Steps To Strip And Refinish Wood Furniture
Stripping And Refinishing is a complete procedure in which first the old finish is taken off and at last new finish is applied on to the wood furniture. The people over the years have shown interest in refinishing their old & antique wood furniture in order to create high quality & eclectic pieces of furniture that will suit any home and office space. The steps to strip the finish off wood furniture and then refinish it afterward are mentioned below:
- Decide Stripping The Wood Furniture:
Before the user starts to strip the finish from the wooden furniture, he needs to decide whether the finish should be stripped off or not. Mostly, the wood furniture doesn't require its old finish to be taken off rather it needs a clear coat of wipe-on finish in order to revitalize the old finish. - Clean The Wood Furniture:
The process of refinishing starts with cleaning. The user first needs to prepare a mixture containing dish soap & warm water and then wipe out the whole furniture with it. The user needs to scrub the surface with gentle strokes using a paintbrush or soaped up sponge. In case the wood surface contains carvings & moldings, the user needs to rinse off the wood furniture with wrung out sponge dipped in clean water. Once cleaned, the user needs to pat the wood surface dry with a clean towel. In order to clean a very dirty piece of furniture, the user needs to clean it with a heavy-duty cleaner. - Strip Old Finish Off:
The old finish can be stripped off the wood furniture in two ways; First, the user can strip off the finish by sanding using a power sander, a sanding block, or coarse sandpaper. The user needs to sand the surface until it smoothens and once the finish is off, the user can switch to medium grit sandpaper in order to remove further shine. At last, the user needs to smooth out the wood with fine grit sandpaper until the entire finish gets off the furniture. Secondly, the user can strip off the finish with chemical stripper several available in the market designed to strip off the finish from the wood furniture with ease. It has been recommended to use a product containing methylene chloride and the product should be in semi-paste or liquid form. For stripping, the user needs to spread the paste or liquid over the wood surface using a bristle brush. Then, the user needs to let the stripper sit on the wood surface for 10 minutes before scrapping the finish off using a scraper. - Apply Sealant:
Once the finish is stripped off the wood furniture, the user needs to let the furniture dry completely. In case the user has stripped the finish off with the chemical product, he needs to sand the furniture with 120 grit sandpaper in order to remove any remaining residue. After that, the user needs to seal the wood furniture in order to get it prepared for paint. The wood furniture is sealed in order to create a base that will allow the paint to spread more evenly. The user only needs to apply a thin coat of sealant and let it soak into the wood before wiping off the excess sealant with a clean rag. After the sealant completely dries, the user needs to sand the surface again using fine grit sandpaper. - Paint The Wood:
The next step will be to paint the entire wood furniture as per the user preference. There is no recommendation for painting the furniture as it should be done by following the product label instructions. - Apply Finish:
The last step will be to apply a coat of finish after the wood furniture is painted and dried. There are three types of finishes which the user can apply i.e. oil finish, varnish, and polyurethane varnish. Similar to the paint, it should be users own preference as which finish he wants on his newly painted furniture. While finishing, the user needs to follow the instructions as on the product label.