Tried using a heat gun to strip old paint from my kitchen cabinets

Thought it would be faster than chemical stripper but I ended up scorching three panels before I got the hang of it. Had to sand those down twice as much to get the burn marks out. Has anyone else had better luck with a specific temperature setting for cabinet-grade paint?

3 comments

3 Comments

terryr4615d ago

Funny you mention the smell, it took me a full week to get it out of my kitchen. But what I haven't seen anyone bring up is checking the age of the cabinets first. If they were made before 1978, you might be dealing with lead paint underneath. Heat guns can vaporize that stuff and you definitely don't want to breathe it in. I had an older house and learned that the hard way when I tested a chip. Had to switch to a chemical stripper anyway just to be safe. Might be worth grabbing a lead test kit from the hardware store before you go much further.

wesleyburns15d ago

Yeah honestly I was in the same boat, I thought people were overreacting about lead paint until my buddy @ray_king said the same thing and it finally clicked. That heat gun tip's a solid heads up, definitely gonna test a spot before I go any further.

ray_king15d ago

Oh man, the burnt wood smell alone would've driven me crazy. One thing nobody mentions - check if your cabinets are MDF or real wood. MDF will scorch way faster and you basically can't sand it back to smooth. Might be worth testing in a spot before you go full heat gun on everything.