Paint stripper

Paint stripper, or paint remover, is a product designed to remove paint and other finishes and also to clean the underlying surface. The removal of paint containing lead may lead to lead poisoning and is regulated in the United States. Other paint removal methods involve mechanical (scraping or sanding) or heat (hot air, radiant heat, or steam). A material safety data sheet will provide more safety information than on the product label.

Types of chemical paint remover

Chemical paint removers work only on certain types of finishes, and when multiple types of finishes may have been used on any particular surface, trial and error testing is typical to determine the best stripper for each application. Two basic categories of chemical paint removers are caustic and solvent.

Caustics

Caustic paint removers, typically sodium hydroxide (also known as lye or caustic soda), work by breaking down the chemical bonds of the paint, usually by hydrolysis of the chain bonds of the polymers forming the paint. Caustic removers must be neutralized or the new finish will fail prematurely. In addition, several side effects and health risks must be taken into account in using caustic paint removers. Such caustic aqueous solutions are typically used by antique dealers who aim to restore old furniture by stripping off worn varnishes, for example.

Chemical substance

A chemical substance is a form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. It cannot be separated into components by physical separation methods, i.e., without breaking chemical bonds. Chemical substances can be chemical elements, chemical compounds, ions or alloys.

Chemical substances are often called 'pure' to set them apart from mixtures. A common example of a chemical substance is pure water; it has the same properties and the same ratio of hydrogen to oxygen whether it is isolated from a river or made in a laboratory. Other chemical substances commonly encountered in pure form are diamond (carbon), gold, table salt (sodium chloride) and refined sugar (sucrose). However, in practice, no substance is entirely pure, and chemical purity is specified according to the intended use of the chemical.

Chemical substances exist as solids, liquids, gases or plasma, and may change between these phases of matter with changes in temperature or pressure. Chemical reactions convert one chemical substance into another.

Chemistry

Chemistry is a branch of physical science that studies the composition, structure, properties and change of matter. Chemistry includes topics such as the properties of individual atoms, how atoms form chemical bonds to create chemical compounds, the interactions of substances through intermolecular forces that give matter its general properties, and the interactions between substances through chemical reactions to form different substances.

Chemistry is sometimes called the central science because it bridges other natural sciences, including physics, geology and biology. For the differences between chemistry and physics see Comparison of chemistry and physics.

Scholars disagree about the etymology of the word chemistry. The history of chemistry can be traced to alchemy, which had been practiced for several millennia in various parts of the world.

Etymology

The word chemistry comes from the word alchemy which was an earlier set of practices that encompassed elements of chemistry, metallurgy, philosophy, astrology, astronomy, mysticism and medicine. It is often seen as linked to the quest to turn lead or another common starting material into gold. Alchemy, which was practiced around 330, is the study of the composition of waters, movement, growth, embodying, disembodying, drawing the spirits from bodies and bonding the spirits within bodies (Zosimos). An alchemist was called a 'chemist' in popular speech, and later the suffix "-ry" was added to this to describe the art of the chemist as "chemistry".

Drug

A drug is any substance other than food, that when inhaled, injected, smoked, consumed, absorbed via a patch on the skin or dissolved under the tongue causes a physiological change in the body.

In pharmacology, a pharmaceutical drug or medicine, is a chemical substance used to treat, cure, prevent, diagnose a disease or promote well-being. Traditionally drugs were obtained through extraction from medicinal plants, but more recently also by organic synthesis. Pharmaceutical drugs may be used for a limited duration, or on a regular basis for chronic disorders.

Pharmaceutical drugs are often classified into drug classes—groups of related drugs that have similar chemical structures, the same mechanism of action (binding to the same biological target), a related mode of action, and that are used to treat the same disease. The Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System (ATC), the most widely used drug classification system, assigns drugs a unique ATC code, which is an alphanumeric code that assigns it to specific drug classes within the ATC system. Another major classification system is the Biopharmaceutics Classification System. This classifies drugs according to their solubility and permeability or absorption properties.

Stripper

A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event.

Modern Americanized forms of stripping minimize interaction by strippers with customers, reducing the importance of tease in the performance in favor of speed to undress (strip). Not every stripper will end a performance completely nude, though full nudity is common where not prohibited by law. The integration of the burlesque pole as a nearly ubiquitous prop has shifted the emphasis in the performance toward a more acrobatic, explicit expression compared to the slow-developing burlesque style. Most strippers work in strip clubs. A house dancer works for a particular club or franchise, while a feature dancer tends to have her own celebrity, touring a club circuit making appearances. Entertainers (dancers) are often not actual employees of the club itself but perform as independent contractors.

Stripper (film)

Stripper is a 1986 American documentary film by Jerome Gary, depicting a strippers convention and contest and the strong motive to win of a few of the contestants.

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Stripper (agriculture)

Stripper was a type of harvesting machine common in Australia in the late 19th and early 20th century. John Ridley is now accepted as its inventor, though John Wrathall Bull argued strongly for the credit.

Description

The stripper plucks the ears of grain (generally wheat) without winnowing, and leaving the straw standing. The first strippers were drawn by bullocks and consisted of a large, wheeled, box-like machine with a row of spiked prongs in front and with a long pole at the back of the machine for steering. It had the advantage over the early reaper machines in being able to reap more quickly (of benefit in a hot climate) and having fewer components subject to wearing out.

A stripper-harvester also winnowed the grain, removing the chaff.

Notable manufacturers were Sunshine Harvester and J. and D. Shearer

Sources

The Australian National Dictionary Oxford University Press 1988 ISBN 0 19 554736 5

References