Lemon Peel
Lemon Peel is a powerful low odour, citrus smell, chemical paint stripper which is user friendly. It readily attacks and lifts single pack paints. Two-pack paints can be softened with prolonged exposure but may not be lifted so readily.
Lemon Peel is effective against most coatings including acrylics, alkyd and oil based paints, single pack epoxies and of course anti fouling paints on boats. It will cause two pack epoxies to soften over time and will greatly assist in their removal. Lemon Peel comes into its own where sanding would create dust detrimental to your health, such as during the removal of Antifoul or lead based paints, and is great for furniture & Heritage building restoration where lead based paints are likely to be present.
Lemon Peel is based on a water-miscible solvating chemical that has low volatility. Therefore it has a very low odour, and its vapour does not add to greenhouse effects nor does it affect the ozone layer like the solvents in most paints and strippers. It contains no Methylene Chloride, unlike other old technology strippers.
It employs less dangerous chemicals for stripping and removing paint, graffiti and for general industrial cleanup. Unlike older methylene chloride-based paint strippers, Lemon Peel has much lower vapour pressure, meaning there are considerably fewer fumes evaporating from it and what does evaporate is not as dangerous as the fumes from the older style paint strippers. It is less aggressive on your skin and clothing, and if promptly washed off with soapy water will not burn your skin. Refer to www.lemon-peel.com.au for additional information on the chemical bases used in Paint strippers and the hazards involved. It also explains the different characteristics of chemical bases used and specifically why Lemon Peel is much safer to use.
In use, "Lemon Peel" is spread over the surface in a rather thick layer of 0.5 - 1mm, and ideally covered with sheets of plastic to prevent drying (will stay wet for up to 24 hours) and enhance penetration into the paint layer. It can then be removed by scraper and the loosened residue is scraped off onto newspaper or similar. Wash surface down with hot water, detergent, a scouring pad and then hose off with fresh water, before sanding and repainting. We put Lemon Peel up against Soy Gel, currently the best water-based, safe to use paint stripper that will work through multiple layers of paint. Tests with Lemon Peel have shown it is equally as good as Soy Gel if not better. The secret to enabling multiple layers of paint to be removed is keeping it wet. This is easily done by applying a generous layer (0.5 to 1mm thick) of Lemon Peel onto the area to be stripped and covered with a lightweight plastic sheet such as glad wrap. The more layers of paint or antifoul present will require a thicker layer of Lemon Peel. Pull the edge of the plastic back periodically and check how the paint removal is progressing. If there are several layers of paint the Lemon Peel can be left on overnight and it will keep working as long as it does not dry out. If it dries out and there is still paint to remove, apply another coat over the top and the reaction will recommence.
