removing paint from bronze

Continuing with the cleaning and restoration of the bronze bed, I
discovered that some parts of them are painted with a gold paint.
It looks like the last owner of the bed was too lazy to clean it and
decided to paint it! arrgghh

Anyway... how can I remove it safely ?

Rick...

Take a look at the 3M paint stripping products. IIRC the name you are
looking for is "Safe-T Strip." (My jug of it is at another location so I
can't check on the name right now.) It comes in 1 gallon, black jugs.
Uncertainty on the name aside, the version of the stuff you are looking
for is a non toxic, non caustic stripper. No obnoxious fumes. And you

dingbat...

Just to second the recommendation for a non-caustic stripper. You can
use one with toxic organic fumes perefectly well - they're just a
problem for you personally and you can deal with those by ventilation
or appropriate protection. However your "bronze" bed won't just be
bronze, it'll be a patinated (surface treated) bronze or even another
alloy such as spelter. Now those really could be damaged by commonplace
caustic strippers like sodium hydroxide.

don't even need to use gloves with this stuff!

I have an old, heavy "metal" floor lamp I found. I really liked the
design, but someone had slathered it in pale blue paint. (GACK!) I had
no idea what was underneath the paint. After I worked it a while with
the 3M stripper I found out it was a nice bronze lamp.

I found that the 3M stripper took the paint off nicely, but didn't seem
to damage or discolor the bronze. However, to be fair, I have no idea
what the bronze finish originally looked like. I had nothing to lose in
context of the fugly enamel paint someone put on it.

If you decide to try this do test it on what will be an unseen portion
of the bed frame first.

If you aren't used to working with a non caustic stripper there are a
few things you have to get used to. It takes a lot more time to work
than caustic strippers, and a lot of time depending on how thick the
paint is you need to remove. Slather it on like any thick type stripper
and then cover the area with plastic wrap to prevent drying out while it
does it the job. Unless the paint is extremely thin, covering the
surface with plastic is a must so it doesn't dry out before it's done a
thorough job. (No, it won't dissolve the plastic wrap.) You may need 2nd
applications if you have paint in deep crevices, like in any "artsy"
designs. Follow the instructions for "sitting time", test, and if it
hasn't worked through all the paint, spot apply more if needed and put
the plastic wrap back down. Come back later and test again.

The stuff does work very well, but for people used to caustic strippers
it can be a big adjustment getting used to just leaving it alone and
letting this stuff sit to do a thorough job. (Sitting overnight,
covered, isn't unusual for it to remove multiple coats of paint on wood.
But I've had it remove stuff right to bare wood when doing this.) Once
you get the "patience" part figured out you won't be inclined to go back
to the "eat through the flesh on your hands" strippers again. But in
your case I'm recommending it because I had good luck removing paint
from metal with no apparent damage to the metal finish.