The way I've done mine is by taking and spraying paint remover all over the slide, inside and out, with the components removed. You'll see the paint start to bubble and you can just wipe it off with steel wool. After that, take take a lower grit sandpaper and remove the remaining amount of paint. That'll leave the surface scratchy so then you take a high grit (1000+) to shine it up and smooth it out.
