Well      06/23/2020

How to clean old paint off a wooden door. How to remove paint from doors: tips. How to remove paint from a metal surface

Doing redecorating At home, many owners are thinking about new interior doors. This may also be entrance doors in the corridor, for example, of a private house. Ordering new doors will require financial costs and time for waiting and installation door leaf. At the same time, old doors can still serve a considerable period of operation. Having put them in order, they will harmoniously fit into the interior of the room and perform their functions.

The process of removing paint from an old wooden window

How to withdraw old paint from the door? This will require a little time, tools and some materials. For the process, there are several ways to bring the door into proper form.

In order to update the door with new paint, it is required to remove the old one, because it was once applied in 2-3 layers for brightness, protection of the door material. Time has done its job. In some places, the paint was swollen, somewhere cracked, and somewhere there were small streaks.

Removing paint from an old door

If a new layer of helmet is applied to such a base, then the doors will not have a normal appearance. All the hillocks will be bright and clear, as well as the cracks will look like they copied a picture from the dehydrated earth.

The second explanation is the base of the paint. Having painted the door, a considerable period of operation passes, during which it is forgotten on what basis the paint was. When applied new paint on a layer of old paint begins to come into contact with the base, it may simply not lie down, but be taken in drops, when it dries, the new layer may crack, and so on. This is one of the many reasons why old layer paint from the door surface.


If the decision is made to repaint the door in a different color, then the base should also be prepared by removing the old beauty. When applying a new color to an old one, a dark old color may appear dark spots, or vice versa, a dark tone will take light elements from the old paint - after drying, the effect of protruding salt can be obtained.
Another reason for removing old paint is the build-up of layers on the ends of the door, while the door can rub and close poorly. This can lead not only to deformation of the door leaf, but also to problems with the lock.

You can also remove the old paint in parts, say, only from the end of the door leaf, on one side of the door, since the second half is insulated and sheathed with leatherette.

Read also

Design dark doors under the interior of a bright apartment

In any case, before starting work, you should familiarize yourself in more detail with which tools are applicable for removing paint, as well as which products must be applied to facilitate the process.

Chemical compositions for removing paint from the door

One of these compounds is special remedy to remove paint from the door. It is sold in building supermarkets, on the building market. Before buying, you should familiarize yourself with which paint this product is suitable for, a liquid is intended for a wooden or metal surface.

Special paint remover


When choosing a paint remover, you should remember that the more poisonous the liquid, the more harm it can cause to the surface of the door and the person doing the work.

Specialty chemical paint removers come in such forms as dry mixes, liquid solvents, pastes and gel concentrates. After choosing a chemical wash, you should read the composition and precautions.

There are some tools that you need to work with only in a respirator and gloves, so as not to get burned or poisoned by toxic gases. This is very important, especially if the work will take place indoors and not outdoors.

Chemical compositions to remove paint from wood

The dry mixture is diluted with water or other liquid specified in the instructions. After that, the finished mixture is applied to the surface of the door and left for a while. It all depends on the type of mixture, the manufacturer, the quality of the product. After reading the instructions for use, you can decide whether this tool is suitable or not.

Gel and paste is also applied to the door with old paint and left for a while. After some products, you should rinse the surface with white spirit or plain water.

The chemical composition can act on the old paint within 20 minutes, and can take up to 4 hours. In order not to get into a mess, before purchasing this tool, you need to consult with the seller, as well as familiarize yourself with the instructions.

Regardless of the consistency of the product (liquid or dry), the wash is applied to the surface of the door, which is already prepared for this procedure. To do this, use a spatula to remove all the “inflated” paint, and the one that can be easily removed, then apply the product precisely to those areas where the paint cannot be removed.

The process of removing paint with a special gel

Read also

Tools for mounting an interior door

How to remove paint from a metal door

A metal door needs to be updated more often than a wooden one (especially if the door goes directly to the street). temperature fluctuations, high humidity in cold weather - all these components act on the door covering. The paint peels off, swells, and rust can form on the door under the paint.

Paint from a metal door can be removed with improvised means, a grinder, a chemical agent. Before removing the paint, you need to prepare the door. For this:


In order to remove the paint, it is also necessary to prepare materials and tools:


Without a chemical reagent, it is difficult to remove old paint from a metal door; you can also damage the door leaf itself by scratching it. With scratches left, a new coat of paint will outline the outline of the scratch. It may stay that way.

The process of removing paint from a metal door

After the paint has been removed, which has lagged behind the base on its own, it should be applied chemical agent at the specified time. You do not need to do anything with the door during this time. After the hours have passed, the old coating is carefully removed with a spatula. The remaining small "islands" can be cleaned with sandpaper. As a result, the door leaf must be processed with a grinder for evenness (so that there are no small burrs).


