Furniture Refinishing Tips

Carpentry, Interior, Painting & Finishing, Repairs and Installation, Simple Solutions, Video by Joe Truini

Refinishing old furniture can be very rewarding, but it can also be quite a mess. Here are a few tips to simplify the task.

  • To remove chemical stripper and finish without gouging the wood use a plastic putty knife with rounded edges or an old plastic kitchen spatula.
  • For round furniture legs on a chair or table, a five-in-one painters tool works well to scrape off the finish. The radius cut in the tool for cleaning rollers is just the right size for many furniture legs.
  • Add wood shavings to the surface after you apply the stripper. The shavings will absorb the sludge of dissolved finish so scraping is less messy.
  • Set the legs of the piece on aluminum pie pans to catch any stripper and sludge that runs down.

One Comment on “Furniture Refinishing Tips”

You can follow comments to this article by subscribing to the RSS news feed with your favorite feed reader.

  1. ChipmunkHardwoods.com Says:
    November 20th, 2007 at 3:36 pm

    I just built a small maple top and santos mahogany base coffee table at chipmunk Hardwoods (Florida) I am not sure what kinda finishing to use yet… perhaps just a clear finish will do just fine.

Leave a Comment