Continuing with the stripping this week, I keep attacking the woodwork and door with heat and chemicals. I start by working on the other side of the room’s door to get off most of the top layer of paint and a fair amount of the older lower layer(s) of paint. The top layer is a more modern and bubbles off easily while the lower layer is a bit more stubborn so I end up doing a second pass with the heat to try and scrape away as much as possible before starting with the chemical stripper.

Pass of heat stripping is done with showing most of the top layer off with a fair amount of the older lower layer of paint stubbornly hanging on.

The bright white spots is the newer paint and the more cream colored is the older lead paint.

While the heat stripping is going on, I also have the crockpot going again with a second pass of the hardware. There’s still some specks and blotches of white paint on the hardware so I let another overnight simmer do the work of loosening that remaining paint. In addition to the white paint, some of the hardware has the original black enamel that I need to remove before applying the black metal dye. As I pull each piece out of the crockpot, I scrub them down with a mixture of baking soda and dish detergent. I use a brass brush and a ScotchBrite pad. I get all the white paint off and most of the black paint, although like in the past, there’s some blotches that won’t come off. Not a huge deal since I’m going to recoat with black anyway so I won’t see the blotches once I apply the dye.

Bouncing between the hardware and the door, next up is applying a coat of chemical stripper and scrubbing that off. This is where things get messy with lots of paint goop. I scrub off using ScotchBrite pads and some scraping and get most of the flat surface clear of paint. A lot of paint remains in the nooks and crannies of the door, but that will wait for another pass.

Back up in the room, lots of stripping going on there too. I keep working on the ceiling with overnight applications of CitriStrip followed by scraping off paint the next day. After that, continued washing with TSP and dish soap to get the last bits of paint off. I think the ceiling is in pretty good shape and am getting close to do a final rinse and then start securing things with washers.

Similar to the door, the woodwork continues to get a round of heat stripping followed by chemical stripping.