How to Remove Paint from Brick

by Jamie Hinckley on Oct 04, 2022 6

So I had a major accident in the driveway after one of my painting projects.  Danny was out of town and I was trying to finish a project in the garage during random snippets of time that I could occupy the kiddos elsewhere.  Of course I was rushing…

I spilled a big puddle of oil based primer right on our new brick pavers in the driveway.  So sad.  I googled and googled and all the ehow’s and the ask.com’s said it was impossible to completely remove.  They said to try paint stripper, but that it probably wouldn’t work and would just damage the brick.  Other’s suggested power washing or sand blasting.

I was desperate to clean it and tried scrubbing with the paint stripper three different times.  Nothing.  I kept scouring the internet and everything I read talked about the stone being too porous.

Use Vinegar to Remove Paint From Brick

Finally I found a random comment on a post along ways down on some website saying that he had used plain distilled vinegar to get the paint residue off from in between the bricks of his fireplace.  

Vinegar is often effective at removing paint from bricks. For best results you’ll need to soak the painted surface in vinegar and then scrub the surface. Depending on the type of brick or paver that you have, be careful to not scrub too hard as it can damage the brick.

I had vinegar on hand so I figured I might as well give it a try.

I basically poured the vinegar into a bucket, soaked it up with steel wool and scrubbed with some rubber gloves on.  A good 20 minutes of scrubbing took it right off!  Seriously, Danny didn’t even notice and will have no idea unless he reads this post. 🙂

This post is for those poor souls who think there is nothing they can do after spilling paint on their stone or brick!  Vinegar!  Who knew!?!?!

About Jamie Hinckley

I am a mom of three crazy boys! We love life, play hard, and ALWAYS get messy! Life is busy and full of fun, jumping, crashing, skinned knees, rough housing, torn jeans, scratches, but most of all LOVE. Yes, life is crazy. Actually its completely nuts, but I wouldn't change a thing! We love life and can't wait for our next adventure... and one day, possibly a little girl! Haha!