A thermal gun is suitable in the sense that hot air melts the paint, use a spatula immediately after using the gun.

When processing a metal door, the metal heats up, so you need to be careful when working with the door leaf.

It is possible to remove paint from the door with a building hair dryer, a blowtorch and other heating objects only from a metal door leaf.

Removing paint with a hair dryer

When using heating objects on a wooden canvas, there is a high probability of fire. When inserting a peephole into a metal door, you need to be careful so that it does not deform or melt. It must either be removed or tightly closed. If steel door stood in doorway at the entrance to the apartment, it should be taken out into the yard, warning the neighbors about the work, because there will be not only a lot of garbage, but also unpleasant odors.

Painting doors is one of the options for updating them. And the most common.

The design of painted doors can be quite different, the main thing here is to do everything right so that the coating looks new for a long time. Today we will decide whether it is possible to paint the doors water-based paint, as well as how to paint the doors correctly.

The video in this article will show the entire process of doing the work and from the photo you can see its individual stages.

Painting the door is done in three stages, each of which is quite important and will affect the final result. Let's immediately see what we have to do and estimate the amount of work.

Stripping the door Door painting begins in this. The surface will also depend on the correct removal of the previous coating. It must be clean and smooth. you will find out below.
Primer Doors primed for painting correctly will only contribute to the correct distribution of the dye and the quality of the connection. This largely determines the service life of the entire structure. Door painting is done only on a primed surface.
Dye application Coloring panel doors and any other fundamentally different. Liquid is simply applied to primed doors for painting. But how to paint the doors with a roller or other tool, we will consider a little later.

Choosing a material

If the paint on the door has burst or you are completely restoring it (see), you will need to choose the right dye. There are a large number of them in retail.

The range of different compositions for covering wooden doors is quite wide. In order to make a worthy choice, you first need to determine what exactly you want to see as a result: to emphasize and preserve the natural beauty of wood, or to create a coating that will completely hide the original structure.

Depending on this, a person can buy:

  • Polyurethane, alkyd, acrylic, oil or perchlorovinyl based paint, as well as opaque enamel.
  • Tinted and transparent varnish, stain, oil impregnation. They will give the natural color a different shade or more brightness.
  • If you need odorless door paint, then it is worth paying attention to acrylic. He won't be here. But again, look at the photo of the flowers and choose the right shade. It is also worth knowing that when applying the coating, it will be slightly different.

Experts in this matter advise choosing:

  • Acrylics are water-based because they spread well and cover the surface, plus they have a comfortable enough consistency to work with a brush.
  • Paint and varnish alkyd materials- their main advantages are high water-repellent performance, good drying speed and resistance to temperature changes.
  • You can choose to cover and varnish. To paint the doors, the color of the lacquer You should choose the right shade for it, it must match the overall interior.

In order for the painted ones to be attractive and of high quality, experts recommend choosing materials belonging to the second group.

All due to the fact that they have the best indicators of resistance to various negative factors, which are enough in the bath. In addition, similar materials can be used to paint interior and exterior doors.

Attention; Coloring compositions made on the basis of alkyd resin must be applied to a surface that will be completely dry. Otherwise, if the paint is applied to damp wood, it will begin to flake and peel off due to bubbles appearing on it.

So:

  • painting wooden surfaces carried out not at once, you need to perform several layers. It often happens that there is a need to use two different formulations.
    First, an impregnation with a tinting effect is used, and only then a decorative layer is applied. It is extremely important to choose such compositions that would work in a duet. For example, before applying varnish, you can not use drying oil. Only stain is suitable for varnish.
  • If your plans are only to refresh the color of the doors using oil impregnation or stain, you will still need to apply at least two layers. How many of them will be needed in the end will depend entirely on the surface of the door. You can apply up to ten layers until the result that the person wants is achieved.

Step by step instructions for painting wooden doors

Tools needed for the job

After the paint is selected, you need to take care of the tools:

  • Gloves.
  • Rags.
  • Paint brushes.
  • roller.
  • Small spatula.
  • Emery skin.
  • Paint bath.
  • Masking tape.

Since the doors consist not only of canvas, but there are also other components, the first step that needs to be done in order to successfully paint wooden doors is to properly prepare them. You can, of course, paint only the canvas, but in this case the difference between the box and it will be noticeable to the naked eye.

So, painting the doors must begin with the following steps:

  • We remove the door from the hinges and lay it on the goats, stools or a table. If you decide to use alkyd products that have a pungent odor, then all work is best done outdoors.
  • If you cannot remove the canvas, then it must be blocked with wedges. They are arranged in such a way that the panel brush can reach all surfaces. The interlock must also prevent the doors from closing, which will inevitably damage the applied paint layer.

Attention: Experts still advise to remove the canvas, but if this is not possible, then resort to the second option described above.

