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How to Clean Paint from Brick (Power Washing, Sandblasting)

  • October 24, 2022
  • Perla Irish
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  1. How to Clean Paint From Brick
  2. Sandblasting and Power Washing
  3. Liquid Thinners
  4. Gels and Pastes
Do you have to clean old paint from a brick surface? If you do, several methods may work. Paint-removing gels and pastes work well but have some drawbacks while sandblasting and power washing use brute force to remove latex-based paint.

How to Clean Paint From Brick

If you have been unlucky enough to have drawn the task of cleaning paint off of brick you are in for quite a workout. Before you begin the task you’ll need to know the answers to a couple of basic questions.

What is the condition of the brick and how old is the paint? If the brick is in poor shape then removing the paint may do more damage than it’s worth. If the paint was manufactured before 1970, it likely contains a lead base.

Once you’ve got these questions answered you can choose the best method for paint removal.

This wall has been halfway cleaned with a power washer
This wall has been halfway cleaned with a power washer

Sandblasting and Power Washing

If your brick is in good shape and the paint was applied post-1970, then sandblasting and/or power washing are fine methods for paint removal. Because sandblasting and power washing use pressurized materials to blast away paint, there will be a lot of airborne particles.

For your safety, you should wear safety goggles and a respirator. Also if too much pressure is used it can ruin the finish of the brick, or possibly leave gouges and a very uneven surface.

Brick is a porous material, and power washing will cause the brick to soak up water. Before doing any further work on the brick, it will have to dry out. If the power washing doesn’t leave enough dry time before freezing temperatures set in, the brick will break from the inside out, as the water in the pores expands.

Read Also:

  • How to Paint Using Sponge on Faux Brick Walls: Create Realistic-Looking Faux Bricks with Ease
  • Choosing and Maintaining a Power Washer: A Comprehensive Guide
  • Why Fall Is the Perfect Time to Power Wash Your Yard
  • Laminated Flooring: How to Remove Wax Build-Up

Liquid Thinners

Commercial paint thinners can be applied with a rag to a painted brick surface and then scraped away with a wire brush. This is particularly effective when dealing with oil-based paints.

This type of removal can be done with any type of paint removal liquid (marine-based thinners are usually the strongest). Whenever you are using this method, spread out a drop cloth beneath the area you are working on.

This process is extremely messy, often resulting in clumps of wet paint and solvent all over. This solvent can cause damage to other surfaces if it isn’t contained.

Whenever using these solvents it is important to wear a respirator. These liquids off gas are very toxic fumes. If you are using them indoors it’s important to have the windows open and run a fan for ventilation.

Gels and Pastes

The most common method for removing lead-based paints is using a gel or paste. These removers are applied in a thick layer on the painted surface, and then a piece of fabric is pressed up against the gel.

After a short period, the fabric is peeled away and the paint comes with it. This keeps the amount of lead-based particles to a minimum, as most of the paint stays stuck to the fabric.

This process is the most lengthy of all, but often has the best result, and as such is the preferred method of restoring historic brick homes.

Cleaning paint off of brick often takes more than one attempt. The first run will remove a good portion of the paint, but there will still be areas in the recesses that aren’t clean.

Sometimes this “weathered” look is more attractive than completely clean brick. A second run-through may clean the brick even further, but it could take four or five attempts before the brick is sufficiently clean for your needs. A good practice is to estimate the time it should take to clean the brick and multiply it by three.

If you run into the problem of a whitish tint on your bricks when you are cleaning them, you need to rinse the bricks more quickly and more thoroughly than you are already. The residual whitewash is the remnants of the paint re-adhering to the brick.

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Perla Irish

Perla Irish, who is more familiarly known as Irish, is the Content Manager at newfld.com. She loves following trends around home and garden, interior design and digital marketing. Through this blog, Irish wants to share information and help readers solve the problems they are experiencing.

Related Topics
  • brick
  • clean
  • paint
  • washing
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