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https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl DIY Forum >> Carpentry Questions >> Renovating a painted chest of drawers https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1226404483 Message started by UpsyDaisy08 on Nov 11^th, 2008, 11:54am

Title: Renovating a painted chest of drawers
Post by UpsyDaisy08 on Nov 11^th, 2008, 11:54am

Hi

Am a complete novice to all this so here goes! I received a painted wooden chest of drawers.

Can someone tell me if I can just paint over the paint that is on there to spruce it up?

And also if I fancied removing the paint and making it look all lovely in its wooden glory how would I do it???

Thanks

Title: Re: Renovating a painted chest of drawers
Post by Sandy on Nov 11^th, 2008, 6:44pm

I've done a few renovation works for my own furniture, doors & chairs. When I started, I looked around for ages to see what options there were, and it basically boiled down to:

Take it somewhere for "dipping and stripping" - Which is essentially dunking the said item in some ridiculously strong paint/varnish remover. Down side = I have been informed and have seen myself, is that the joints can shrink and fail, meaning you might end up having to do some repair work. It can also leave the wood dry and lifeless. Upside = someone else strips the item for you and quicker than you.

Another option (although d4mn time consuming!!) is to get a hot air gun and heat strip the paint, sand the item right back to bare wood and start again. Downside = the time it takes to do. Upside = If done right, can look superb.

The only other option I can think of is sand any bumps and fill any dents/holes and then re-paint over the sanded surfaces (after wiping them down to remove dust). Downside = might be very obviously a re-paint. Upside = probably the fastest in terms of being able to complete it the quickest.

Hope that gives you an idea.

Title: Re: Renovating a painted chest of drawers
Post by UpsyDaisy08 on Nov 11^th, 2008, 8:10pm

:)Thanks - think may try the paint job and hope for the best!

Title: Re: Renovating a painted chest of drawers
Post by CWatters on Nov 12^th, 2008, 2:14pm

Use a cleaner to remove any grease/furniture polish or the new paint may not stick. Sugar soap from the DIY stores has been used for years to do this. Household Ammonia or a proprietry paint cleaner (not to be confused with paint stripper) will also work. Allow to dry fully before painting.

Title: Re: Renovating a painted chest of drawers
Post by Joiner on Dec 23^rd, 2008, 4:40pm

You've probably done it by now, but for anyone else following on...

I've used caustic soda for a lot of years. It's VERY dangerous unless you take the necessary precautions to protect yourself by wearing synthetic overalls, rubber gloves, goggles, and have a bottle of clean tap water close to hand - all this because it will attack anything organic, including you, hence the bottle of water to swill it off if you do splash any on your skin - it'll tingle to warn you. It's the stuff they dip furniture in and, yes, that process will loosen glued joints because the joints in old wooden items was organic and made useable by being heated, so the heated stripping process has a go at it in both ways. But this way is far gentler. Applying the caustic soda mix (use the mix recommended on the tin for clearing drains and follow the mixing instructions carefully) with a NYLON brush out of a plastic or metal bucket, just brush it on liberally and wait until you see the paint bubbling. Wash it down with clear water and leave to dry and it'll sand easily, although wire wool is the most effective. Like a job in the town! The really good thing about the caustic soda is that it will get layers of varnish off without all the gunging up you get with proprietory strippers. BUT, and there's always one, caustic soda will not work on synthetic paints and varnishes.