The best Paint strippers, compared.
Top pick: Bartoline Paint Predator Heavy Duty 500 ml bundle Best value: Nitromors Original 750 ml – Next score after the top pick, 70, at about £17.50 with 3.8 from 893 reviews. Updated October 2026.
A paint stripper is a chemical remover you spread on paint or varnish, then scrape off once the film softens. In the UK you buy one for doors, banisters, skirting, furniture and radiators. You tell a suitable tin by the chemistry on the label, the surfaces it names, and whether the body is a clinging gel or a paste you can keep wet. Household paint stripper at or above 0.1% dichloromethane by weight is not for the public. A professional outside an industrial installation needs an HSE certificate. Prefer a tin that says methylene chloride free, then still read the label. Wood, metal and masonry are not interchangeable. Oak and veneer need a test patch. Those checks are in the [paint stripper buying guide](/hub/paints-and-varnishes/paint-stripper/sub/paint-stripper-buying-guide). Lay it on thick and keep it wet. A thin dry coat is a common miss, and many jobs lift about one gloss layer per pass. Wash as the label says. Non-caustic does not mean fume-free. If the paint may contain lead, keep the work wet. This category was not lab-tested.
A paint stripper is a chemical remover you spread on paint or varnish, then scrape off once the film softens. In the UK you buy one for doors, banisters, skirting, furniture and radiators.
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Personal buying guide
Question 1 of 2
Where is the coating?
The Bartoline Paint Predator bundle is titled as 500 ml of non-caustic gel for wood, metal and masonry, plus a Tetrion filler knife, at £15.22. Amazon shows 5.0 from six reviews, and the saved file contains no United Kingdom review text. The bullets describe a no-drip gel for vertical work and multiple layers of water- and solvent-based coatings, including polyurethane varnish. They do not say the formula is methylene chloride-free. The title says 500 ml while the item-volume field says 0.5 decilitres, so we are not publishing a price per litre. Category rank is 21 in Paint Strippers & Removers, a long way behind the TX10 pack at rank 1. The knife is a genuine extra if you wanted a scraper in the same order, and it does not tell you how the gel behaves on a door. Treat the five stars as a six-person score with nothing written underneath.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want the filler knife in the same order, and you will check the live fill size before you trust a coverage sum.
Less suitable: You are choosing a stripper from review evidence, or you need a methylene chloride-free line printed on the listing.
Specifications
Common questions
Can it remove paint from metal?
The listing asks this. Compatible material and the bullets name metal, with wood and masonry. The saved file has no review text to show how metal jobs went.
Does it work on masonry?
The bullets say the gel clings to wood, masonry and metal, including doors, walls and intricate areas. There is no separate masonry result in the saved reviews.
Is it non-caustic?
The product title says non-caustic. The listing asks the same question and does not answer it in a separate field. The bullets do not repeat the word.
Across 5,391 amazon.co.uk reviews, Bartoline TX10 in the twin 500 ml pack lifts household gloss one layer at a time rather than in a single pass. Reviewers in the saved sample took four layers off a wooden banister, varnish in about two coats, and about six layers off a radiator after a thick coat under cling film overnight. The listing calls the formula non-caustic and methylene chloride-free, and the shelf price on 21 October 2026 was £9.96 for the pack the title calls 2 x 500 ml. Bartoline's own sheet puts coverage at about 1 m² per litre and a dwell of about an hour, with a second coat unless you have fewer than five layers. Thin coats dry before the paint moves, which is the complaint that comes up most often. It is slower than the methylene chloride tins people remember, and one reviewer still had paint after three attempts. For stairs, skirting and a banister you can ventilate, this is the largest review sample and the lowest stated price per litre in the set we saved.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You are stripping household gloss or varnish from wood, and you will lay a thick coat and come back for another pass.
Less suitable: You want one pass on many layers, a poultice on ornamental plaster, or a room you cannot ventilate.
Specifications
Common questions
Can it remove paint from metal?
The listing asks this. The bullets say the stripper is for wood, metal, stone and masonry. That is a suitability line, not a promise for every coating.
Does it work on masonry?
The bullets name stone and masonry as well as wood and metal. UK reviews in the saved file include a paving-slab spill and a banister, not a standard masonry test.
