On Mar 4, 2:22 pm, "Lew Hodgett" wrote:

VERY NASTY STUFF.

Wear protective clothing INCLUDING face shield when working with it..

Amen. I have a couple of scars on my arms to prove what just a small
slip can do.

It takes about 5 minutes to go from an irritating burn to feeling like
you have molten lava on your skin.

But is sure does remove old finish and gunk well!

When I refinish a door I set up to work where I know where an easily
accessed water source is for emergency use. I make sure I have my box
of nitrile gloves with me and change them often. I use a marker to
write on my mask filters to make sure they are fresh, not expired, and
buy new as needed. I wear goggles ( a must! ) , and work outside if
possible. I set up a waste and debris catcher so that used
applicators, gloves, brushes, and all the crap that come off the door
goes directly inside.

Before I got serious about it, I thought that when you stripped you
just put the stripper on, drank a cup of coffee and knocked the
stripper and finish off. A few nasty chemical burns later, and some
burning sensations in my throat that lasted a few days after stripping
gave me a great deal of respect for stripping products.

I would use the less dangerous stuff (some of it actually doesn't work
at all) but it is too slow, costs more in the long run, and runs out
my time on the job to an unacceptable length.

I need to be able to strip/wash/sand/repair in one day. Then go back
to finish the next. Those products that take a couple of hours to
work just don't cut it. The stuff I get from one of my suppliers will
raise the first layer of finish on almost all surfaces in less than a
minute, and sometimes in seconds. Kinda scary to think about how
strong that stuff is when I am typing this...

Robert