Removing waterbased stain vs oil wtih HD-80

[dperrin 14]

Can HD-80 remove water based stain as well as it removes oil based? If not, what should be used. I've not had experience removing water based stain but I am told it is much harder. Can you tell by looking if a deck was stained with one or the other say a year or two later?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Let me make one distinction here; there are water "based" and there are water "borne" products. The make up is of acrylic resins and certain alkyds that by formulation can include water.

Now, in my experience, HD-80 has been able to strip most products on the market and for those it didn't, I would add an additional surfactant, a booster if you will (call Tom @ Acr products if you need more info) that allowed it to strip them too.

If it doesn't strip well, you may be facing an acrylic or latex formula that has other fortifiers in it like teflon, epoxy or silicon which HD-80 does not have much effectiveness on.

Do a test spot first under the rail cap to see if it will work.

Rod!~

[dperrin 14]

What is a safe minimum temperature to strip a deck. The average day time temp here in Atl has been around 53 the last couple of weeks. Is that warm enough?

[Jarrod 22]

What is a safe minimum temperature to strip a deck. The average day time temp here in Atl has been around 53 the last couple of weeks. Is that warm enough?

If it's a tough job, I would wait until it's at least 70 degrees. If it's an oil base, 55 deg. on up.

[Curb Appeal 14]

I had to resort to a heavy duty paint stripper (Stripper Cream from Eacochem) to remove a stubborn sealer (Thompsons??) last year. Left it on overnight and rinsed. Lots of sanding on that one. The stripper really raises the grain...

[rj242 16]

I carry around a can of oven cleaner (sodium hydroxide) in my truck, and spray a test spot on the deck, when I am not sure what kind of stain is on it. If the oven cleaner will remove it, it is an oil based stain.