i have these wooden chairs that have dried peeling paint i need to get off so i can stain them. there is no varnish or stain i can see, just old paint. Is sanding it off the best way to go? are there sanders small enough to get into the corners and grooves? i am pregnant, so chemicals are not an option. thank you!
For the corners and grooves just fold the sand paper and rub into the corners. They do have citrus based strippers that you can use afetr most of the sanding is done. Just apply and scrub with an old toothbrush. Use steel wool to remove and wipe the piece down with isoproyl alcohol before refinishing.
Yes you can sand it off. But it is very time consuming and labor intensive. Wear a breathing mask, dust particles from some paints can be more toxic than the chemicals from strippers. You might want to put this project off until the baby is born. But if you wear a good breathing mask this will protect you from inhaling any harmful fumes. Even if you decide to use a stripper you will still have to do some sanding into the fine corners and crevasses. They make a lot of attachments to hand held tools for fine work (A Dermal ). They also make a small palm sander called the mouse that works well for most crevasses.
Unfortunately there is no easy way to do this, you can have the chairs dipped by a professional stripper, the whole chair is submerged in a solution and comes out clean, usually though this weakens the joints so some minor repairs may need to be done. even with the paint stripped off you will still need to do some sanding. Plus, and this does not always happen but once you stain and apply the topcoat (shellac or polyurethane, etc) some of the stripping chemical agent may still be present in the wood and this topcoat may cause it to leach out and bubble the finish. We've found that washing the stripped piece with lacquer thinner, allowing it to dry then sanding will yield suitable results. It's not that daunting a task and worthwhile in the end.
Save yourself the grunting bending w/ one on the way. There are non toxic heavy paste strippers that are almost edible do not give off fumes. Can still wear gloves a mask. Bigger concern would be dust from sanding off old paint that may or may not contain lead. If ithe paint comes of cleanly w/ the paste, you may not have to sand at all just rub w/ steel or bronze wool have no dust at all. Always more than one way to skin a cat. Best regards congrats.
