I was actually thinking I was going to try paint thinner on a corner and see if it comes off. Your post gives me more confidence to try and redo it.
Thanks.
Paint thinner won't do anything once the paint has thoroughly dried and cured. The one solvent that might cut it is acetone, but that's absolutely horrible stuff that should only ever be used when the job truly demands it (and this is not one of them).
Paint stripper is a very strong caustic, and not much fun to work with, but used with reasonable precautions it's fairly safe. Wear gloves, use eye protection (because yes, you
will end up flicking a tiny bit into your eye if you don't), and make sure you've got decent ventilation. Mask off any nearby painted/finished surfaces with thin plastic (garbage bags cut open along the side seams worked fine for me), and put something down to protect the floor.
I used an old paintbrush to spread a generous coat of stripper on the upper surfaces of the counters, working one area at a time. Then I let it sit for about 20-30 minutes until the paint had bubbled up, letting the stripper do most of the work. Then I used a flexible steel putty knife to scrape up the bubbled paint, scraping the gloppy residue off the knife and into a small cardboard box. About 90% of the paint came off on the first pass.
On the second pass, I used less stripper, but glopped it on to stubborn areas as needed. I still used the putty knife on remaining thick spots, but scrubbing with a wet Scotch-Brite pad got the easy stuff. An old toothbrush may be useful for getting into any crevices. To finish, I took a clean Scotch-Brite pad and scrubbed the whole thing with powdered cleanser and water.
The edges of the counters, being vertical, will take a little extra effort because too much stripper will just slide off onto the floor. Brush a light coat on, wait for it to start blistering, then another light coat.
It's not difficult at all, but it's a yucky job, and you'll need to be very careful not to get stripper anywhere you don't want it. Cover the floor, and take care not to track spilled stripper into the rest of the house. Oh, and if you have pets, confine them until you're done and cleaned up; my big, dumb, derpmeister cat who had never jumped on a counter in his life decided that was the day to do it, and cleaning stripper out of his paws with white vinegar was--well, I can laugh about it now, but I'd rather have avoided that!