A few days ago, I received the following reply to my recent article on a Philco 41-KR chassis rebuild. The writer shall remain anonymous, but his comments are presented below with only the slightest editing by me.

Your warning on the danger of using methylene chloride in a closed area is well noted by me but just too late. 34 years ago, in preparation for the birth of our son, I used that stripper on all the woodwork in his soon to be room. Many layers of paint on top of the original varnish. It worked great. I wasn’t aware of the dangers and our dog at the time was with me often while I worked on the woodwork. I don’t think it was not 2 weeks later, we noticed his eyes getting blood shot. Our vet said to just flush them out with milk. They got progressively worse and the pigment on his nose and surrounding area changed dramatically. I started to realize it may have been the fumes from the stripper and told that to our vet. She said she doesn’t think that had anything to do with it. Shortly after, he went blind overnight. She said he has some kind of auto immune thing going on but in the back of my mind I couldn’t help think this all had to do with the stripper. And now, after reading your warning, I’m more convinced than ever that the methylene chloride is what did this. He lived another 8 years and as normal otherwise but never regained his sight and never got to see our son when he was born. People need to heed the warning about this stripper, it’s powerful and dangerous stuff. It’s a good thing it’s no longer available!

Wow.

First of all, allow me to apologize to you for using the word “dummies” in my original article. That was unintentionally insensitive of me. I have edited the original post.

I am so sorry to hear what happened to your dog. Our pets depend upon us totally for their livelihood and it is our responsibility to provide them proper care, nutrition, etc. as well as the affection they crave. Far too many people do not take these responsibilities seriously enough; witness the large number of dogs left tied up outside in all kinds of weather and left to fend for themselves as best as they can.

Cats, as you likely know, are generally more aloof and more independent than dogs. We have two cats. Ruby Ann is the typical cat – very independent, only seeking Debbie out (and me, on rare occasions) when she wants to be petted. Viktor, on the other hand, is a very unusual cat. He is very needy, follows one of us around (usually me), and often acts more like a dog than a cat.

I look at our cats, especially Viktor, and I can see how totally dependent they are on us. As a result, I am probably more careful than I really need to be with them. They are our pets; we love them, and they love us in return.

When something happens to an animal, especially one which we love, it is heartbreaking. So, I understand and empathize with your pain. You were unaware of the hazards of methylene chloride. You know now, so you will not repeat the mistake. You did not intend to harm your dog. Let’s go back to my example of the typical dog which is tied up outside in the freezing cold, which is sometimes begrudgingly fed a few table scraps or something cheap, yelled at, and whipped. People such as this should not have pets as they do not know, or care, how to properly take care of them.

You obviously loved your dog, so do not beat yourself up over what may have happened to him.

That said, however, I must disagree with the final sentence in your message. Yes, methylene chloride stripper is indeed “powerful and dangerous stuff”. I, however, do not believe its sale to the public should have been banned. The newer “green” strippers are nowhere near as effective, are harder to use, and often take multiple applications to achieve the same results as methylene chloride stripper would achieve in one use.

So now it is likely going to be impossible to remove, say, polyurethane from a vintage radio cabinet without taking the cabinet to a professional furniture stripper and spending a small fortune to get the cabinet stripped. Polyurethane is particularly stubborn, nasty stuff that can even be resistant to methylene chloride. In short, the days of do-it-yourself furniture stripping may be largely over.

I honestly am not trying to be mean and uncaring, but if folks had taken a little time to read the labels of powerful paint strippers such as those which contained methylene chloride and used them in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, people and their pets would not have died, and the stuff might not have been banned.

Yes, even having gone through stage 4 cancer (not caused by paint strippers as this is something I seldom ever used throughout my life), I would use methylene chloride stripper again – but, as I have done in the past, I would do so outdoors in fresh air and take the necessary precautions.

This is my opinion.

I sincerely appreciate your writing to me and I wish you the best.