I haven't had the chance to go shopping for beauty products this week (to get the acetone) so I just gave some acetone free nail polish remover a go. Here's the stuff - available at Boots the chemist in the UK
Now I usually run for cover when something is labeled as "essentials" as it usually means it won't work or it will be less than adequate but in this case it surprised me. Take a look at this...
Picture isn't the best but it was flaking a bit on the left - using (unpainted) finger nail to lift it resulted in this
Here's a picture of the ingredients in this acetone free nail polish remover
I get the feeling that the stripping effect is down to soaking. The wood gets wet and the bond between varnish and wood get knackered - varnish comes off in strips / lumps. This nail polish remover gasses off really quickly leaving the wood underneath with a dry touch / feel within a few seconds.
As the label says -
solvent abuse can kill instantly!
That is certainly the case for the glue on the back of the trim where the metal holders are mounted
The results shown are due to about 14 hours of soaking. Does that length of time tie in with your experiences panZZer and mach4?