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Easy way to remove paint from metal heating grates / grilles

13 years ago

I'm redoing my daughters bedroom. My house is nearly 50 years old and the metal heating grates have, conservatively, 10 coats of paint on them. In the past I tried chemical strippers and while they worked after a fashion the smell was overpowering and if you get a little on your bare skin it starts to burn within seconds. I heard recently that you can remove paint from metal by boiling it in water with a little baking soda added. I decided to try it out.

My wife donated a large aluminum stock pot that she never uses - say's it's too big for the burners (?). I added the smallest grate and covered it with the water - it only needed a little over two inches. I added the baking soda and fired it up. Within 15 minutes it started coming loose! I took it out and started scraping it off. With a little effort a good bit came free. Back it went into the water solution (which was turning black!) The second attempt got nearly all of the old paint off; the metal slots gave me the most trouble. I used an old toothbrush on them but wished I had something a little more substantial; anyway it took maybe 40 minutes start to finish. I then did two others; one was so long I could do only one end at a time so it took extra time.

BTW I wouldn't cook in that pot anymore, likely some of the old paint had lead in it.

A few light coats of spray paint and they look brand new, which is good because they are odd sizes and can't be replaced easily.

If you find yourself in a similar situation you should give it a try. You won't be disappointed; I've never lied to you before, have I?

Featured Answer

graywings123

13 years ago

I did the same thing with some metal register vents from an old house and it worked great.

By the way, you can buy paint strippers that don't smell and don't burn your hands now.

And you can buy wire brushes that are about the size of a toothbrush.

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Comments (12)

sunyani2013
11 years ago
Hi
question, exactly how clean is the grate, like it is all gone or one still needs to use stripper?
I have ten grates at my daughter's house and using stripper is a forever project into my next life I think
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graywings123
11 years ago
I did the register vent project years ago, but I seem to recall that the boiling water removed all the paint. I don't recall using a stripper afterwards.
duzajim
11 years ago
I used the boiling method as well as non-toxic paint stripped and steel wool. The 1942 heat grates/vents came out nice. Primed them and painted them. Look great. Only issue is that my vents are at a slight angle pointing toward the ceiling (top of vent is 1.5" and bottom is 2.5"). Before the grates would stay closed because of the friction in hinge on the backside ... but not they are "
floppy" and swing back/forth. When the heat is on, the forced air pushes them closed. Any idea on how to increase the friction in the simple hinge? I thought about bending the metal sides ... but it would ruin the new paint job and the old metal is very sturdy. Thanks for your thoughts. Jim
shenalally
6 years ago
Exactly my situation. Thank you.
HU-127296265
5 years ago
Just used this method on a antique vent - Patended on 1911. I tried paint stripping and it got the good majority of it off. The grate part was full of all kinds and colors of paint. Put it in the boiling water with baking soda and magic all gone. We sprayed it after taking out of the water with a power washer and even more came off. Thank you so much for this suggestion.
cspringall
5 years ago
Weren’t you concerned with the toxic lead paint? I have about 8 in my 1940 house to do but I’m concerned.
Lisa Main
4 years ago
How much baking soda do you use
Lady Rucinski
3 years ago
It is amazing easy
Lady Rucinski
3 years ago
I used a spoon full be careful it over boiled quickly lol but that wiped right up. I added a little every time I put in a new vent
Nate Radebaugh
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I'm doing this now, I've got two 24" grates so I bought a cheaper turkey fry pot so it can fit half each way. Takes forever to get that much water to boil and kinda stinks up the house, but opening windows and letting it go seems to be working for me!
dleising
2 years ago
Thanks for the recommendation. I tried this method over the weekend and it worked great! I wish I would have known about this years ago. It would have saved me hours of scraping!

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