Auckland War Memorial Museum

Paint Stripping

The Auckland War Memorial Museum was turning one of their old display areas back to its bare bones for a new display, and needed to remove the multiple layers of paint from the ceiling, walls and columns, that had been applied over the years.

The challenge

The instructions from the Museum curator and the architect was that there had to be minimal use of water and no fumes, dust and noise.

The project

To achieve this, we chose the Peel Away Paint Removal System and applied a trial patch. When we removed the test patch 48 hours later, the layers of paint were emulsified in the paste and paper. A little wipe down with a damp cloth and there it was - the white marble from the turn of the century (see picture). The challenges of no noise, dust, fumes, and use of minimal water were all eliminated.

The painters started applying the product and the paint started falling off after 24 hours. They then wrapped the paper up with the paint and paste inside, to aid the safe disposal of it.

For the more intricate detail in the ceiling where the cover sheet could not quite get into, we came up with the idea to use cling wrap to cover the Peel Away 8 with. This worked brilliantly, all they needed was a scrubbing brush to get the residue out of the detail.

The result

The former display area was back to its formal glory of white marble columns, walls and intricate ceiling and the labour cost was halved. The Museum was so impressed that Peel Away 8 is now being used on the opposite side of this display area.