What is the best solvent or cleaner to strip wax or polish from a finished piece of furniture without harming the finish. Will mineral spirits work? I want to add a coat or two of varnish to a table that was waxed. It is the same product it was finished with before.
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Replies
Either mineral spirits or naphtha will work. If the finish is varnish, you'll also want to give it a light sanding to improve the adhesion of the new coat(s)--this is especially important for polyurethane varnishes.
-Steve
This may sound dumb, but what exactly is naphtha? Isn't that really just mineral spirits.
VM&P naphtha (the VM&P stands for "Varnish Maker's & Painter's") is a lighter weight and therefore more volatile (faster evaporating) solvent than mineral spirits (aka Stoddard Solvent, aka paint thinner). Chemically, the two are similar; the carbon chains in the molecules in naphtha average shorter than those in mineral spirits.
-Steve
Thank you for that excellent explanation. Can they be used interchangably. I notice that alot of mixture call for thinning with MS. But alot of cleaning calls for Naphtha. In either case, what will the effect. For example, will they injure lacquer, varnish, shellac and/or poly finishes.
They can almost always be used interchangably if you don't mind the difference in rate of evaporation. Mineral spirits may leave a very little oily residue that isn't likely with naptha. That's probably why naptha is more often recommended for cleaning.
Neither will injure a well-cured finish, but both will remove wax. Naphtha is probably a bit more aggressive as a cleaner, but is also a little less forgiving to use, since it evaporates so quickly.
As a solvent for thinning a finish, the general rule is to use naphtha if you want it to dry quickly, mineral spirits if you want it to dry more slowly.
I should also mention that the word "naphtha" is heavily overloaded, and means ten different things to ten different people. VM&P naphtha is a term used only in North America, I think, but at least it seems to consistently refer to the same stuff. Elsewhere, "naphtha" could be something whose only similarity to VM&P naphtha is that they are both petroleum derivatives.
-Steve
When I think Naptha, I think respirator. Not sure if that's just a subjective thing, or if there are physical properties that make it especially advisable to wear a respirator when working with the stuff, but it seems nassssty to me. Love it for some purposes though.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
If you feel the need to wear a respirator when using naphtha, you ought to be feeling the same need when using mineral spirits.
-Steve
Have to confess, Steve, that I don the respirator only when I working for more than "just a minute" with these solvents (denatured alcohol included). Naptha just seems super-nasty to me, probably because it evaporates so fast, but I know for sure that they're all bad to breathe. Years ago, I'd slop that stuff around with inpunity, not noticing any ill effects at all, then suddenly a fairly small exposure really made me feel bad. "This is a hint!" the body says. forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
The biggest "hint" is the headache you get when using the toluene based BriWax!! Geez. Well ventilated at the very least.
I do think that naptha removes wax quicker, but MS will do it. Keep a clean side to the cloth/towel, and change them often so you aren't just smearing it around again. Apologies if that is already in a post.Gretchen
Thanks to everyone. That was really helpful information. I appreciate your time. I wear a respirator all the time. I look at it this way. Lungs were made to breath oxygen, not naphtha, tolulene, or Mineral Spirits. Our bodies take alot, why help the damage along. Besides you want to live long enough to see the projects you build patina! Thanks again.
"Lungs were made to breath oxygen..."
Oxygen is actually pretty nasty stuff. We can't live without it, obviously, but too much is almost as bad as too little. From a biochemical point of view, it has many of the same characteristics as some of the more potent hazardous compounds in our environment. The oxygen molecule can act like a free radical; rats raised in oxygen-rich environments exhibit dramatically increased cancer rates.
Just something to help you sleep at night....
-Steve
Got it. Everything in moderation.
No, it will not react with shellac or laquer, and will only serve as a solvent to oils and varnishes in their liquid state. It does dissolve wax, though. I use naptha all the time. It's clean with no residue and evaporates away quickly. Some here have claimed some bodily reaction to it but I never have, anymore than with mineral spirits or gasoline or the like.
Couple of points.
First, as said, either mineral spirits, paint thinner or naphtha is a solvent for paste wax. However, you need to keep a fresh face on the cloth or all you will be doing is smearing the wax around. By wiping with a solvent, all you are doing is turning the hardened wax into a soft wax. If you are going to re-finish, be sure that you really get the wax off.
Second, naphtha is the same as old time lighter fluid. It's one step further in the distillation process from mineral spirits. In the grand scheme of things, it's not that dangerous to use. It will evaporate faster than mineral spirits so you can get back to work faster.
Howard,
Question: Would there be any advantage to cleaning first with Mineral Spirits then with Naptha? Clean cloth surfaces being paramount to both.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 2/8/2008 11:42 am ET by KiddervilleAcres
>> Would there be any advantage to cleaning first with Mineral Spirits then with Naptha? No, either will work equally. It just the naphtha evaporates faster.Howie.........
"Second, naphtha is the same as old time lighter fluid."
This is exactly what I was talking about when I mentioned the many meanings of the word, "naphtha." Of course, "lighter fluid" has multiple meanings, too. Charcoal lighter fluid for your barbecue is pretty much the same thing as mineral spirits, sometimes refined a little more carefully to reduce smoke and the likelihood of flare-ups.
Old-style cigarette lighter fluid typically contains xylene and/or other aromatic hydrocarbons (of which toluene is another example). VM&P naphtha contains only trace quantities of aromatics.
"Modern" cigarette lighter fluid is butane.
-Steve
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