Paint on Weather Stripping

Tiernan O'Rourke was painting a window at his home in Athy, Ireland. The trouble is he proceeded to get paint on the window's weather stripping and then closed the window. Here's his full report:

"Hey Tim,

It's great service you have here and even better if you can help 😉 I've made an annoying mess of this window (attached) by painting the frame to the weather strip.

As I try to open the window the strip pulls away from the original glued side and is stuck to the window frame as you can see in my photo.

I haven't tried anything yet or pulled too hard to break the original seal as it's a new cabin window and the aesthetics are important. What advice can you give me to get it separated and minimizing damage.

Yours sincerely,

Tiernan"

If you look hard enough you can see where the window sash and window frame come together. That's where the weather stripping is. Photo credit: Tiernan O'Rourke

Here's my answer:

Tiernan, most people don't think about paint like I do because one of my college buddies went on to be a top chemist an a major paint company. Paint is simply colored glue. Yes, glue.

I would solve this problem using a standard flexible putty knife.

Put it flat on the window sash, that's the part of the window with the glass in it. Hold it at an angle so one of the tips of the knife contacts the weather stripping.

Gently persuade it between the sash and the stripping by tapping it lightly with a hammer.

If you take your time, you'll break the bond of the paint along the entire width of the putty knife as you continue to tap it in and straighten it out.

Now you just tap the side of the knife with a hammer to unzip the stripping from the sash.

Let me know what happens.