Then we start to remove the accessories. If the handles and hinges are non-removable, then we seal them with tape or wrap them in paper, but foil is most suitable. We advise you to fix and seal the lock with tape.

Preparing the door for painting

This is very milestone work, which includes several stages. Treat it carefully and with special care. In this case, the painting of the doors will turn out one hundred percent.

Preparation takes place according to the following scheme:

  • At the very beginning, we remove all layers of paint, putty or primer that are available. As a result, the wood should be completely clean.
    For these purposes, you can use a grinder or make makeshift fixture from a bar, wrapping it with sandpaper. If there is a building hair dryer, then it is best to use it, the process will be much easier.
    Layers of paint will bubble when heated and then removed with a spatula. You can also buy a special wash designed for wood. But such a tool is not cheap. How to remove paint from a door different options, you can read on the pages of our site.
  • Then we carry out the first grinding, which helps to eliminate small defects: scratches, remnants of the old coating or dents. To do this, use sandpaper or a machine that is connected to a vacuum cleaner.
  • The next stage of work will be puttying. Existing significant defects must be treated with a special wood putty of the desired color, if the coating is eventually transparent.
    If the doors are painted with an opaque compound, then the color will have absolutely no meaning. Do not forget about the gaps that exist between the lintel, jamb and canvas elements.
  • After the time specified in the instructions has passed, we grind the entire surface again. First, we use an abrasive skin that has a medium grain or nozzle on a typewriter, and then we apply a fine grain.
  • If there are deep flaws on the door, repair them with auto-filler, which does not include fiberglass. A similar option can be used if the painting will be carried out with opaque paint.

Items that have age have a special charm. If you have an old wooden door but the paint is peeling off, it's not hard to give it new life. It would seem, why mess around if you can easily buy a new one: a rich assortment is offered in finishing and building goods stores. But is it worth changing a solid wooden door for a modern product made of thin MDF panels, hollow inside and finished with a laminated finish, even if it looks like a “Milan walnut”? The existing product can be restored with your own hands. First you need to remove the paint from wooden door.

Removing old paint

Why repair a door?

Before considering how to remove paint from doors and choose the most suitable option, let's think, why waste time and effort.

  1. Old wooden doors have good quality. They are made of solid wood, very often oak served as the material for manufacturing, even if the sash is painted.
  2. Non-standard vintage door panels. In old apartments often stand antique doors, high, bivalve, paneled. You can’t buy these in the store, and custom-made will be expensive.
  3. The door is beautiful. If you are lucky - and you are the owner of a door leaf richly decorated with carvings, throwing it in the trash will be blasphemy.
  4. Art object. If you are a creative person who is able to create a work of arts and crafts with your own hands, then a wooden sash is an excellent field for creativity.

From the above points, it can be seen that there are plenty of reasons for restoration and repair, but you can have your own.

materials

Theoretically, there are three ways to get rid of old paint:

  • Thermal. The thermal method is based on heating the old paint until it softens.
  • Mechanical. The coating is removed using various scrapers, sandpaper. Can be done manually or with power tools.
  • Chemical. The paint is treated with chemicals, softened and removed.

Related article: Projects of two-story houses

In theory, everything is simple, but in practice, most often you have to use all three methods, because chemistry does not dissolve all types of paint and varnish coatings, heating cannot remove the layer in the recesses, but mechanical way, even with the help of a power tool, an extremely laborious and dusty process. Therefore, do not rely on any one option. It is better to stock up on as many devices and tools as possible.

To implement a plan to update the doors, you will need to stock up on some tools and patience, because, most likely, you can quickly remove the old paint from a wooden door, even by looking at the video detailed instructions, will not work.

Tools

A building hair dryer is an indispensable thing for removing old paint. It looks and functions almost like a regular hair dryer. That's just the air temperature gives out from 100 to 600 ° C. Therefore, handle it carefully so as not to get burned, and in no case use it instead of a hair dryer. And vice versa: if there is no building hair dryer, then you should not try to use the usual hair dryer. You won't get results.

In addition to a hair dryer, you can use other heat treatment methods: blowtorch or gas burner. These tools require special care in handling. You can easily overheat the area, and damage not only the paint, but the wood itself. In addition, these devices have open flames, so follow the safety regulations. An infrared lamp is also used to heat the coating.

A cycle is a scraper with a metal blade and a handle. If it was not possible to acquire a special scraper, a spatula, or any other similar tool, will do.

Required sandpaper with different grains. In addition to paper, special abrasive sponges are very convenient, especially if there are reliefs on the surface, for example, carvings. Very good if you have Sander– using it significantly speeds up the process.

An easy way to update the surface of an interior door is to paint it. For such a procedure, it is not necessary to have special skills, or seek help from painters - everything can be done alone.

