Product Reviews - Paint Strip & Spray Paint

For some reason, with the new tile, the little kitchen stool turned blah and was bugging me...

It was getting worn and dingy and it blended too much with the cabinets, and now, the floor. I simultaneously realized my kitchen area needed more color anyway, and decided the stool would be the perfect way to inject a little color.

However, I am impatient and not into detail work like sanding and painting tons of little crevices and all sides of every leg and support. So, I opted to try a "liquid sander" I have heard about on the blogs, and spray paint it instead of brush-on. For the liquid sander, I chose this one...

This size spray bottle of Jasco Green Strip was about $12 at Fred Meyer. I am trying to go more "green" lately, even though I am a little overwhelmed by it. It's okay, baby steps, right Kristel? Though now that I read the material safety data sheet, it seems their "green" focus was more about being biodegradable and safe for the environment, than being safe to touch and breathe - it still warns to not overexpose yourself to the fumes and to wear gloves and eye protection. But I guess it has to be strong stuff to strip paint, right?

Anyway, I sprayed on the Green Strip, and will say a few things about this... It sprays on real nice; it is gel so it sticks on well and doesn't make a drippy mess. However, it sticks on in little droplets, so if I used it again, I would wipe it down to get it to stick more evenly, and it also gets chemical over spray on everything around, so I would recommend doing this outside, and away from areas frequented by you or your children. Here is how thick I sprayed it on...

It took the shiny finish off very well, but I let it sit a couple hours longer than the product instructions recommended, so it got a little dry and tacky, and didn't wash off with water in some areas quite like it would have if I'd handled it in time. Hey, I don't mess with nap schedules! So I sanded all the easy outer planes with the electric sander - it didn't take much and could have been done by hand. Or better yet, washed off on time to begin with.

Then I wiped it down with a microfiber dusting rag to clean off all dust and debris...

Then came the not-so-green spray paint job. I did two coats and one touch-up coat, in areas I missed...

I really liked this Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2x Coverage Satin spray paint from Home Depot. It did, in fact, cover very well, as stated on the label, and I would highly recommend it for furniture jobs.

The spray paint job did get some paint on the hard plastic floor protectors on the feet. I didn't want this to get scraped onto my new tile, so I took them off and added new ones. If you get paint on the feet of chairs or stools, you should replace the floor protectors, or add some if the paint is directly on the furniture, itself, to keep that paint from rubbing off on your floors.

The next morning, I walked into the garage where my stool had dried all night and thought, 'Wow, that turned out nice and shiny-smooth,' and as I reached for the shiny, smooth surface, husband says, "Don't touch it, it's wet!" and before I could finish saying "No, it's not, I painted it last night!" My hand was sticking and I left a nice hand print. Husband had taken it upon himself to clear coat it for me that morning, with a not-so-green polyurethane, and that's why it was so smooth and shiny - it was still wet! Not green, but man does it look good (now that he touched up my hand print, that is!).

So now I have a sweet, colorful, customized kitchen stool, a new green paint stripping product in my arsenal, and a new favorite spray paint. And thanks, Ty, for the clear coat, and for fixing the clear coat after I messed it up! =)