Dumond 3301 Smart Strip Paint Remover, White, 1 Gallon

Rubbish, bought this stuff to take off about four layers of vinyl emulsion paint in my hallway as wanted to re plaster walls. Only bubbled up in very small areas so very poor for the price and much quicker with just a large scraper and sharp blade.

When I added this to my wish list it was a reasonable price, now listed at 228 pounds which is crazy, I found it elsewhere on multiple sites for a much fairer price. I had no idea what star rating to put as I've not used it yet. Hoping to remove paint from marble.

I don't know what is in this product but it is miraculous in several ways: 1) virtually no smell 2) virtually no skin irritation since of course I got some on me 3) it actually WORKS like I could never have believed 4) relatively easy to clean up afterwards. I am strictly amateur without a lot of "crafting" space, but I had an idea that I would strip the gross ancient thick ugly paint from an antique wooden box. So... mineral spirits, sanding, steel wool, various miscellaneous hardware store paint removal products later, I was totally about to give up, the paint was winning the war. In desperation I turned to Amazon and found this product and I thought ok, one last ditch effort. Opened the box, (fought with the lid on the tub which says to use a 'coin' to pry it off and that is impossible, you have to use a big honking screwdriver) and just started slathering this stuff on the box. I literally put a regular garbage bag laid flat on my kitchen island with some extra newspaper, put on some plastic gloves and used a foam brush to do the slathering which i washed with just soap and water afterward. Since I was pretty much not even believing this was going to work I just used a ton of the product and spread a really thick paste over most of the painted areas just like I was somewhat haphazardly frosting a cake. Then when everything was covered i laid some saran wrap over the wet areas (maybe not totally necessary, who knows) and let it just sit overnight.Next morning: I'm expecting that either nothing at all happened (remember, this stuff is like the consistency of cinnamon roll frosting and it doesn't smell or burn your skin or seem corrosive in any way) or my entire kitchen island was going to be melted like the witch in the Wizard of Oz. The reality? I put a fresh pair of gloves on, grabbed a roll of paper towels, and LITERALLY just wiped the paint off. This ancient heavy coat of paint I'd been fighting with for days was totally liquified. It is a messy gloppy job, just like it would be if you decided to wipe the frosting off a cake, but it was surprisingly easy. In full disclosure, since I hadn't quite been a believer when I started, I did have to do a few areas again because I hadn't thoroughly 'frosted' everything but I would not make that mistake again. Anyway, after some serious wiping down I finished cleaning all the surfaces with some of the other stuff i already had, steel wool, mineral spirits etc. I plan to let it dry out real well for a day or two and will use Briwax to put a new finish on the box, but was so amazed by how well this product works I rushed to put my glowing positive review out. Total success!!

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!

First off, this did actually work. The thing is, they say it covers 50 square feet and the instructions say to use 1/8" to 1/4". It's simple math. 50 square feet is 7200 square inches. Multiply that by 1/8", you get 900 cubic inches, which almost 4 gallons. If you put it on at 1/4" you'd need 8 gallons! It definitely worked pretty well in the areas where it was 1/8" thick. My project was a staircase that I think had about 50 square feet of painted surface and I really needed at least two gallons to get a decent result.Second. It might be zero voc, but that doesn't mean it is odorless. At first I thought "Oh it's got kindof a nice mild odor, a little floral" but that scent just got stronger and stronger.

I saw this product was safe to use indoors on This Old House, and started with a door before committing to all the trim in our hallway.You can see this door had four colors for what had to be at least 8 coats (2+ each of white, teal, barn red, and a cream). The paint just lifted off with the consistency of a balloon.Tip #1: DON’T BE SHY with the paste! Glob it on. Application with a paint brush makes you want to put a thin layer on, but use it more like cake icing. When I did, I got 8+ layers off at once. When I painted with it, I was left scraping. GLOB IT ON!Tip #2: Save money by covering it with wax paper, not the paper they sell. It did the same job for a small fraction of the cost.“Best of luck ... uh ... stripping.”

I was skeptical when I purchased this item, but figured it was worth a try. I had already tried using a sander and a drill with a course metal brush to remove layers of old paint from our hot water heat baseboards. Since these efforts were failing to provide any kind of positive result (without hours and hours of labor), I decided to try this product.I cannot say enough about it! First of all, there essentially is NO scent! Woo Hoo! Using this product was quite simple and produced the results I was hoping for. The layers and layers of paint lifted and scraped off beautifully.Note: This is a very messy and "sticky" job, think softened old paint. Make sure the area you are working in is masked off well, including your floor. When scraping the old paint off, it can fall to the ground and make a mess. If you want to not have a big mess of paint to remove from your floor, make sure it is covered. Also, have a disposable type container to put the removed paint in.Last comment, don't rush this process! It takes time for the product to work through the layers of paint. You will see the paint "bubble" as it works through the layers. Let the product do the hard work, then the scraping and removal will be much easier.Thanks for a 5 star, A+++++, product!