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How To Remove Paint Residue From Cement, Stone or Brick

Using something that you probably already have in your cupboard

How To,

After you have stripped paint off of a stone fireplace, you know how you are usually left with a fine film of paint residue? And it just won’t quite go away no matter how much paint stripper you use? Plain, white vinegar, any brand, will instantly remove the paint residue and brighten your masonry.

A few years ago I worked on a project that had a painted fireplace. The fireplace had an attached screen on it. Once the screen was removed the homeowner could see how nice the original stone looked, and was excited to return the fireplace to its original state.

After the fireplace was stripped with a chemical paint remover there was still a little bit of paint residue and a light film the covering the stone.

Our contractor told me how vinegar would remove the paint film. It is such an easy and affordable solution that really works! Vinegar also brightened the stone.

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Comments  { 6 }

  1. Tweets that mention 1912 Bungalow ยป Remove Paint Residue From Cement, Stone or Brick -- Topsy.com
    July 22nd, 2010 - 6:30 pm

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Houseblogs.net, 1912 Bungalow. 1912 Bungalow said: Remove Paint Residue From Cement, Stone or Brick: After you have stripped paint off of a stone fireplace, you kno… http://bit.ly/a1apSf [...]

  2. Felicity
    July 22nd, 2010 - 7:16 pm

    I knew vinegar was great for a final rise when cleaning paint brushes, but never thought it would work so well on brick. Great tip!

  3. artemis
    July 23rd, 2010 - 12:52 pm

    This looks wonderful—what did you use to strip the paint in the first place? We have pipe dreams of stripping our fireplace, but a lot of people had told me we wouldn’t be able to get the paint out of the nooks and crannies….looks like you did!

  4. Heather
    July 23rd, 2010 - 3:12 pm

    Artemis, it can be done. It takes some work and patience, but I think the end result is so worth it!

    The fireplace was stripped with a chemical stripper called Master Strip Formula A that you can buy at paint stores in Los Angeles. It is a local product and I am not sure if it is widely distributed. But, any strong chemical paint stripper should work fine.

  5. Leslie
    July 25th, 2010 - 11:09 am

    I can’t stand that film! I’m definitely going to try this.

  6. Paula
    July 26th, 2010 - 10:57 am

    what about the smell? it looks like you put plastic over the fireplace to let the vinegar set, did you wait over night or longer? Did you have to rinse the fireplace in anyway? we are looking at doing this for our bedroom and i dont want it to stink :) thanks!