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I wrote this last week and, in all of my running around, forgot to post it! That pretty much sums up the last week and a half. This really is an easy and quick paint stripping tip so I thought I’d share it anyway.

Back to painting, I go.
Happy Monday, y’all!

I started painting the main floor of my house.

I primed all the orange walls and then got to work painting the ceilings white. A week later, and I’m still painting the ceilings white. It has been a disastrous nightmare to say the least. To sum things up, after rolling 3 coats of paint and having it still look hideous I rented a paint sprayer. After the rental store was closed and no longer answering their phone for the evening, I found out that my $75 rental had a broken tube as it shot someone else’s grey paint all over me and my entry way. I have all sorts of feelings right now.

I wanted to rant on Facebook but I’ve been trying to stay away from that pit of sadness so I deleted my post and came here instead. Maybe writing will clear my head. Expect a “what I learned from painting my ceilings” post if I ever make it through this project! While going through my photos, I realized I never shared my quick paint stripping tip, so now seems as good a time as any. Whatever takes my mind off painting ceilings sounds good to me.

This last fall when I was just starting to work on that handsome banker’s desk, my sister-in-law mentioned a tip for getting paint to come off furniture easily. At first I thought it was silly, I’d tried it while removing stain and had terrible results so I wasn’t going to waste my time.

I had been sanding and stripping, and sanding and stripping but the paint just didn’t want to come off that old desk top!

But when my favorite stripper wasn’t cutting the mustard on it’s own, I figured what the heck. Why not try out that tip she told me about? And, guess what?

It worked like a charm!

You’ll need:

• paint stripper
• scraper
• plastic
• old paint brush
• gloves
• trash can

It really is simple.

All you do is spread a nice thick layer of stripper on your piece then cover it all up with a big sheet of plastic. I used a big black garbage bag because that’s what I had nearby and it’s cheap, but I would think any sheet of plastic would do. Once you’ve laid the plastic over the top, walk away for a bit and let the magic happen.

After a while, you’ll pull back the plastic and find this!

The paint bubbles right up and you’ll be able to scrape it off so much more easily!
It’s like watching a science experiment.

Grab your scraper and scrape the goo off into your trash can.
I wasn’t able to get it all off the first go round, so I applied another coat and repeated the process which did the trick.

I gave it one last scrape, wiped it off, let it dry, then gave the desk top a good sanding.
This is what it looked like once all the paint had been stripped off.

Hallelujah!
Ready for stain.

Who would have thought that a plastic bag would make such a big difference?
But man, did it!

I know this trick has been floating around Pinterest for a few years now, so maybe this is old news to you. If not I just had to spread the word that it totally works and heck yes, I’ll be doing this again the next time I have to strip paint off a piece I’m working on.

Thanks again for the quick paint stripping tip, Sis!
You really did make my day!

Is there a pin on Pinterest that you thought was full of bull
only to discover it really worked?