What is the best remover of old paint and stains?

For metal, you can try powerwashing and scraping off before resorting to a chemical stripper. For wood I use Citristrip. Stain seeps into the grain of the wood. You can either sand down back to bare wood or use a bleaching agent.

People on several other forums swear by Citrustrip. They’ve changed their formula recently and there’s mixed reviews on the new product.

I would use a gel formula to keep it on the pieces.

I would also consider what my time is worth. Stripping and cleaning the stripper off is an extremely time-intensive process. As in a higher quality stripper should save one a lot of time.

There’s several YT videos on this and I would watch ones that are from people who do this professionally- to see what they use.

Hi Kimberly,

It depends on what you are trying to remove it from. Scraping or sanding is one option, paint/sealer products are another option. If the pieces are small, you can put them in a crock pot with dish soap and vinegar and let them "cook" on low overnight - or longer, then it should come off easily. I recently did that with some rusty painted hardware pieces and it worked - although I did have to scrub some spots with 0000 steel wool. The paint came off easily with a scraper. I do agree with Lifestyles Homes, though because using a paint/sealer product usually takes a long time plus you must do them in a well vented area due to the chemicals. Wishing you the best with your project.

Citristrip paint stripper.

I avoid chemicals as much as possible and if your piece is all real wood (no glass or laminate) I recommend a heat gun. They are inexpensive and along with a scraper very effective and you can do this indoors without worrying about any toxic fumes. I’ve found mine to be an excellent investment because it has many uses especially if you do any work with epoxy or resins. Important! If there is any possibility the paint you’re removing contains lead a respirator and outside is the best way to go regardless of what you use to remove the paint. Good luck!

For paint removal, I like citri-strip. It's cheap and smells nice. For removing stain, I would rather sand it off. Start with 80 grit sandpaper and work your way to a smoother grit (120 and then 220.)