Solvent Sanding

[Pipefitter]

I'm talking to a friend of mine on the phone tonight and he had this wood boat for about 15 years. It is painted faithfully with Ben Moore exterior alkyd enamel house paint. The thing was always immaculate when I saw it and I asked him how he keeps it looking like that. He says he doesn't wait for the paint to be damaged beyond normal oxydization to repaint and does so about every 3 years. Doesn't sand it but instead,knocks the gloss and oxydized paint off with TSP and just renews it with a thin fresh coat of paint. No sanding,no dust and maintains about the same mil of paint thickness which is just enough to color it. He then tells me that better yet,the last time he did this,he used this household cleaner called "Greased Lightning". Don't spray it on but wet a rag with it just enough to evenly wet the surface and then go over it "lightly" with a scotchbrite pad. Rinse well and allow to dry and then repaint. He claims this whole process is not much more involved than washing and waxing one's automobile.He says if you spray it on from the bottle and it runs,you will see runs in the finish. Anyone ever heard of anything like this?

[Barry Pyeatt]

TSP, TRISodiumPhospate  has been effective as a cleaner of painted surfaces for years.  Using a scrubbie pad and TSP will indeed remove oxidized paint, dirt and grime.  Then wash down and yes, it is ready for a new coat of paint.  Particularly with Latex painted surfaces or older alkyd paint that has oxidized.  Interior or exterior.  Sold in powder form at your local paint dealer and mixes with water for use.  Sponge on from the bottom up and work the same way, bottom up. then rinse from the bottom up as well  Othewise you do end up with a lot of streaking.

Greased lightning is a general purpose degreaser and cleaner.  It will remove almost any grime/dirt/oil/grease or other dirty stuff from a surface,  paint included in many cases.  If used on a surface that has a decal type lettering or trim on it, it is gone unless used very carefully.  Cleans up showers, tubs and the such and vinyl flooring extreemely well.  
Wouldn't use it as a substutute for TSP however.  My daughter had a cleaning company doing move out apartments, new construction and remodels.  When all  else failed, Greased Lightning generally would do the job.  

But it does leave a residual, and it is hard to remove all traces of it.   Just rinsing isn't always enough.  It will remove paint and soften the binder in the cured surface.  Not what you want to do if you just want to remove oxidation.  

Sure cleans up non-skid surfaces when other things fail though.   Unless Latex paint it the surface with additives.  Then it can begin to break down the entire paint.

Just don't use it on metal mini blinds with a painted surface.