Nitromors... help!

A question about : Nitromors... help!

Am I doing something wrong or does Nitromors really not do what it says on the tin? :confused: I've bought some to strip all the woodwork in my hall, stairs and landing - 6 door frames, staircase, banister etc. It's all covered in some hideous purple paint together with numerous other layers underneath I've followed the instructions exactly and it's only taking off about one and half layers of paint - at this rate the job's going to take me months! On the tin it claims to take off 'up to 15 layers' Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I might be doing wrong or some alternative method to get all of this paint off? It's taken me all of last night and this morning so far to strip the paint off half a door frame

Best answers:

• It's does work but not 15 layers at a time unless they're very thin . It can still take quite a time to remove stuff. Paint stripping can be a messy pain whatever you use - An alternative is to use a heat gun very gently so you don't scorch the wood but before you must make sure that all the paint stripper has been washed off as it's inflammable!-
• if you are using nitromors inside make sure you have plenty of windows open
• Yes, we always use a heat gun followed by paint stripper for those final difficult parts!
• If there is any water baised paint on a coat I am not sure how good it is at removing this?
• Try scoring the paint first with a sharp stanley knife. That way the stripper gets deep down into the layers and takes it out from the foundation. You'll also find that if you do a grid like scoring pattern then the harder top layers of paint will fall off.
• Nitomores does do the job, but it will take longer the more coats of paint you have to take off.
  Try and buy a heat gun, they are really very good, you can pick one up for about Ј20, it will pay for itself, nitromores is so expensive, and you have to keep applying it.
  use the heatgun, but not near a window as can crack the window, for the hard to reach bit, get an old tooth brush or wire wool and dab in the nitromores and you can get at those little awkward places.
• Keep the heat gun moving to prevent scoring or burning the wood - also get a combination shavehook to scrape the paint off.
  NitroM should work on water or oil based paint but is best used on the really awkward areas you can't use the gun on or once the bulk has been removed.
  -
• Thanks very much everyone. I think I'm going to pick up a heat gun and use that as much as possible. I've already used virtually a whole tin of nitromors on just one door frame! God it's a hell of a job.
• I forgot to mention that, they are fantastic for getting into curved areas, if you use one of them, and an ordinary scraper blade/knife, you shouldnt have any problems, it takes a little while to get in the swing of it, but you will soon get the paint off.
  stripping paper and paint is my favourite bit of decorating, mad I know lol
• In my experience no Nitromors is not as effective as it claims, Wickes do their own brand of paint stripper which is a lot cheaper than Nitromors and I find it just as good. As other poster has advised shavehook is very useful also make sure the tool you are using for stripping the paint off is sharp
  Mandy
• I used a heat gun to strip some old frames. Worked a treat until I got down to a dark brown layer that turned into a sticky goo. No idea what it was. Kept on clogging up my scraper. So keep an eye out for that if you're working on an oldish building.
  I eventually turned to Peel Away
  Goes on as a paste, you then cover it will what looks like grease proof paper and leave it overnight. The next day you 'peel away'. It did a fine job.
  Afterwards you need to wipe the wood down with water an an alkaline solution. Can seem like a lot of work and smells fishy.
• I've done a lot of heat gun work and yes it can be effective. But it don't half stink! So please get as much ventilation as you can. Maybe I'm unusually sensitive, but the fumes have left me quite sick on occasions. Oh, and it'll probably set the smoke alarm off..
  Something else: it sounds obvious, but the thing gets really, really HOT. I know it looks just like a hair dryer, but it gets much hotter than one, so you have to be very careful where you put it down.
  And it stays hot for ages.
  I still have a small burn to remind me of the time I forgot this :rolleyes:
• sheeny - thanks for the tips on the heat gun use - I'm wishing I didn't have mains powered smoke alarms!
• might be worth getting a paint stripping company in. I did, they took all my doors away to be dipped. really nice finnish too.
  kat21
• Okay I know this sounds weird but try this
  Get some news paper wrap it around the bottom of the risers steps etc any where that the nitro can drip. Score the area you want to do with a stanley knife. keep it to a manageable size liberally soak the wood with the nitro mooers then wrap the area with clingfilm and leave to soak for 24 hours. Use a hair dryer with cling film still on to heat the area and then use a scraper to peel of the paint.
  It is never easy to strip paint also get your self a dremel type tool from B&Q about Ј15 an use that to get into the fiddly little bits...
• My next door neighbours restore a lot of old furniture and swear by Wilko's own brand paint stripper.