Max Strip Citrus Paint Stripper Gel, Safe Wood & Metal Stripper, 1G

The best I have ever used. Remodeling my kitchen cabinets from white paint to natural wood. No fumes and the gel formula is easy to apply without running.

It works very well. As per instructions, using plastic helps expedite the process. It still works without the plastic, just not as quickly. BIG takeaway, be sure to have something below. It's like the "wushi finger hold", the worst part is the clean up! The paint easily comes off of the door with little to no elbow grease. But then it falls and sticks to the floor (or whatever is below it). So have a big enough piece of cardboard or incredibly large piece of paper. You can use a tarp, too but disposable will be ideal.

This stuff is effective but it’s so hard to work with! Be prepared to suffer. I removed the paint from my brick fireplace and it really does eat the paint off of just about anything but it leaves you with a super gummy, rubbery residue that’s nearly impossible to get off. If you’re outdoors and you can power wash it, or for things things that are smooth surfaced, maybe it’s not a big deal. I went through seven wire brushes and ended up doing a whole other treatment using a different stripper that didn’t work to remove paint but removed the gummy, rubber globs.

Works as advertised. Effective for my needs - removing (spray) paint on wood furniture. Odor far less toxic than other brands I've tried.

I tried to use this to help strip my golden oak stair railing and banister so I could restrain them away from orangey color. I had already sanded, but the varnish was still mostly there, which is when I ordered this product. This product was horrible and didn’t deserve one star! I spent more time trying to scrape and sand the disastrous product from the wood. I didn’t see one area that the original varnish lifted. After a day and a half of scraping and sanding 2/3 of the job, the wood looks even more orange in sections the electric sander couldn’t reach. I certainly can’t recommend it, though a friend had a similar product (don’t know the brand) that worked for her by doing small sections covering product with plastic wrap. I didn’t mention how the product dripped and stained the painted wall and carpet.

Disappointing performance.

I was anxious about trying a paint stripper, but I got an old secretary desk and was worried about sanding the paint in case it contained lead. I was told that using a paint stripper was safer for that, so I researched various paint strippers. I settled on Max Strip, and I'm happy with it! I started with the inside of the drop down part of the desk and it took me four or so coats to get the paint off. There were four layers of paint on it. But it was also my first time using this stuff. When I did the outside, it only took two coats. I had a much better idea of what I was doing and left it on longer. About an hour for the first coat and then 35 minutes for the second, since I only had some minor details left to remove. A paint scraper and a brass wire brush work great with this stuff. I can get the majority off with the paint scraper and then use the brush for smaller areas or to get residual paint out of the wood grain. I was worried when I saw the size of the container that I would not be able to get much done with it, but I still have plenty left even after doing multiple coats on either side of this. It won't make the job completely effortless, but it will save a lot of time and elbow grease.

Our son was given some old kitchen cabinets (his are much older and hand made). He wanted to strip the varnish off the new used cabinets and update the kitchen with a new paint. Works very well forcwhat he needed.