Cast Iron Stove gone sticky

[Lily left the valley]

Oh, and Phil, the stove top itself is enameled steel like the back splash & warmer compartment (minus the brackets and doors of the warmer.) It's not cast where the burners are.

[phil]

Oh, and Phil, the stove top itself is enameled steel like the back splash & warmer compartment (minus the brackets and doors of the warmer.) It's not cast where the burners are.

I repainted a fridge before, used a spray gun and acrylic enamel. It worked really well. I just gave it a quick wet sand with about 600 grit first to break the glaze.. I used a small HVLP spray gun, and this isn't something to do in the house, maybe your garage? if someone used a soft paint like trem clad, I'd get that off first. yes you could pick your favorite color.
you might be able to get car paints like that mixed to your color, and loaded into spray cans.

you might find that paint stripper removes the applied finish but if you don't let it dwell too much it might leave the original hard finish as a basecoat. You probably dont need to go right down to the metal as long as the paint is stuck well. you just dont want a soft paint or any grease remnants between coats.

often acrylic enamal is baked on and will take heat to some extent, maybe not to the degree an oven sees inside.

Ive heard you can get epoxy paints like that and they contain both parts in the spray can, then you trigger a mechanism to combine them and use the whole can , It cant' be saved and reused. epoxy might not take the heat, you could check the paint specs and maybe measure surface temps while in use? those infared thermometer "guns" like they use to check peoples temperature without actually touching them might work. If the paint wont take the heat it will be exposed to then you are hooped before you start but you could dig into that more.
for example they sell "engine paint" to paint a motor block but if you use acrylic enamel it will work. That upper limit for a specific paint is likely documented.
they make "knock off" spray equipment , mine was about $100 but for example here's one for 16 bucks. it still likely puts out a better spray pattern than a spray can.

https://www.harborfreight.com/20-oz-hvl ... 62300.html

[Lily left the valley]

Thanks, Phil. I have no idea when I might be able to do a refinish right now. Since it'll be a cosmetic thing once I get the gooey parts off, that will knock it out of anything I think we'll really get to in the next two years.

I'm still sort of hoping that as I work on the cleaning aspect, it will turn out there's only one spot that's goofed up. Because as much as it would be fun to have a cheery colored stove, the logistics of getting it done...oof. The main cast stove body is NOT easy to move, and disassembling it of smaller doors would only do so much. So I'm thinking if I do have to restore it, we might dolly the main stove body out to the front porch, and set up a plastic surround.

Because I am not moving that sucker down and up stairs again if I can help it.

[phil]

sometimes what I do if i refinish an old machine , I was it with water and detergent , also with solvents sometimes harsh solvents like acetone. some stuff will dissolve with solvents that wont come off with water and vice versa so alternate. i usually use water first, remove any gunk , the use solvents that are not horribly strong, often compressed air to dry thing s off and expel any little fragments of gook then Id use something like alcohol or acetone or TSP to make it grease free and astringent , then warm it to dry any water up, then paint.

If it were an old machine painted a few times I may not choose to remove all the old paint but to remove only any paint that is soft or not stuck well. Then I can recoat.

you could make a booth or use a brush or little roller perhaps. or just try cleaning it well. I dont blame you for not wanting to make a mountain out of a molehill. paints like enamel offgass and that can also be not suitable in the house depending how sensitive you are and how well you can ventilate. Even just a small part hung up to dry can drive you batty if you are closed in with it.