Paint stripping doors- paint 'gooey'/like putty? Help

Ok on one side the paint comes off easily using an electric heat gun however on the otherside, underneath the gloss theres a yellow paint that turns to putty then sticks in a smear onto the wood.

Rather than smear it around and wash it reharden- is there anything that I can do?

As a last resort I will dip them but I don’t want to risk warping such lovely doors.

are you stripping pine doors? if so the putty like stuff is what they used to grain the doors to make them look like hardwood. i hand stipped all my doors using heat gun. try and get as much off as you can then nitromors and wirewool. i have also used caustic soda. plastic sheet on floor, door flat on trestles, brush on caustic solution, scrub gently then hose off. a bit of a faff but not as savage as dipping them.(i should point out do this outside)

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door[/url] by konadad[/url], on Flickr[/img]

internal doors?
without actually seeing it i’ll have a guess at water based paint?
what are you doing with the doors once stripped?repainting?
if repainting,then get as much off as you can then attack it with an electric sander with decreasing grades of sandpaper.
dipping dries the doors out and opens all the joints up but it does remove all the paint

Internal door- not sure if its pine? Very heavy though. Heres the otherside

Good effort doing it yourself. Always used Dip’n’strip – remove door, have collected in morning, back by evening all cleaned up. Handy when doing 20 of them and was cheaper than buying all the material.

Don’t know what it actually is, but seen that green stuff on my Victorian pine doors. I’m guessing some sort of lead based residue. Comes off with a bit of work with the heat gun.

I’m guessing some sort of lead based residue. Comes off with a bit of work with the heat gun.

😉 Maybe make sure the area is well ventilated, mmm lead vapour.

Could be a few things. Might be that you just need to apply more stripper as you are softening the paint but not a lot. More stripper will help

If it is really being a pain then try a scourer and lots of washing up liquid. Do a test first as I can’t tell what it will do to the door. It is probably an alkyd paint which is pretty similar to fat/grease and the washing up liquid will help clear it.

As an interesting experiment I wonder if some bicarbonate of soda would shift it. Again no guarantee and do a test but if it is a alkyd this might saponify it and make it easier to remove. I’d suggest working a slurry in with something abbrasive like a scourer.

Spookily i have exactly the same doors as you.

Had the same problem when i stripped. But, i am repainting now so it’s irrelevant.

Basicly its some sort of undercoat or primer, getthem stripped in a tank of caustic, lot less hassle than lead poisoning.

Theyre pitch pine, and from the 40,s, fitted loads,some wkith the top panel cut out and stained glass pu in as a vision /light pannel.

I don’t know why anyone would strip their own doors when you can have them dipped!

lot less hassle than lead poisoning.

This.

Wife is currently in Swissland this week having a blood treatment due to high levels of lead in her system that are on the balance of probabilities from the old paint and pipes in our house.

I don’t know why anyone would strip their own doors when you can have them dipped!

Dipping can be harsh. It strips everything including any oils in the wood and glue. Stripping yourself limits the damage as you generally dont use the same liquid volumes and stay on the surface.

Dipping can be harsh. It strips everything including any oils in the wood and glue. Stripping yourself limits the damage as you generally dont use the same liquid volumes and stay on the surface.

Fair enough, but are doors so precious? I would rather risk it than spend lost weekends manually stripping. IMO.

I’ve stripped all the interior doors, skirting boards, cupboards using a heat gun and elbow grease – probably ingested a large amount if lead vapour, but still alive. AIUI Lead is very toxic to children (affects brain development), but less so to adults.

According to George Monbiot, lead pollution is responsible for the rise in violent crime in the 70s, 80s and 90s. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/07/violent-crime-lead-poisoning-british-export

Anyone want a fight?

Hora.

Top tip. If you are ever stripping a door with a blow lamp or heat gun, or indeed any wood with a detailed moulding on it, always strip the detailed part first. It will usually need the most heat. The still painted sections on either side will be protected from stray heat.

Try and get most of the paint off with the heat gun. Then use Nitromors and wire wool. It doesn’t bleach the wood like caustic soda.

Paint stripper doesn’t work with varnish, you’ll need varnish remover for that.

Here’s some I did earlier

Well I was high as a kite on Sat after stripping one door. The window was open but leaving/coming back into the room showed how much ‘smoke’ there was in there 😯

I want to persist- partly because its an ass removing then rehanging doors plus I only really need to do around the border of each door as the paint within the panels isn’t gloss and is in good condition to paint over. Will try Nitromores and sand etc. Ta.