Thread: STRIPPING Window furniture

Hi Dave, I think from my perspective you probably have a number of possible options here. First off can I assume that the window lifts and sash lock are not brass but rather steel. Working on this assumption if it were me, I would first off finish cleaning off the residual paint, using a wire wheel on my drill and thereafter probably paint using just a matt or perhaps gloss ?? black spray paint. Any enamel based black spray paint should be fine for this.

An alternative method would be paint strip and use coarse grade steel wool to clean off the muck. If using paint stripper you would want to wash off and dry to minimise surface rusting afterwards, and painting to protect them.

If they were brass I would want to clean up and re-install as is.

The only alternative if you wish to leave as bare metal could be perhaps to coat using a spray clear coat. Any hardware shop will carry such spray paint/clear coats.

Failing this, I suppose you could always purchase some reproduction items to dress up your restored sash windows.

Not sure if that helps, hope so. Dave

Hi Dave.


Wife says she has some acetone. She is going to try that. My town has pop of about 700. No hardware store here to speak of but we do have a small IGA.

Think I might try the varnish when it is stripped.

Hi Dave, good luck with the acetone, it might work, but I would be perhaps a little surprised. Your local IGA might have some paint stripper, it can be surprising what they do store. Sellys make a product called KwikStrip. It is really effective at paint removal. You still really would need something to work it off with, hence the suggestion re coarse steel wool. A good coarse kitchen scourer should similarly work.

Re varnishing, yes that should work. I assume you probably would be painting this on with a brush ? rather than spraying. Just watch out for drips accumulating as you coat, as they would be unsightly if not wiped away. The other thing is if the pieces are rusty again hence the suggestion of using a wire brush to clean that off. You might wish to treat any rust with phosphoric acid.

The only other thing I can think of is with your window latch, be careful as to how much protective finish you put on it, as otherwise it might jam up and not be able to be re-used. All the best with these items. Dave