Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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Removing very old paint from copper wall vents

2006

We are renovating a home that is from the turn of the century. A few days ago, I made a discovery that the old register wall vents, which I thought were cast iron, are actually solid copper.

After discovering this, and spending several hours trying to remove the old chipped paint, I finally gave up. I desperately want to restore these old copper vents, but I don't know of an easier way. We have close to 10 of these vents in the house, so I am desperate for a quicker method.

I have tried steel brushes and paint thinner but they don't help much. The vents can not be removed, because we just installed drywall, and we were told removing the vents could damage the drywall.

Please help!

Holly Dubree
Consumer - Sullivan, IN, USA

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Try with paint stripper or with mixture of acetone [on eBay or Amazon] and ammonia [on eBay or Amazon] (3 parts acetone 1 part ammonia/25%/). Hope it helps and good luck!

Goran Budija
- Cerovski vrh Croatia
2006