My brother in-law is having trouble refinishing a built in hutch. He laments that trying to strip fir of many layers of paint, it is hard to know when the paint is out of the grain. It’s been frustrating to find out how much is enough in sanding previously primed and painted wood to the point that other finishes won’t show spots of old paint. It’s not until conditioner and then the stain and then finally the oil lifts the stain off the paint that it all shows.
Any hints beside sanding beyond what one might think is good-enough?
Edited 1/29/2009 11:18 pm ET by handymom
Replies
Flood the surface with denatured alcohol. It will show you what the piece will look like with finish on it.
The alcohol will dry off quickly, leave no residue and not raise the grain.
Frank
First off I am NOT a finisher but will give my opinion from what I would do.
Get a level surface of wood without paint. To cover.. Use a Gel stain or a Glaze.. Or both.
This is where chemical paint strippers come into the picture. For interior work, you may need to slow down and use one of the safe strippers to avoid the fumes from strippers containing methylene chloride.
What Steve said. You need a good stripper--and a lot of ventilation. To get the paint out of the grain, use coarse steel wool to get the stripper off--just have to keep at it, "scrubbing" or rubbing very hard WITH the grain. Open the pad of steel wool out to use the most amount of its surface. Discard when full and get a clean one.
Take the first layers of paint off with a dull putty knife--round the sharp end edges so you don't gouge the wood.
What someone else suggested about DNA--or even mineral spirits--will show the paint spots--and what it will look like with a clear finish. You may not even want to put on a stain.
Another way to get paint out of pores is a brass brush. Apply the stripper--LET IT WORK, then use the brass brush to remove it.
Stripper requires patience to allow it to do its work and lift off the paint layer. It is a waste of time and product if you don't let it sit on the surface long enough.
AND finally, be SURE to completely remove the stripper with mineral spirits or you will compromise your finish.
Thanks for all the responses. My brother-in-law read them with interest and will use your suggestions.
You might Google for a product made from soy-bean oil. I saw it demonstrated at a wood show several years ago.. They had 5 coats of paint on a door.. wiped it on (it's non-toxic).. let if sit about 30 minutes and scraped it to bare wood.
I have never seen anything work as quickly and as well. Again the majority of ingredient are soy-bean oil.. non-toxic and once you have the paint removed the film was just wiped off with no residue. I know Amazon carried it at one time but.. I don't know now.
Sarge..
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