Dumond Chemicals, Inc. 3332 Smart Strip Advanced Paint Remover, 1 Quart

For the 8 years i've been restoring antiques, i've sworn by methylene chloride-based strippers, like Klean Strip. I've become a connoisseur of strippers and solvents. And then I tried to strip the wrought iron railings outside my house. What a nightmare! The Klean Strip was drying into an impenetrable shell before it sank in past the first layer of paint. These railings have at least 4 or 5 thick layers of different kinds of paint.I tried Smart Strip as a last resort. I had used an earlier version of the product (Peel Away) on some woodwork in my house years ago, and it did okay.I was skeptical because of the mixed reviews. After the first spindle, I ran and got my camera to take a video. I finished the remaining 6 spindles, plus the top and bottom rails, and cleaned up the bits the other stripper left, in just shy of 2 hours (not counting the dwell time- i'll get to that). By comparison, it took a whole day to do 2 spindles with the Klean Strip, and it left a lot of gunk behind.Now, I gave this 4 stars because, despite my enormous success with it, you can't follow the directions...Wrapping: The can specifically says it doesn't need to be covered (like its predecessor, Peel Away), but I did it anyway bcs my railings were outside my door, and I didn't want anyone putting their hand in goop. The one place I did not cover, I was pleased to see the solvent hadn't dried out after 24 hours, but I did have a tougher time scraping the paint off there. I did not use the special paper they sell- I just used some plastic shopping bags. Someone else mentioned wax paper. I even noticed the paint coming off with the bags as I peeled them off.Scraping: The paint doesn't “wipe right off”. It does require some elbow grease. I used a scraper on flat surfaces and steel wool or a metal bristle brush on the curvy bits. And some places I had to scrub, or pick off a fleck with my finger nail. But I had the first spindle down to bare metal in 5 minutes. I also used Denatured Alcohol to help clean off the solvent and soften up any little bits of paint left over.Dwelling: I don't know why the can bothers to say 3-24 hours. Just tell us we should leave it overnight. I can't imagine it taking less time. And it's not like the stuff dries out. I did mine for 24 hours, and it worked very well.Thickness: The can says 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch, and they're not kidding. The heavier the better. I would drop my railings into a vat of this if I could. If you paint on a thin layer, it won't work. You have to really slather it on there. Basically, if you can still see your paint through the solvent, you don't have enough on. I dabbed it on like stucco. Really thin stucco.So, in conclusion, this is not a product to use if you wake up one morning and want to get your project done that day. Count on a 24 hour dwell time. I can't vouch for how it works on finishes other than latex or oil based paint (like enamel, polyurethane, varnish, etc. I have a feeling a lot of the negative reviews encountered a layer of something this stuff isn't formulated to handle), though I did notice that, as I wiped my solvent covered hands on my paint-spattered jeans, paint was coming off my jeans. And don't follow the directions- slather it on, wrap it, wait a day, scrape it, and scrub it with denatured alcohol.It's water based, it doesn't stink, it doesn't burn like the fires of a thousand suns when it gets on your skin, it's biodegradable... what's not to like? If you're unsure, get the “sample size” and test it. ¼ of the “sample size” can did a 4 foot section of railing for me.I will continue to use Klean Strip for projects I need to do quickly, or if i've only got 1 or 2 layers of paint to get through. But the rest of my railings will be done with Smart Strip!

I am stripping a 150 year old door with as much paint. I was using liquid stripper which is messy and taking many steps. I heard about Smart Strip and decided to give it a try. It is really easy to use and does not smell or burn when you get it on your skin (I wear gloves but still it happens with liquid strippers). The door I am removing paint from is a 9' tall door about 32" wide. The quart gave me a nice thick coat over the entire door. Like I said, there is paint on this door from over a 100 years. I painted Smart Strip on the door and left on for about 15 HOURS. The product scraps right off in a nice dry film strip. Super clean and no messy clean up. It worked great removing several coats of the paint but I still had some paint on the door that I had to finish stripping. If there was not so many coats of paint, I am sure Smart Strip would have removed the paint down to the wood. I would use this product again for less demanding jobs. Works GREAT. Love how easy it is to clean up.

I like Smart Strip enough to reorder it. It's not perfect - it doesn't get off all the layers in one application - but it will do it in two. I'm stripping the woodwork in our 90-year-old house. There are layers and layers of latex, oil, lead, gosh knows what. I wanted a non-toxic paint stripper, since we have children and pets (plus I like my own health). I used Citri Strip for the first portion, but got very frustrated with it. It needed 3-4 applications, would turn into a liquid and drip, or would dry into a fine powder that got everywhere. I tried Smart Strip yesterday. It didn't dry out, and removed most of the old paint. I tested it after 5, 7, and 10 hours, and didn't find a difference in paint removal over time. The consistency is like a loose frosting, and you need to put it on thick.

This has the horsepower to clear through eighty years of latex and lead based paint to get my never before stripped Art Deco doorframes back to the bare metal. This product is HORRIBLY caustic though, and necessitates the use of nitrile/latex gloves with work gloves over the top, as well as a decent chemical respirator mask and eye protection.It takes a long time to work though, you MUST leave it for the recommended 24 hours after application, before attempting to strip, if you want to see it at maximum effectiveness.

Smart Strip by Peel Away® One Quart 'Sample Size' Paint Remover Smart Strip is by far the best paint remover I have ever used! I used Smart Strip to take at least 12-15 layers of old paint off a very intricate and detailed window frame. The results were outstanding! Thank you.

I was really excited to order this product as there were many reviews where people indicated that it worked great. Followed the directions and put this on the painted brick and even purchased the special paper to help. After letting the product sit for about 26 hours I pulled the paper off and saw that maybe 5% of the paint came off the brick and in tiny sections. This was very disappointing. I will be trying something else to help remove the paint.

I tried this on my basement wall, and tried the multi strip product right next to it. The consistency of this product was better then the other product, but this one didn't work at all after 24 hours and the multi strip product with the blue lid worked just fine. Both had a plastic grocery bag over them, both were on for the same time.

This product worked instantly on the removal of bathtub paint from a cast iron tub. I just wiped it on with my gloved hand and covered it with plastic thinking it would take a day to sit and checked back in an hour and the paint was bubbled up and ready to wipe off. It is a bit messy, but I would not say difficult. I used the quart for an entire tub and have some leftover.