How do you clean latex paint off brick?

Answer 1

The previous answer to this question was "use a high pressure power washer".

I must say that depending on the type of brick, state of the mortar and condition of the brick itself, using a pressure water could cause nothing but problems. Some bricks and all mortar are porous. Using high pressure water will do nothing but force water deep into the mortar joints and the bricks themselves.

Getting the paint off without damaging the bricks is not an easy task. Using a stiff bristle (not metal bristles) and warm water with dishwashing soap is the first thing to try. After that you can try one of the gel pain strippers or a heat gun and gentle scraping.

The most important thing is protecting the integrity of the brick. You can always redo the mortar in certain areas if you damage it, but you don't want to have to replace bricks. Sandblasting will remove the outer "coating" of many bricks exposing the porous internal brick...not good.

If you do have to deal with mortar and tuckpointing and your brick/mortar is more than 90 years old you cannot use modern "portland cement" mortar. It's too hard and will ruin the older, softer bricks. There is a lot of info on mortar and old brick. Never ever use a portland cement product on older brick and never use a high pressure washer or sandblast a brick wall of any age.