I have a new “must-have” product for my furniture makeover arsenal – Smart Strip™ Advanced Paint Remover by Dumond® Chemical Inc.

I came across Smart Strip™ while getting supplies for my dining room buffet / sideboard makeover and thought I’d give it a shot.

Why?

Because the paint stripper I have stood by thus far is sticky and gooey and it burns your skin – even though I wear gloves. If it touches my arm, or my pants it burns right through.  There’s also the extra step of neutralizing the paint stripper with Varsol after you’ve done all the hard work of scraping or else you could still get burned by any little gunky bits on the ground or in corners.

I REALLY don’t like paint stripper.

For the most part, I’ve tried to avoid using it wherever possible and usually sand old finishes off of my pieces.

But when I scored this gorgeous dining room buffet / sideboard, I knew I’d have to bite the bullet and use a paint stripper.

I don’t own a Dremel and even if I did, I’m confident that it still wouldn’t have been able to remove all the varnish and stain from this ornate door:

It’s stunning right?

I love every little detail on this piece except the colour…  it’s gorgeous, but it doesn’t match my dining room, so to keep my big beauty I would have to use a paint stripper to remove everything.

That’s when I came across Smart Strip™.

Smart Strip^™ Advanced Paint Remover

Features & Benefits:

•   Formulated without methylene chloride
•   Will not burn skin
•   Removes up to 15 layers of latex or acrylic coatings in a single application
•   Environmentally responsible: water based and 100% biodegradable
•   Virtually no odor
•   Zero VOC
•   pH neutral – No neutralization necessary

They had me at “will not burn skin”, effective, biodegradable and water based were just icing on the cake.

I thought I’d give it a go on my sideboard makeover;  I painted it on with a regular paintbrush (and I wasn’t wearing gloves) and then I let it sit over night.  The instructions say to leave it on for anywhere from 3 to 24 hours depending on the number of layers of paint you want to remove.  This version (not the pro version) is able to remove up to 15 layers of paint!

The next morning I took the doors to the driveway, brought out the hose and a nail brush and washed the Smart Strip™ off.  Just gently scrubbed up and down, like you would cleaning your nails, with the water running over the surface.

Nope, didn’t use gloves for this part either.

Once everything was removed, I patted off any excess water and let it dry out in the sun.

I should also tell you that there was no damage to the driveway from the Smart Strip™ run off, no odour during the whole process and it was SO EASY!  No scraping, no neutralizing, no sticky gunk to clean up off of the floor and NO BURNING!

The results were beyond astounding – check out this close-up:

EVERY. TINY. LITTLE. CREVICE.

This was accomplished with one layer of Smart Strip™ and the hose!

This stuff truly warrants an “un-be-f*!#inglievable!”

I (sort of stupidly) started with the ornate doors on my buffet / sideboard makeover, but once I saw the results, it was time to lather it on to the rest of the piece.

Twelve hours later and with just water and a nail brush (although the tech sheets say you can use a pressure washer if you don’t want to scrub) and done!

I may give up sanding altogether now that I’ve found this miracle paste!

I guess I should show you the rest of the dining room buffet / sideboard makeover shouldn’t I?

I wanted to match my dining room table which is called ‘tobacco’ – a Ronin pedestal table from Pier One – problem is, this ‘tobacco’ finish is black with undertones of brown peeking through.

I coated the entire buffet / sideboard with a combination of special walnut and dark walnut and once dry, two coats of ebony stain with the lightest hand in removing the excess so that you just see a hint of brown.

Three coats of satin polyurethane on the body and 5 coats on the top and my buffet / sideboard makeover is stunning.

The handles are the original – after a scrub with Krud Kutter and a bit of ENJO marble paste I was thrilled to find they were copper.  BONUS!

I’m not a fan of dark cabinets, so as part of the overall sideboard makeover, I chose to paint inside the cupboards with Collingwood Grey from BM.

I find it brightens up the inside and makes it easier to see everything.

Besides, even if I were to sell this dining buffet down the road, I know of an incredible paint stripper that can remove the finish easily.

Unless I was a professional, with some magic equipment and a truckload of patience, I really don’t believe I could have refinished this sideboard / buffet to this calibre without Smart Strip™.  I say that with hand-to-heart honesty.

I hope my photos do it a bit of justice – it is a gorgeous piece and a spectacular addition to my dining room.

While this post is sponsored by Dumond® Chemical Inc.. and Smart Strip™, it was I that approached them after trying their product on a whim. I really and truly think this is the best paint stripper going for a multitude of reasons and I wanted to share with all of my DIY and DIY-wanna-be readers my exciting find.

Dumond® Chemical carries several environmentally friendly products to replace several toxic ones – including

• rust remover
• oil and grease remover
• heavy duty cleansers
• graffiti remover
• lead encapsulents and
• water treatment and containment to name just a few.

Click here to see the full array of their product line and to find a retailer in your area – or order directly online with free shipping in the Continental US.

 

This post is sponsored by Dumond® Chemical, Inc. I was compensated for this article to help spread the word about Smart Strip™ Advanced Paint Remover. 100Things2Do.ca only shares information I feel is relevant to my readers. All opinions expressed are sincere and my own. Dumond® Chemical Inc. is not responsible for the dialogue of this article.

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