Removall or other eco-friendly paint removers for retail in Twin Citites?

July 10, 2012 1:27 PM

Looking for a lead on Removall 220 available for retail in the Twin Cities area, or recommendations of equivalent (brushable, eco-friendly) paint strippers.

Stripping by hand or with a sander has turned out to be dauntingly slow; we'd probably stick with it anyway, but my spouse is increasingly concerned about the hazard from lead dust. Removall sounds worth trying based on a recommendation on This Old House, but is turning out to be hard to track down. Thanks in advance for any info!

posted by longtime_lurker to Home & Garden (2 answers total)

I've never used any of the eco-friendly paint strippers myself. But, I was at Rockler yesterday and a lady was asking for a safe paint stripper. They sold her this Soy-Gel stuff. I have no idea if it's as good as the Removall, or appropriate for your application.
posted by cabingirl at 6:45 PM on July 10, 2012

Think of children in neighboring houses when working with lead paint. I know someone whose kids tested high because the next-door neighbors were stripping paint. I'm glad you're looking for a new method and would encourage you to not even consider doing any more dust-producing stripping.

As you've probably already heard, the safest thing to do with stable lead paint layers is encapsulate them. I had little success with the one chemical stripper I tried (which was not Removall) or with a Silent Paint Remover (though a stronger, more patient person might have done better). (N.B.: The SPR did great on newer paint layers, but not so well on the older ones.)

Maybe try a local, independent paint or hardware store? (Ex.: Abbott Paint) They might be more willing to special-order Removall.
posted by lakeroon at 3:30 AM on July 11, 2012