Day 18: Getting Latex Paint off Moldings (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

My first step in my bathroom painting project was to remove dripped / splattered paint from the hardwood floor (post HERE) and next up was trying to remove that same wall paint from painted moldings.  

I wanted to make sure that the latex wall paint was removed, but the oil-based molding paint stayed on!  After finding the above pin, I checked with a professional house painter who agreed that rubbing alcohol was the best way to go since these walls (and moldings and floors...) were painted over eight years ago.  He said that if the latex paint hadn't been on the surface for very long, using just hot water could do the trick.  His next strategy would be rubbing alcohol, and finally, a product called Goof-Off.  He confirmed that none of these steps would take off the oil-based molding paint.

Instead of just the straight rubbing alcohol the painter recommended, I went with the pinned recipe -- 3/4 cups rubbing alcohol and 1/4 cup lemon juice.

It worked!  Because the paint had been left for so long, it took some major elbow grease to get it off there -- typically, I scrubbed with the toothbrush and then the sponge, used the putty knife and then oftentimes, the paint only came off when I used my fingernails at the end.  Regardless, it looks much better and I'm ready to tape and pick out paint colors! 

Verdict: success!