House in Progress Diary

Have you tried the plastic scrapers found near the stripping products at the big box stores? They'll get a bit chewed up but it will get the job done w/o damaging the wood.

Since you're stripping latex on top of shellac, I would think some citristrip would pull it all right of in a couple of coats.

You could also maybe think about using some sort of Dremel tip to actually sand off the paint, but you'd probably go through several gummed up tips by the time you finished.

My money's on Citristrip with plastics scrapers, that's what we used.

I've been doing a lot of them lately. I use that blue painter's tape on the glass and then use chemicals and a plastic stripping brush on the wood itself. I have little patience (and no fear of death & disease) so I use the harsh stuff, but the 3M or Citristrip would work just as well I'd guess. No etching on the glass as long as you don't let it sit too long and wash up thouroghly.

Quite a few of mine also need to be reglazed...and then I take out the glass.

The best method I've found is to apply JASCO paint remover and scrub with a brass or nylon bristle brush after a few minutes. Then wipe off the goo. Wear gloves and be careful not to splatter the JASCO on your skin. The brass or nylon bristles will break up the paint and get into the nooks and crannies and will not damage the wood. Brass is more aggressive, but nylon will not react with the stripper or corrode. Home Depot and Lowes stock these brushes near the putty knives and scrapers.

Before you try taping aluminum foil over a piece of cardstock to the glass to absorb and deflect the heat from the heat gun try rubbing it with coarse steel wool and denatured alcohol. Alcohol will break down the shellac and should remove the latex paint as well.

I can't believe I'm suggesting this, but I think chemicals might be the way to go here. I am Mr. Heat Gun when it comes to stripping, but as you've pointed out, that may not be appropriate since you are so close to the glass. I'm dreading stripping the stained glass window for this very reason.

The Jasco Semi-Paste is good because it sticks well to vertical surfaces. I might even consider Peel Away for this application.

Let us know what works best.

Oh how I hate that sound. And the sound of the blade scraping paint off the glass after your husband carelessly slapped up the paint without taping ... oops, tangent.

It really might be a good idea to take out and re-putty the glass anyway. Then you can get teverything very clean, as well as head off some future repairs.

Denatured alcohol is good for getting the last of the shellac, I found it works better than the paint stipper on the thin stuff, and it doesn't damage the wood. The citrus stuff is water based, some people recommend against it because it pops the grain of the wood.

I've been working on doors and trim in my own house, and have been really happy with SoyGel from Franmar Chemical. Slather it on, no odor, come back a few hours later, and a plastic scraper pulls it right off. It hasn't raised any wood grain. It's a beautiful thing. I don't work for them or anything, just a proud owner of a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff.