Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Citristrip

I am using this product on a rocking chair to remove a couple of layers of paint and stain. What is the best way to remove the strip and paint? I'm using a brush, but it's hard to get the gunk off. Should I just use water to clean the brush each time?

And, when I finally got done with a small area, I found that the color wouldn't come off completely. The wood was still tinted brown. Is this normal?
Thanks!

I refinished a 70+ year old table not long ago and used Citristrip.
According to the label directions they also make a stripper removal wash, but I've never seen it in any store; I just used plain water on mine. Had same problem with tinting in wood; it's because the stain penetrates below surface. With the table I was fortunate because I was able to disassemble it down to all flat pieces and belt-sanded it (antique purists will faint hearing that). With something like a rocking chair you probably need to concentrate on small areas at a time until the stripper has removed as much as possible, after that you may to sand.

Good luck.

Additional item; I think I actually used soapy water followed by clear water to rinse and scrubbed it with an abrasive pad (NOT steel wool). The abrasive pads tend to get gunked up with the stripper and removed paint, etc. so will probably need several.
Want to make sure you don't get the wood too wet as you can run into warping problems

Well, I didn't think of soapy water first. I'll try that and use clear warm water afterwards. I also bought the cleaner from citristrip, so I'll use that last. I just hope I get this done before the baby gets here! I'm getting tired of smelling oranges. ;)

I strongly suggest you use either mineral spirits or denatured alcohol to clean the residue that is still left. If you would have used PEEL AWAY 7 for your job it would have been a lot easier .

Does the peel away contain the harmful odors of the other strippers? I'm 7 months pregnant and don't want to put either of us in danger. If not, I'll definitely use it next time.

texastrees,
What remains on the chair is the original stain or/and pigment from the paint. I doubt that any paint stripper will remove the stain.
You could try a two-part wood bleach or oxalic acid. Please pay attenttion to safety labels/instructions. Qxalic acid is an organic
solution and the biggest concern is eye protection.
fred

Thee is ponly one product I know of that can be used by pregnant women to strip and that is PEEL AWAY I since it is water based and there NO fumes. Absolutely do NOT use PEEL AWAY 7 or Citrus Strip or any other "safe" remover that contains NMP. Also certainly stay away from any methylene chloride product as well. For your own information PEEL AWAY I should be used only when removing old paint and you will be re painting again. I suggest you have a nice healthy baby and then get back to stripping (furniture) that is again. Good luck!