Is paint stripper a pain?

[Mumswang]

I've got a couple of wooden chests that I want to repaint

They are both covered in thick layers of old paint. In the past I've just sanded and repainted, but one if these in particular has really thick paint, quite blobby at the corners

I wonder if it's worth stripping them, but I've never used paint stripper, is it a hard, dirty, messy job?

Yes, don't do it unless you have lots of free time! I have tried normal paint stripper and some awful goo stuff off a satellite shopping channel that guaranteed to work brilliantly - it didn't! You could try a heat gun on it but even that is very laborious.

Do you have anywhere local that would "dip" them for you?

Don't think they're worth dipping tbh. They're just cheap ply things but will look ok with a fresh coat if paint

Thanks for they though, it's reinforced what I thought. I shall just sand and repaint them. Theyll ve fine