How To Strip Paint Off Wood Without Stripper

Ever since I tried the oven cleaner stripping technique on this mirror, I have wanted to see if it would work on wood that has been painted. I haven’t found a good piece of painted furniture to try it on, but I recently found a wood box that was the perfect candidate. This post will show you how to strip paint off wood without the mess and long process of a traditional, harsh stripping product.

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Supplies Used To Remove The Paint From This Wood Box

Oven Cleaner (this one is cheaper and works great)

Steel Wool – (I used a super fine grit for this project. If the paint was tougher to get off, I would have gone with a coarser grit.)

Fine Mist Spray Bottle (filled with water)

Paper Towels

Side Note: I have used both the name brand and the generic oven cleaner on the stripping projects I have done. I have found that the generic works just as well and is about half the cost of the name brand. 

9 Easy Steps To Strip Paint Off Wood Without The Traditional Stripper Solution

1. Shake the can of oven cleaner for 3o seconds.
2. Spray the painted area with the oven cleaner. I put a really good coat of oven cleaner on the painted area.
3. Let it sit for 30 minutes. 
4. Scrub the painted area with steel wool. PRO TIP: It’s a good idea to have different coarse steel wool for projects like this. The paint on this box came off with a fine-grit, but I did have a coarser grit on hand in case I needed it. 
5. Once you have the paint off, spray the area with water.
6. Wipe down/clean with a paper towel.
7. Let it dry completely.
8. You may want to sand after it dries depending on the piece.
9. Then, you can add a topcoat if you like or leave it raw.

Here is a short video showing you the process of this project:

Once I sprayed the area down with water and cleaned it off, the black, painted leaf was still on the box. I repeated the process, let the oven cleaner sit on it a bit longer and it came right off when I scrubbed it with the steel wool. 

This is what it looked like when it was all dry.

I didn’t sand it or add a topcoat when I took the final pictures. For this post, I wanted to share the outcome and what it looked like without that. 

I did spray the oven cleaner on the sides that didn’t have paint as well. I was hoping it would lighten them as the oven cleaner did with this mirror. It did lighten the wood a little bit.  

The pictures below are the sides that had paint on them. 

I was very skeptical about this process. I didn’t think it would work as well as it did. But now that I know this is how to strip paint off wood without the work and mess of traditional stripper, I am hooked!

Since this worked so well, I will be doing it again. The only thing I would add to the process is sanding once the wood is completely dry in the end. I just wanted to share what the oven cleaner did alone to remove the paint for this post. 

The oven cleaner makes light work of this kind of project. I am amazed.

I know I will be asked about adding a topcoat if and when I do this again. It will depend on the piece and the look I am going for. Sometimes, I like the raw wood look and other times, I like to add a topcoat. 

Now that you have seen this process, do you think you would give it a try? If you do, share a photo on Instagram and tag me @mycreativedays. I would love to see it!

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