White spirit for paint on old wooden floors

[lizziecupcakes]

Hello all!
I have solid pine floorboards across my hallway, in need of sanding. They have little blobs and smears of paint that I don’t want the sander to touch.

Can I use white spirit on them to try to remove them?

Thank you

 

[skierhughes]

It'll depend on what sort of paint it is. Why don't you want to sand those bits? I'm guessing they are going to be old, so white spirit will have little effect anyway. If it does, bear in mind, it is a softener, so you will still need to scrape away that paint, it won't dissolve it like paint stripper.

 

[Cubist]

Why don't you want to use the sander to remove them?

I concur with @skierhughes ; any solvent will struggle to dissolve old paint, particularly gloss, but the greatest risk is that you could then smear the softened paint into a wider/larger area and embed it in the grain structure. I would be tempted to try a very sharp scraper such as the one below typically used by many to remove paint from glazing. Being small these allow more precise control and, with care, can remove the hard crusty paint on the surface. Any residual pint left would be likely to be embedded in the grain structure but a fine sandpaper applied by hand should be able to remove this - that or a little solvent on the end of a cotton bud. If the paint residue embedded in the grain refuses to be removed then you may be able to camouflage it with a dye or stain to make it disappear.

Stanley Window Scraper

Ideal for removing excess paint/stickers from windows. Supplied with 1 heavy duty blade.

www.toolstation.com

 

[lizziecupcakes]

Thank you. The reason for white spirit os because that’s all i’ve got at the moment and really eager to het the past floors done.

I think i could just use paint thinner, scrape off, and then sand, osmo oil (in that order)?

I don’t want to sand it because I’m worried it will produce lead dust.

 

[Cubist]

Understood. The thinner won't do much to help unless the hard deposits/skin of the paint is removed first. Try the scraper first, then sandpaper, then the thinner. If you have a lot of such old paint spots/splashes etc. mask up and use a vac to gather the dust as you sand. This will vastly reduce the scale of any risk particularly if you keep the nozzle close to the sander as you work.