My wife is trying to strip the unknown finish from a hardwood floor. We began with mineral spirits but were unsuccessful. The finish is old, and has a yellow cast, maybe shellac? I don’t know. I don’t want to sand, as the floor is flat and is in good shape other than this thin irregular finish. I am curious to know if anyone has used the soy or orange-based strippers? I want to stay away from methylene chloride based strippers.
any advice appreciated,
Bill
Louisburg, NC
Replies
Yeah, those meth strippers can ruin an entire community.
If it is Shellac,You may not need to remove the finish as another coat of shellac will melt into the old. If it is shellac I would HIGHLY recommend another coat of shellac because of its many advantages (hardness, fast drying, reparability, no odor
If it's shellac, it will dissolve in alcohol.
you wanna take a trip and never leave the farm?
lots of lacquer thinner, red scuff pad,lots of rags, windows open, all pilot lights off.
if you don't want to get a free high,wear a mask.
after all this,i bet you sand anyway. get a orbital,it won't gouge your floors,but not as much fun as the thinner.
the older i get ,
the more people tick me off
If it is shellac you are in luck.. take some denatured alcohol and wipe it on a spot. If it gets soft and gummy it is shellac and will come up really easily. Soak towels in denatured alcohol and lay them on top. That will soften the shellac and if you flood some shellac on it now you can just wipe it off..
Denatured alcohol is relatively benign.. It's 98% alcohol which is what people drink.. however 2% is a denaturing agent.. it could be nearly anything just to make the alcohol undrinkable so hign school kids don't go to the hardware store for a cheap drunk..
Fire too is remote.. Alohol requires pretty exact conditions to start using alcohol. Any water nearby dilutes it enough to put out any fire. Humidity achieves the same with fumes which have to be in a extremely narrow range to ignite.
A simple fan blowing across the floor will be enough to reduce the likelyhood of fire to reasonable levels.. (and prevent the person from being overcome by fumes)..