M’kay.
Please tell me that you knew this post was about paint stripping. ’Cause my
blog is definitely G or PG.
Early
this year, I got a lovely idea. The boys’ bathroom, which is also the bathroom-that-everyone-who-visits
uses, needed work. But it needed to be cheap and do-it-yourself. Over Spring
Break, Luke and I repainted the ceiling and the trim. Then I fixed and re-grouted
the old honeycomb tile. Now that summer is waning and I didn’t get any house
projects done, I decided the bathroom door and the bathroom linen closet door
needed doing.
Cal
and I bought heavy-duty stripper. The metal container is covered with
skull-n-crossbones and “peligro” warnings. Cal took down the doors and brought
them outside. The bathroom now has a privacy sheet—my boys aren’t complaining,
but they aren’t impressed. Our dog Jezebel thinks it’s cool.
Today
I started stripping. Then I found out that 70+ years of varnish, stain, and
paint does not come off easily even with peligro stripper. I also discovered
that bare skin which comes into contact with peligro stripper gets chemical
burns. Finally, I discovered that even though I coated myself with
death-to-mosquitoes bug repellent and the air was redolent with essence of toluene
and other vile chemicals, the mosquitoes still bit me. And when I scratched my
bites, the toluene does not make the bites less itchy, it just makes them burn
like...well, you know.
Gee, I didn't even know the more potent strippers were even available anymore. The one I used years ago did an amazing job of getting off every layer down to the bare wood, (in one smelly fell swoop!)but the stuff I see in home improvement stores these days, although kinder to the environment, doesn't do nearly as good a job. Smells safer, too. Since yours came marked with a skull and crossbones, it sound more like the old stuff.
ReplyDeleteAs for the mosquitoes, for me, applying insect repellent is like providing the bugs with a nice sauce for their meal.
My mom always says her first job was as a stripper. She worked for a company that refinished pianos. You guessed it--she stripped old varnish and paint :)
ReplyDeleteSusan--I'd love to use whatever used to be available. One exposure to something nasty has to be better than multiple exposures to something semi-nasty.
ReplyDeleteRowenna--:) We have friends who call themselves "The Stripper and the Druggie." (She restores antiques and he's a diabetic.)
Ahhh! Please don't burn yourself! Wear gloves! I bet you never knew stripping could be so hard! LOL
ReplyDeleteOoh, yeah, what Samantha said. Be careful! It sounds like that stuff would burn a hole to China. Geez.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know this post was about paint.
ReplyDelete"Stripper and the druggie?" Heh heh. That's hilarious.
ReplyDelete