Is it safe to use indoors?
The bullets say indoors and outdoors, and they say the formula is non-caustic and methylene chloride-free. They do not say it is fume-free. Follow the tin for gloves and ventilation.
Polycell Maximum Strength is a 1 litre non-drip paste at £19.99, with 3.9 from 356 amazon.co.uk reviews. The bullets say a solvent strips most paint and varnish without harming the wood, and that the paste forms a soft film you can peel away. In the saved UK sample, door frames, picture rails, banisters and two staircases with several old layers did move, and one person lifted old black Victorian varnish. A metal front door in emulsion took three or four liberal coats. The same file records a headache with a window open, alloy wheels that lost no paint after a two-hour coat, a brick wall that barely shifted, and a garden-bench varnish left untouched. One reviewer read a 12-layer claim on the tin and still moved to a heat gun on the stairs; that claim is not in the bullets we saved. A safety data sheet dated 22 October 2017 classes this product as a flammable liquid. Use it on wood when you can ventilate, and do not read the words safe to use as a promise of a quiet room.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You are stripping paint or varnish from wood in a room you can ventilate, and you will use repeat liberal coats.
Less suitable: You cannot open the windows, or the job is alloy, brick, or a coating the wood bullet does not cover.
Specifications
Common questions
Can it remove old paint?
The bullets say a powerful solvent strips most types of paint and varnish. Saved UK reviews include banisters and door frames that lifted, and alloy wheels, a brick wall and a varnished bench that did not.
Is it safe on wood?
One bullet says it strips paint and varnish without harming the wood. The saved listing does not define which timbers, and it does not mention a test patch.
Does it have a strong smell?
The listing asks this and does not answer it. Several saved UK reviews describe a strong smell and, in one case, a headache with a window open.
Nitromors Original is a 750 ml green non-drip gel at £17.50, about £23.33 a litre, with 3.8 from 893 amazon.co.uk reviews. The bullets call it dichloromethane-free, ask for a coat 2–3 mm thick, and say 750 ml covers up to 2 m². They do not print a dwell time, and they do not say whether the tin is for indoors. In the saved UK sample, some people finished window sills and skirting once they accepted extra coats, including a second coat the tin itself allows. Others found one coat barely shifted a single layer of old gloss, varnish on stair balustrades did not penetrate, and a whole tin went on one chair. Many layers go tacky when the gel dries, and one banister post turned green. If you are buying the name because the old Nitromors was fast, this listing is the slower dichloromethane-free gel, not that memory.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want a green non-drip gel for window sills, skirting or frames, and you will put on the second coat.
Less suitable: You want 1990s speed, autobody paint, or varnish on balustrades without a test patch.
Specifications
Common questions
Can it remove graffiti?
The listing asks this and does not answer it. The bullets name paint, varnish and lacquer on wood, metal and concrete. Graffiti is not in those bullets.
Is it safe for indoor use?
The listing asks this and does not answer it. The bullets say the formula is dichloromethane-free. They do not say indoor, outdoor, or fume-free.
Does it have a strong smell?
The listing asks this and has no answer field. Saved UK reviews disagree: some accept it for sills and skirting, others say it is nothing like the old tin and can go tacky.
Four amazon.co.uk paint stripper listings were scored from the stored listing files, the UK review texts captured for each ASIN, and the public pages named below. Shelf prices are the GBP figures saved on 21 October 2026. This was not a lab test. Stars take up to 40 points, the review-count band up to 25, listing fit up to 20, and price per stated litre up to 15. A thin sample and a conflicting size field pull a score down through those bands. They are not a second hidden penalty. A maker square-metre line stays a maker claim. The highest score is also the lowest stated price per litre, so that pack is the top pick and the best value. The bundle with a conflicting volume field does not take the best-value award. Neither award means a fixed number of layers off every door.
Stars
40%Up to 40 points from the amazon.co.uk star rating: stars divided by 5, times 40. Stars are the listing average, not a lab test of dwell, fumes or layers removed.
Review-count band
25%Up to 25 points from how many amazon.co.uk reviews sit behind the star line. A 4.1 from thousands sits above a 5.0 from six ratings with no written reviews.
