Need a Paint Stripper for Stubborn Old Paint

Need advice, technical help or opinions, you will find plenty here! (Technical posts here)
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Corsetière
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Re: Need a Paint Stripper for Stubborn Old Paint

Post by Corsetière »

:lol: :lol: :lol: Is it wrong that I want a creamsicle now?

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Lily left the valley
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Re: Need a Paint Stripper for Stubborn Old Paint

Post by Lily left the valley »

Corsetière wrote::lol: :lol: :lol: Is it wrong that I want a creamsicle now?
Not at all. :D
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

1918ColonialRevival
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Re: Need a Paint Stripper for Stubborn Old Paint

Post by 1918ColonialRevival »

Disclaimer: What follows below is based on experience, basic laws of physics and engineering, and common sense and is intended only for those doing the work themselves. Commercial applications require following regulations as written no matter how overzealous they may seem.

If a respirator and HEPA vacuum make you feel more comfortable and give you peace of mind, then by all means use them. I've worked for the government for many years, some of which were spent reviewing proposals for standards. If you saw what goes on behind the scenes when any kind of standard is written, you would shake your head and try not to laugh. I can say this much - many standards are extreme overkill, usually fueled by a lawsuit that happened somewhere along the way where a good lawyer was able to convince a judge of something whether it had any factual base or not. I can also tell you that there are people involved in writing the standards who know absolutely nothing about what they're writing standards about. This is unfortunately all too common in government at any level. :lol:

For example, the boiling point of lead is 3180 degrees F, so you aren't going to get lead vapor in the air from using a heat gun to strip paint. That said, old paint may have other impurities in it that can burn and cause noxious fumes, so I always advocate opening a window and having a fan blowing air outside when stripping with a heat gun. A respirator is not a bad idea, but it's not because of lead fumes or dust in the air. I'd be willing to bet the person who wrote that regulation has never even had a course in basic metallurgy.

A HEPA filter vacuum is a must if you have sanded anything with lead on it, as sanding creates a very fine dust that needs to be filtered so some of it doesn't get blown out the backside of the vacuum. Stripping with a heat gun doesn't create dust, but rather chunks of paint that fall to the floor. Most of these can be cleaned up with a whisk broom and a dustpan. I usually put an old coffee can or bowl underneath of where I'm working to try to catch most of the falling debris. If it's in a location I need a ladder to reach or close to the floor, I lay a sheet of plastic down for the debris to fall on, then fold it up and deposit it in the trash when I'm finished. It's a good idea to follow up with a vacuum, but the particles are larger and heavier than what you would get with sanding. Again, if the HEPA vacuum makes you feel better, then use one. However, I don't see the need to go out and spend the money for one solely for this purpose.

Over the last 20 or so years, the US (and Canada as well) has become too lawsuit-happy. Lead paint is a big cash cow for lawyers now and as a result, has become a much bigger liability than it ever should have been. Unfortunately, anyone who is commercially stripping paint or working with asbestos now has a minefield of hoops they have to jump through due to the over-regulation of these materials. That's not to say that a person should be careless when working with them, but that common sense should be used and the materials treated with care and respect. I have a friend who is a retired independent painter and one of the reasons he hung it up is because of all the lead paint silliness. He kept having to spend more money and time on prep work and cleanup, which had to be passed along to the customer. It eventually got to the point where he didn't get near the business he used to because of the additional time and cost, plus he said he felt like he was overcharging for a job because it was taking him twice as long to complete it due to ever-changing procedures he had to follow and new equipment he had to purchase.

Corsetiere's situation is a little different from most of us working on our old houses. I remember seeing posts from her about the issues she was having with local officials due to a past lawsuit that involved her property. I can see going the extra mile in that case just to keep the bureaucrats off her back. Fortunately, most of us aren't in a situation like that. I'm not advocating being careless by any means, just merely stating that probably half of all the rules and regulations for commercial work with lead paint are overkill and completely ridiculous. Use common sense and always wash your hands good before eating, drinking, applying cosmetics, scratching your nose, or any other activity that involves putting your hands on or near your face after stripping anything whether it had lead paint or not.

Speaking of eating, y'all have a cream-sicle for me! I miss them, but as soon as I try to eat one, the bad memories about orange flavoring come back. :lol:

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Re: Need a Paint Stripper for Stubborn Old Paint

Post by Mick_VT »

As I understand it, lead "fumes" are not vaporized lead, they are microscopic solid lead compound particulates that are released as the paint breaks up and other constituents vaporize. the solid lead is carried in the air almost like smoke. This happens at a much lower temperature, just north of 325 degrees Celsius
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1918ColonialRevival
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Re: Need a Paint Stripper for Stubborn Old Paint

Post by 1918ColonialRevival »

True, the melting point of lead is just over 620 degrees F. Lead is much "heavier" than air for lack of better words, so it's extremely difficult to get particles airborne without some means of propelling them (such as exhaust from a vacuum cleaner, which is why the HEPA vac is needed if you are cleaning up dust from sanding). The vapor pressure of air is 760 mm Hg at sea level. Compare that to the vapor pressure of lead, which is about 1.8 mm Hg at 1000 degrees C (1832 degrees F). Exposure to lead vapors at the temperatures generated by a heat gun would be extremely minimal. If you use a tool like the Silent Paint Remover that does not blow air the way a traditional heat gun does, I would say the lead vapors would be virtually zero. I'd be more concerned about fumes from impurities or other ingredients in the paint. That's why adequate ventilation is a must when using a heat gun.

This has been discussed in the ammo casting community quite a bit and the consensus seems to be that you are much more likely to get lead into your body by not washing your hands when you are finished working with it than from fumes generated by melting it. Still, I wouldn't close myself in a closet without ventilation and heat it (or anything else for that matter).

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