tedious job. There are products, using very strong alkalais, that are sold for this purposes but I have read a number of conservation articles which advise against their use.
Water or steam is the safest bet, plus lots of hard work.
I have cleaned a number of ornate cornices (and had a pro do a number of others in my house). The pro used a steam generator of his own invention plus steel tools. I used water and wooden tools, except for getting off the top emulsion layer, for which I used a very thin small palette knife to get between the emulsion and the distemper. The bulk distemper removal was done with boxwood sculptors tools, then the final detail with cocktail sticks. My technique resulted in fewer scratches in the original cornice than the pro's athough his was equally effective at removing the paint. My use of water rather than steam meant however that I had to seal the cornice before redecorating to avoid damp stains.
Nigel
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Anonymous
Guest
A steam wallpaper-stripper (cheap as chips at DIY stores) can be adapted for your purpose. Just use the hose without the flat perforated plate.
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Anonymous
Guest
Agree with Moo and Nigel - steam works best, especially if there are layers of emulsion paint. I used a wallpaper stripper without the plate, as Moo suggests, playing the hose over the plasterwork (Edwardian coving, in my case) until softened, then peeling away using one of those rigid plastic kitchen spatulas (less likely to damage the plaster than a metal implement).
To remove the distemper underneath, I used an excellent product called Homestrip, which is an environmentally friendly water-based paint stripper, safe to use (not widely available though). I found this worked well and didn't damage the plasterwork. You need to coat the surface with the stripper fairly thickly, then leave for an hour or so before washing off very gently using a sponge scourer. I was careful to use filtered, boiled water to clean the surface and haven't noticed much staining. Haven't got round to decorating yet though!
To remove the distemper underneath, I used an excellent product called Homestrip, which is an environmentally friendly water-based paint stripper, safe to use (not widely available though). I found this worked well and didn't damage the plasterwork. You need to coat the surface with the stripper fairly thickly, then leave for an hour or so before washing off very gently using a sponge scourer. I was careful to use filtered, boiled water to clean the surface and haven't noticed much staining. Haven't got round to decorating yet though!
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Anonymous
Guest
I know I'm a bit odd (I get told so often enough) but I've liked the "natural" colour of the stripped plaster so much that I've just left it as it is.
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Anonymous
Guest
Good. There is far too much paint in the world. As with many things, we might get more enjoyment from it if we used far less of it, but used the best that we could find. It would save having to dig large holes in Madagascar.
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Anonymous
Guest
You need to read this!
I have a friend who is a friend of TW - he says I have to leave my dining chairs as they are, with the horsehair stuffing hanging out.
I have now some excuse for sloth!
The book is still avialable - try Amazon.
http://www.theage.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2003/11/18/1069027122238.html
I have a friend who is a friend of TW - he says I have to leave my dining chairs as they are, with the horsehair stuffing hanging out.
I have now some excuse for sloth!
The book is still avialable - try Amazon.
http://www.theage.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2003/11/18/1069027122238.html