Ray wrote:
We have a brick hearth which was speckled with paint droppings many
years ago.

I've done everything I can think of to get the drops out -- scraping,
scrubbing, even used paint remover. But nothing works. I think the
paint has seeped deep into the brick.

Any suggestions welcome.

That is a really tough one.

I have seen some paint removal "kits" that include a thick gel type
chemical and a backing material. The whole think like a towel soaked in a
gel is slapped on the project and allowed to work and then the whole thing
is pulled off. I have never tried it myself. In my younger days I did
remove paint from my 2½ story brick home using a sand blasting outfit. I
suspect that might be a little messy for what you need and you would need to
do all the brick because it would clean out any old soot etc on the brick as
well.

Good Luck.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit