Best Technique & Items Needed To Refinish Your Antique Furniture
If you have a piece of antique furniture at home and you want to make it alive again then you just need to collect all the required items and then follow the given technique(steps) to finish this task without wasting your precious time. Here are the item list and steps for this process:
Things You Will Need
- Hardware Polish & Turpentine
- Boiled Linseed Oil & Rags
- Lacquer Thinner & Denatured Alcohol
- Interior Woodwork Stripper & #0 Steel Wool
- Plastic Paint Scraper & Rubber Gloves
- Respirator & Bar And C-Clamps
- Goggles & Carpenter's Glue
- 120-, 150-, 220-, 320- and 400-Grit Sandpaper
- Wood Conditioner & Paintbrush
- Pigment Stain & Clear Finish
Best Technique For This Process
Steps to get the better result of this technique are mentioned below:
- Firstly, you need to remove old hardware from the furniture and set them aside. The restoration process of your furniture includes polishing all the hardware with the befitting polishing material that depends on the hardware type of material and then you need to reinstall it on your furniture after finishing the restoration process.
- Now you need to wash your furniture with a solution of 1 gallon of hot water and 2 tbsp of turpentine and 4 tbsp of boiled linseed oil. Also, wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from the hot water and wash it with a soft & clean cloth. Dry your furniture piece with another clean cloth after washing it.
- You need to test the finish if you are not sure about it. Simply dab lacquer thinner on an unnoticeable area by using a rag, and if you see that the finish softens then it's lacquer. If not then try denatured alcohol, which will soften a shellac finish. If the finish remains hard then its with varnish.
- Now strip the finish to fix dents & scratches. If the furniture has lacquer shellac finish then brush a coat of an interior woodwork stripper and let it sit for at least 5-8 minutes and then wash it with the help of a garden hose that often removes all the old finish. Wipe your furniture dry by using a clean rag after washing your furniture.
Now you need to scrub off any stubborn finish by using a #0 steel wool. If you are going to scrape a flat area then you need to use a plastic paint scraper alternatively of a metal one, that can scratch your wood. Also wear gloves, a respirator and also the goggles while scraping your furniture. Wash it by using a garden hose when you've finished neutralizing the stripper and then dry the furniture with a clean cloth.- Address architectural defects. If you are refinishing a chair then re-glue any loose spindles by using the carpenter's glue, bar, and the C-clamps to hold your furniture piece together while the glue dries. If you are going to restore a table with attached laminations that are separating then you need to re-glue & clamp them.
- Then sand your antique furniture minimally, because the fine-grain sandpaper will leave the telltale scratches. Avert paper coarser than 120-grit, and sand by your hand if possible according to the wooden grain. Use an advancement of grits on each area where you sand before, finishing off with sandpaper( 220- or 320-grit).
- Now brush the wood conditioner onto the antique furniture wood with a paintbrush. Commercial types of conditioners also contain the paraffin, which can soak into the wood grain and seals it, averting any stain you apply from blotching. If you don't want to stain, then skip this step.
- After that, you need to apply stain by using a rag then rub it off after 2 or 4 minutes if desired.
- Finally finish your furniture with 2 coats of lacquer, shellac varnish and if you want the natural look then you need to use penetrating oil. Since your furniture piece is antique and you don't want to detract it from the luxurious patina that has developed over the years with a thick surface coating. You just need to apply a single coat of material and then wait for the furniture to dry wholly and then you have to sand it by your hand with the help of 400-grit sandpaper and then apply the second coat and let it dry for 12-15 hours before using it again.