Painting radiators???

[Repo Refurb]

ive moved into a house where the radiators have been emulsioned. Can i remove the old paint with a chemical stripper or what if i sand them down. I know i can buy radiator paint from screwfix but will the old rads need priming beforehand?

Any suggestions most helpful thank you.

[theshedman]

Hi, yes you could remove it with chemical stripper. If you get the type for removing emulsion it shouldn't remove the original paint underneath but saying that it could take some of it off. You could try sanding it and hope that it doesn't start peeling, or wet them with soapy water and try to get it off with a scourer as someone else has said in an earlier post on this site. Any bare patches of metal will need to be primed but only the bare bits. The rest can be undercoated then glossed. In my personal opinion there is no need to buy radiator paint, as normal oil based undercoat and gloss work fine on them. Some people will say that normal paints yellow more quickly than the radiator type, but by the time that happens it is usually time to repaint the room and radiators again anyway. Good luck with it.