Fastest way to remove/strip a finish, side-by-side comparison

If you need to get a job done properly and quickly the Festool system has you covered. Todd from Top Coat Finishes walks us though his process of stripping the finish from a door that they are restoring. He's using the Festool CT 26E, the ETS125 and the Rotex RO 90.

[TonyNguyenFR]

You conveniently skipped the hardest part to sand. The moulding makes the paint stripper much more viable.

[jacomans]

Not fair comparison, the company that owns the sander is the company doing the test, do you think we are that dumb, try sanding the molding, then we will see a fair comparison..Festool overpriced. Way over

[murdockscott]

I found this while looking for videos that specifically give advice on removing finish from detail so... this was the opposite of helpful for me and almost seems misleading. Honestly, I think most people can pretty quickly figure out several ways to remove a finish from a perfectly flat surface. Heat guns rock. If you had finished the job on both sides I would not have felt compelled to leave a comment.

[totallynotabot]

So $9.50 for Citristrip and $2.50 for the Festool? Sounds good. Do I order The $2.50 sander & vacuum directly on your site Festool??

[memyselfi]

What about the moulding? The Festool side never removed anything from the details, just the flat stuff. Not a very good comparison.

[olelaustsen]

What about a veneer surface. Sanding that with a 60 grit would probably make you sand through the veneer.

[TheHeavyend]

But only half a job done on both sides. What about the detail. Totally misleading video entirely so what a waste of time. Pretty lazy if you ask my opinion.

[stacyjames]

How bout how to do the HARDEST Part???? The Trim????

[TrueFlo]

That’s some pretty heavy duty twisting of facts and technique to benefit a power sander, if I do say so myself. Lol

[makob]

Completely Useless test! the left side finished only the flat surface and what about details ? do you consider your job done?

[perrycox]

Not equal comparison since you didnt strip the molding with the Festool.

[robg]

Man woodworkers can be a cranky lot. A lot of criticism about not doing the trim. Sanding was obviously faster and easier on the flats. How about sanding any big flats on a project then using a stripper on the detailed areas

[nycgotham]

Sorry, apples and oranges.  Stripping paint, specially multiple layers of paint, works best with the chemical peel / stripper.  This is a stain that he is removing...

[agentagent]

That is bs I know Festool makes awesome tools and I own two of them but this whole process they showed is totally wrong and I mean it because I've done dozens of these jobs and it just takes under 2 hours to strip a door to bare wood, I hate when they exaggerate

[Platinum]

Video producer: How dumb do you want our customers to think that we think they are, on a scale from 1 to 10?

Marketing guy: Yes!

[austingode]

Well that stripper was not methlyne chloride

[samuellourenco]

I prefer the chemical stripping method, as it will only remove the coat but not the wood.

[tomshaky]

This video wasted 30 seconds of my life.

[lorenostema]

Yep ... the sanded portion was easy and incomplete - did't touch the molding yet it wins? Don't quit your day job... Making vids is not for you.

[rdpmackie]

The timer is a lie. The sanded side says 00:53 "complete" when the stripped side says 4:00 But the sanded side is not complete, whereas the stripped side is 97% "good enough @ 4 hours. Once you get it wiped down, and let it dry, it doesn't need to be sanded all the way back down to raw wood, and would be totally fine if you just refinished it.