tatty old cast iron radiators

[justwondering72]

Hi all

We live in an old apartment in a French city. We have old style, very ornate cast iron radiators throughout. The paint on them is yellowed, chipped and cracked, and the radiators them selves are really dusty in all the hard to reach areas.

Here in France all internal / decoration issues are the responsibility of the tenant. Does anyone know how to tackle cleaning, stripping and painting such monsters? Or should I just scrub then and live with the terrible paintwork?

Short of testing them professionally stripped, I'd recommend getting hold of some of this stuff: ecosolutions.co.uk/homestrip.html, and a load of cocktail sticks, then settle yourself in for a long, tedious, but satisfying job! It'll be pretty much impossible to completely strip them without disconnecting them to access the other side. You can probably DIY that, but for God's sake don't drop them or they'll take out the floors!