heat guns, dremel tools, etc- they *can* destroy your raft, but they can also be used if you are very careful.

A heat gun is how I get old footcups off, old d-rings off, etc.  You have to use the heat sparingly, isolate it to where you want it, and go little by little, but it beats all other methods of getting old patches/drings/footcups, etc off.

Likewise, a dremel can remove old glue, but you better be *really* careful or you put a hole in the boat in 3 seconds.

Now, I'm not sure who would have told you to use heat to remove paint, but it's not absurd to use a heat gun for some things on your raft.

Mike