Caustic soda for "les volet-deux"
The shutters are coming along well. I'm holding out for a giant voila picture when they are all rehung. Until then you just have to be patient for the unveiling ceremony because things move slow with a baby underfoot.
The second set of shutters I decided to work on were red! These shutters are most likely older than the 1969 door shutters. In fact I think they're really old. The hardware won't even come off because there are no screws!! Holding the barnstraps (isn't that what you call them) in place are really old, irregular, square sort of nails. There are lots of old square nails and whatnots on these shutters. Very pretty and I'm thinking OLD!
Because the red paint was severely cracked, I decided to remove the majority of it with a plain old caustic soda paste. Caustic soda mixed in water is great for taking off paint or varnish. It's my old staple and available at almost DIY stores. You just mix it with water.
The process is pretty easy. To remove paint from something you simply work the caustic soda mixture into the wood using medium grade steel wool. For stubborn old paint layers, you can really get good results; especially if you leave the 'product' on your surface for 5-10 minutes, reworking it periodically with the steel wool. Then using a hose, you rinse the paint right off. You may have to repeat this all few times to get all of the paint off. I often just drop any hardware into my caustic mixing bucket and let the soda eat the paint off of everything while I'm busying myself with the wood.
Some tips! Wear heavy duty rubber gloves, goggles (or sunglasses), and be sure your arms legs and feet are protected with clothing when working with caustic soda. You can get a nasty chemical burn if you get splashed with this stuff. It splatters easily too because you'll get really involved in working the nooks and crannies with your steel wool.
For brightening and cleaning very old wood I use this formula which a local antique dealer shared with me and it works well: 1 part caustic soda, 2 parts water, 1 part ammonia, 1 part hydrogeon peroxide (the full strength version...sold in DIY stores with industrial strength household cleaning supplies or perhaps in beauty supply stores. I think it's the same). Mix this OUTSIDE! Mix this away from pets, children and anything you love! Be prepared to mix this and run and hide in the garage for several minutes yourself. This often bubbles over and gives off very noxious fumes for several minutes. Very bad stuff! BUT, it works like a charm and really makes an old piece of blackened wood look new and clean, yet still old. The peroxide will brighten the wood and the ammonia will remove the grime. And the caustic soda will remove the paint layers all at the same time.
Back to my shutters. There's just a little sanding left to do and then they go into my paint lab for a bit of Tuscan Transformation
The second set of shutters I decided to work on were red! These shutters are most likely older than the 1969 door shutters. In fact I think they're really old. The hardware won't even come off because there are no screws!! Holding the barnstraps (isn't that what you call them) in place are really old, irregular, square sort of nails. There are lots of old square nails and whatnots on these shutters. Very pretty and I'm thinking OLD!
Because the red paint was severely cracked, I decided to remove the majority of it with a plain old caustic soda paste. Caustic soda mixed in water is great for taking off paint or varnish. It's my old staple and available at almost DIY stores. You just mix it with water.
The process is pretty easy. To remove paint from something you simply work the caustic soda mixture into the wood using medium grade steel wool. For stubborn old paint layers, you can really get good results; especially if you leave the 'product' on your surface for 5-10 minutes, reworking it periodically with the steel wool. Then using a hose, you rinse the paint right off. You may have to repeat this all few times to get all of the paint off. I often just drop any hardware into my caustic mixing bucket and let the soda eat the paint off of everything while I'm busying myself with the wood.
Some tips! Wear heavy duty rubber gloves, goggles (or sunglasses), and be sure your arms legs and feet are protected with clothing when working with caustic soda. You can get a nasty chemical burn if you get splashed with this stuff. It splatters easily too because you'll get really involved in working the nooks and crannies with your steel wool.
For brightening and cleaning very old wood I use this formula which a local antique dealer shared with me and it works well: 1 part caustic soda, 2 parts water, 1 part ammonia, 1 part hydrogeon peroxide (the full strength version...sold in DIY stores with industrial strength household cleaning supplies or perhaps in beauty supply stores. I think it's the same). Mix this OUTSIDE! Mix this away from pets, children and anything you love! Be prepared to mix this and run and hide in the garage for several minutes yourself. This often bubbles over and gives off very noxious fumes for several minutes. Very bad stuff! BUT, it works like a charm and really makes an old piece of blackened wood look new and clean, yet still old. The peroxide will brighten the wood and the ammonia will remove the grime. And the caustic soda will remove the paint layers all at the same time.
Back to my shutters. There's just a little sanding left to do and then they go into my paint lab for a bit of Tuscan Transformation
posted by christine at 4:54 AM
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