Comparing paint removers

[Estam]

I had an old can of Jasco premium remover which had Methylene Chloride etc whiched worked well on my multi layers of old paint on and around double hung windows of and old house. Using gloves and face mask in a well ventilated area took all the precautions. Ended up running out and header out and purchased a quart of Jasco premium paint remover for over $25 with non this and non that. It hardly touched the job, not at all effective as the old remover. The guy at HD said would remove 5 layers at once if not more, absolute rubbish. BTW, had tried heat gun which worked haft descent but stank out the whole house even with fan blowing out in the window. I don't really want to use the gun again as I sick of the smell it makes.

Any suggestions please

 

[user 4883]

Yea,, the good stuff was removed because it was harmful.
I'm sure your aware but, a friendly reminder of the possibility of LEAD based paint the more layers you peel back.

 

[Estam]

Thanks for that, I'm sure there is a layer of lead paint, is why I take the precautions.

So with all the good stuff removed what do we use for these difficult jobs?

Someone had mentioned using a paint brush cleaner, does anyone have any info on that for a paint remover?

 

[DFBonnett]

I stopped using stripper with methylene chloride years before I retired. It's a known carcinogen, particularly to soft tissues such as the liver and kidneys. The other products just don't work as well. Brush cleaner is thin, will run off quickly, and rapidly evaporate.

 

[Estam]

Totally understand, this is explained on the tin. The point being that the other products don't work as well so I'm resulted in using heat on maybe lead paint which is far more dangerous.

 

[bud16415]

I’m not an expert on paint removal and likely the last time I did any was the older better and more toxic stuff. I did remove a lot with a heat gun many years ago and it likely had lead in it and I didn’t know better.

The last I saw any demonstrated on TV they put it on and then covered it with plastic food wrap and let it sit telling that keeping the air out increased the working time and helped. They left it over night if I remember. I also can not be sure but I seem to remember it was a citrus product.

 

[Estam]

Thank you Bud, I'll check that out, maybe tough due to the small angles on the double hungs could be problematic to mess with.
Tried the Citrus product, wasn't impressed, probably great for furniture with couple layers of latex...