Thread: paint stripper on varnished ply. Is it ok

Originally Posted by draculam

I need quick fix to repair sections in ply inside bottom of boat that shows surface cracking and now protective covering. Someone has tried to cover entire inside with extra varnish that is thick and in a few parts need attension.
I was wondering if I can use paint stripper to remove thick varnish, sand and revarnish. Temporarily securing a protection to last one season of sailing.
Will paint stripper wreck the plywood?
Any ideas appreciated

It *should* be ok to use the stripper. Do a very small test patch first and work clean...in other words, don't let the stripper glob up and soak to the wood.

There are several different types of strippers, some will stain and darken the wood, others not. The only way around this is testing as mentioned.

Most think this is an easy way to remove finishes, but it's actually more work then conventional methods, which are scraping and sanding.

This coupled with the possibility of getting stripper chemicals, where you don't want them and limited access to remove them, often forces most to fall back on tried and true methods.

The only time I use these types of chemicals is when I can physically strip the boat down to it's essential elements and blast the boat wholesale with stripper. Think of this much like commercial furniture refinishers do, where they have a big tub and a pressure washer looking thing to squirt stripper.

In short, strippers can be a real crap shoot.

Heat with a heat gun and use a scraper - you'll find the varnish comes off really easily, just don't get too vigorous with the heat because it can soften the glue.

Have a look at Hawk's thread on restoring a Vagabond, it might answer a few questions for youl

Richard

(I'm a Happy Valley and will be operating the Little Black Dog out of Brighton if you want to get together)