Listing fit
20%Up to 20 points for a methylene chloride or dichloromethane line, a non-caustic line, named surfaces, and a cling or non-drip line. A missing line scores nothing on that point.
Price per stated litre
15%Up to 15 points from price against the stated fill. A conflicting size field does not get a firm price per litre, so it cannot take the best-value award on that basis.
Start with the chemistry, then the surface, then whether you can keep a thick coat wet, then the wash and the fill size. The notes below follow that order. None of these listings was lab-tested.
A paint stripper is a chemical you spread on paint or varnish and scrape once the film softens. UK shoppers use it on doors, banisters, skirting, furniture and the odd radiator, usually because they want bare wood or a sound surface to repaint. Quality here is not a laboratory score.
These reviews fail when the coat dries before the film lifts. Lay it on thick and keep it wet. Many jobs move about one gloss layer per pass, so one coat on built-up paint is the wrong plan.
A non-caustic line, or a methylene chloride-free line, does not mean the product is non-hazardous or fine in a closed room. Follow the tin for gloves and ventilation. One paste in this set is classed as a flammable liquid on a 2017 safety data sheet.
Lead pigments were common into the early 1980s under later paint. Leave sound paint. If it must come off, keep it wet, and keep any hot-air gun below 500°C. No blow lamp. A large pre-1980s area, or a child's room, is a reason to call a professional.
The first check is the solvent the law actually restricts. Paint stripper at or above 0.1% dichloromethane by weight is not for the public. A professional outside an industrial installation needs an HSE certificate before buying or using it, under Schedule 5B of the REACH Enforcement Regulations 2008. HSENI applies the same restriction in Northern Ireland. HSE says the vapour is heavy and easy to miss, so use a less hazardous product when it will do the job.
Body and dwell decide the day. Lay the stripper on thick and keep it wet. The UK reviews behind this set fail when a thin coat dries, and they often lift about one gloss layer per pass. Use the minutes printed for that tin, not a time borrowed from another brand. A second coat is common, and it uses more liquid for the same area, so a coverage line is a maker claim rather than a shared test.
Three typical situations, each with a recommendation from this comparison.
You are taking household gloss or varnish off wood, and you will lay a thick coat and come back. Bartoline TX10, pack of 2 x 500 ml, is the top pick and the best value, at about £9.96 with 4.1 from 5,391 reviews. The listing says methylene chloride-free and non-caustic. Thin coats dry out, and one gloss layer per pass is the usual result in the saved reviews.
You want a green non-drip gel for sills, skirting or frames, and you will put on the second coat. Nitromors Original 750 ml is about £17.50 with 3.8 from 893 reviews. The bullets say dichloromethane-free and a coat 2–3 mm thick. It is slower than the old tin reviewers remember, and about £23.33 a litre.
You are stripping paint or varnish from wood in a room you can air, and you will use repeat liberal coats. Polycell Maximum Strength 1 L is about £19.99 with 3.9 from 356 reviews. The bullets aim it at wood. A 2017 safety data sheet classes it as a flammable liquid, and one saved review stopped with a headache and a window open.
The top pick is Bartoline TX10, pack of 2 x 500 ml, at about £9.96. It scores 91, with 4.1 from 5,391 reviews, the largest sample in this set, and the listing says methylene chloride-free and non-caustic. The best value is Nitromors Original 750 ml, the next score in this set at 70, about £17.50, with 3.8 from 893 reviews. Polycell is £19.99 a litre. The Paint Predator bundle does not take the best-value award, because the title says 500 ml and the volume field says 0.5 decilitres, and the saved file has no review text. Neither award means a fixed number of layers off every door. This was not a lab test.
Nitromors Original 750 ml
Next score after the top pick, 70, at about £17.50 with 3.8 from 893 reviews.
Editorial
Peter F. is the editor for DIY & tools at productscompared.co.uk. Comparisons in this category are checked against amazon.co.uk listings, review evidence and public UK sources.
Guides on what to look for, how to use a product, and common mistakes.
Public sources from the research digest, last checked on 22 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures saved on 21 October 2026. The price band is this set, not a market average. No listing was lab-tested.
This page contains affiliate links to amazon.co.uk. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices, stars and review counts are the stored amazon.co.uk figures, not a live crawl. We did not lab-test these strippers.