Methods for removing paint from wooden doors

Before painting a wooden door, you need to completely get rid of the old layer of paint. There are three ways to clean the surface.

Chemical method

Special chemical solutions are used - "old paint remover". The reagents included in the composition quickly soften the paint layer.

To do this, the mixture is applied to the surface of the door with a roller with a fine pile or a brush. As soon as a sufficient amount of the solution has been applied, it is necessary to wait for a certain period (from 5 to 30 minutes). During this time, chemicals will be able to corrode all the paint. Then it will be easy to remove its remnants with a spatula.

Important! Before applying a new layer of paint, it is necessary to degrease the surface from the remnants of the wash.

This method of removing the old layer is very fast and does not require the use of force. But pay attention - during a chemical reaction, harmful substances will be released into the air. First you need to take care of the effective ventilation of the room. And also about a respirator - to protect the respiratory system. Hands must be protected with gloves.

mechanical way

Mechanical cleaning is the easiest option for cleaning. But at the same time, it is also the longest. It is most effective to use a grinder, with a circle-nozzle for sandpaper. You can also use an electric drill.

The procedure will be accompanied by the formation of a large amount of dust and dirt. So it is necessary to protect the airways with a respirator. You will also need goggles and gloves.

Read also: How to make your own spray gun for water-based paint

Before you start cleaning, you need to consider the grit of sandpaper and the type of wood. Too coarse paper grain can leave scratches or even depressions on the wood. Otherwise, before painting, you will have to additionally putty and prime all mechanical damage.

thermal method

The old layer can be easily removed if the surface is preheated. This option is called thermal. It is most convenient to heat the door with a building hair dryer, but if it is not available, you can use an ordinary iron and foil. The foil is applied to the surface, then warmed up from the iron. Next, you need to remove it and immediately start cleaning.

It should be borne in mind that old paint can ignite if overheated. It is important to acquire extinguishing agents, even if they are not useful. In addition, it is advisable to carry out the procedure away from the accumulation of wires or plastic objects, otherwise the high temperature will easily damage or destroy them.

Types of paints for wooden interior doors

For doors, it is worth choosing a water-based option - this variety is quick-drying, resistant to changes in humidity and temperature, and some subspecies are almost odorless. Stop at the following types:

  • Water emulsion. Colored or white enamel, inexpensive, environmentally friendly. It is applied to the surface, under the future layer of varnish, since the composition does not have strength and with great activity - opening-closing - it will peel off. If humidity is increased in an apartment or house, then this defect cannot be avoided.
  • Moisture resistant. Silicone or acrylic paint contains polymers that form a film on the surface that prevents the penetration of moisture. This is important for wooden structures and rooms where the humidity is constant - kitchen, bath, bathrooms.
  • Lesser. This is a paint for wood doors or completely transparent. It gives the canvases a finished decorative look, emphasizing the natural beauty of the material. Unlike varnish, the composition is not transparent, which is why it has received the characteristic of glaze. The components allow you to smoothly make the transition to shades, linger on the natural pattern. Flawless on all surfaces - deaf, smooth or textured.
  • Lucky. Inside the apartment, only water-based compositions are used - nitrolac will not work.

If you have an old iron door in your apartment, it may be necessary to restore its original appearance. To do this, you must first remove the old paintwork from the metal. Work must be carried out in such a way that the doors are completely cleaned, otherwise the new coating layer cannot be made even, without roughness.

You can remove old paint with your own hands. There are several options for how to do this:

Mechanical

To do this, you can take a grinder with a wire brush nozzle or a drill with a metal brush. This option, on the one hand, is simple, on the other hand, very laborious. You will have to divide the surface area of ​​the structure into small sections and work with each separately.

You can also take a sharp knife in your hands. After carefully inspecting the doors, find the place on them where the coating is cracked, and then pry it with a tool. After the surface is clean, go over the steel with water-repellent sandpaper. Before grinding, wet iron doors with cold water.

Thermal

The thermal method of removing paint consists in heating the product so that the paint begins to peel off. After that, it is removed with a spatula. This option difficult to use at home, in addition, it is a fire hazard.

Chemical

It consists in the use of special solvents, which are available in the form of gels and liquids, aerosols and dry powders. chemical method- the simplest, but much will depend on how high-quality the special equipment will be.

Special means are usually toxic, so be sure to carefully read the instructions before using the substance. Respiratory protection may be required to protect the respiratory tract.

The substance is usually applied to the metal and left for some time. Depending on what product you are using, you will need sandpaper and/or a spatula.

If you can’t clean the doors of paint on your own, but at the same time you still want to see doors with quality design, you should think about replacing the input unit. Lacquer coating today is practically not used by door manufacturers due to the fact that it is obsolete. Customers are encouraged to buy modern powder coated doors that have a more attractive appearance.