woke up this morning in search of newspaper to line the floors. late last night i realized the best place to find free source of newspapers: those local weeklies, like the daily dig or the boston phoenix! i bicycled to the intersection of kirkland and beacon street, the closest place i could think of that had dispensing kiosks. they only had a single issue of the daily dig, but i did pick up 2 packets of the phoenix, more than enough newspapers to last me until the end of the project.

i began the 3rd round of stripping, mostly on the corners and the moulding, where there was still leftover paints. i let it set for an hour before scraping off the paint and giving the door a wash. those stripping (scouring) pads aren't very useful because they don't absorb any of the solvent. i discovered something that does work well though: steel wool! i just happened to have a package of 00 grade steel wool. i was hesitant at first because i thought it would leave bits of wool all over the door, but that didn't happen (there was some wool bits on the newspaper though, not a big deal). and the best part is the wool will actually absorb the wash, so it's doubly effective in removing paint residue. the only problem is after a while the steel wool gets covered in paint and i had to toss it. but i can usually use a piece 6x before throwing it away (front, middle, back, and the other side).

i cracked open the bathroom window and gently closed the door to ventilate the smell. i gathered up my things and left for belmont.

i went to home depot to return the 14-in-1 painting tool and to buy a new brush along with some white oil paint. for the life of me i couldn't find any oil paints. the best i found was a quart of high gloss rust-oleum brand pure white. i asked somebody there for help; he said they're doing away with oil paints over latex paints, which is more environmentally-friendly. they did sell oil paints, but in larger quantities than i wanted. i decided to visit city paints tomorrow to see if they carried any small-sized oil paints.

after dinner my mother gave me a haircut. can't even remember the last time i had it cut, must've been more than 6 months ago. i kept putting it off because i wanted to get my passport renewal photo taken with the longer hair, sort of a memento, but i still haven't renewed my passport and not planning on doing any international travels anytime soon.

back at home, i continued with the detail work, scraping out bits of soft paint from within the crevasses of the mouldings. there was still a little bit of paint left on the corners and at the base of the panels, so i decided to make a 4th pass of citristrip, concentrating on those areas. i waited only 30 minutes before stripping off the paint. i then washed it with the steel wool combination. i took a break to watch the end of rubicon followed by mad men.

afterwards i gave the door another wash after trying to get out some more paint from the crevasses. i think it's impossible to remove all the paint; maybe if i had more time i could do it, but it's good enough since i'm going to whitewash everything with 2 layers of oil paint. with my fingers i went around the door feeling for holes. those areas i gently sanded, then patched with plastic wood. later in the evening i went back and sanded down the patched areas, discovering a few more holes that needed filling.

i spend so much time stripping off the paint from the door, it seems a shame to cover it all back up with paint. painting begins tomorrow, a first layer of oil primer, followed by the final coat. i realized that oil-based paint only comes in glossy, so i'll probably end up usually the rust-oleum paint i saw at the store, saves me a trip to city paints. i briefly thought about using latex acrylic, with its ease of cleaning, friendlier to the environment, less smelly, and quicker drying time. but i decided to go with oil, just because it seems sturdier, and i probably won't need to repaint the door afterwards (at least not for a while). the door only has 4 panels (2 long, 2 short), so it should be easy to paint. it's a pretty good door, i'm guessing 100 years old, same as the mortise lock. it's not one of those cheap doors that's pretty much hollow, this one's completely solid.