erisaman

No, no, calm down - it's a good quality, effective paint stripper I need, one which is available in Spain (Costa del Sol) and one which will strip paint from a brick and mortar arch over a breakfast bar - typical of so many Spanish kitchens.

The paint was applied long before I purchased the apartment and I've tolerated it for the last 16 years, now I'm about to have the kitchen re-tiled and refurbished and I believe that this would be a good time to get to grips with the paint and get back to the original plain brick.

Hillybilly

As it's an arch I'd suggest you need a quitapinturas gel rather than a liquid, which will drip! Oropal is one make but there are many, many available. Good luck cos it probably won't be an easy job to remove it

warren d

If you see Super Decapante by Barpimo, buy it. It´s very good. It´s jelly like (as described by Hillybilly) and can be used on metals and masonary but keep it away from rubber because it can warp it and obviously keep it away from eyes and skin. I usually keep some clean water nearby to wash any splashes of paintstripper off myself. Make sure to have plenty of ventilation when using paintstripper.
I´ve used a lot of painstripper over the years and this is as good as any I´ve ever used.
I bought a much more expensive one at another shop one day but it was terrible quality. I can´t remember the name of it though so I can´t warn you to steer clear of it but I remember it was in a white can.

erisaman

Thank you both, some very useful help and information there, much appreciated.

JLFS

My wife made a salad dressing, with white wine vinegar, lemon juice and various herbs an spices, it tasted bloody awfull, but if you like I can send you some. That should do the job for you in no time.

erisaman

Umm ...... I'm hoping to leave the bricks and mortar intact and in situ, but thanks for the thought .

fionamw

Could I veer off (not hijack, you understand).. have about three doors which we foolishly white glossed. Now I could go out & buy three more but would rather if possible take the white gloss off in prep for restoring to dark brown typically dour Spanish interior (which we now recognise we should have left). Would the gel type one previously referred to also do the job in the probably 20 or more square insets in the wooden door? Do 'acid bath' type companies exist in Spain? (not serial killer type, more the recycled material companies I'm familiar with in the UK!)

warren d

Gels can work but it can be very difficult to get in some of the nooks and crannies on some doors. You also have to be very careful about not marking the wood because marks can sometimes show really badly when the door is coated with a stain or whatever.
I don´t know about the professional wood stripping companies but there is bound to be somebody that is doing it. Finding them could be tricky though. I´m going to ask some people that are into restoring old fincas if they know of anybody that may be near you.

fionamw

That's very good of you, thanks.

warren d

OK here´s one reply so far.

erisaman

Did you ask them about stripping my brick arch?

warren d

Oops! Sorry, I forgot all about that. .
I know that the gel will get a lot of it off but I suppose the bricks have lots of little holes for the paint to take a hold in? I have used gel paint stripper on bricks before and then gone straight over with a wire brush after I scraped the paint stripper off. You will definitely need to wear googles and should also cover your all skin including your face for this because any remnants of paint striper will sting your skin. If the wire brush leaves lots of scratches on the bricks you can rub a piece of an old brick face over the bricks to rub out the scratches.

erisaman

Thanks for that - I'm wondering about using one of those portable/hand steam-cleaners for clearing the pores (of the bricks - not my facial skin) as the softened paint may then be forced out. Just a thought - perhaps showing my ignorance here.

warren d

I can´t see any harm in trying.
Really you need to arm yourself with a few sharp implements to scrape and poke around with. Don't go ruining any new screwdrivers doing it though