Infrared Paint Stripper

Or, as our neighbor calls it The "Hot Swedish Stripper". This gizmo is so COOL! I have to admit, I'm nerdy in many ways, so you may not think this as cool as I do, but look how it takes off all that paint in one swoop! I would definitely do a commercial for this thing. I love peeling things as it is (yes, I know, OCD and gross and stuff, but I do) and this just is so, well, satisfying!

So, this is how it works. I guess it's like one of those space heaters you can get to heat a room in your house, but it's smaller and mounted on a handle with guards to make sure the heating elements don't actually TOUCH the wood. You place the contraption over the wood you want to strip (or hold it up to it, if said wood is still attached to your house), you wait about 30 seconds to a minute, and then you just peel the paint away with the scraper. The best part, of course, is that there is no nasty chemical smell (well there is a little "hot metal" smell), AND there are paint chips and huge paint globs (<-- see picture), but not the paint dust that you can get with sanding. Since we live in an almost antique house likely ridden with lead paint and especially since we have small children, that is extremely important, too. Anyway, if you were thinking of getting one and you wanted to know if it really works like they say, YES, it does.



Oh, and here are the boards after one final sanding to remove remnants of linseed oil: all clean and ready for re-installation.