I’ve got a cherry kitchen table top that needs to be stripped and refinished. The current finish has some moisture and sun damage. There is some cracking and flaking in places where it looks like the finish has released from the bare wood.
I wanted to do a test to determine what the top coat is so I cleaned the surface of the tabletop to get any dirt, grime, or even wax residue off (I used Murphy’s oil-soap). I then proceeded to pool a little denatured alcohol in one area and lo and behold the surface began to soften within 30 seconds or so. I rubbed it with a paper towel and a very slightly yellowish colored residue lifted from the table. The more alcohol I used and the more rubbing I did created a sludge. As the “sludge” began to dry, it dryed as a white haze.
At first I assumed the finish was actually shellac but since viewing the “white haze” that it dryed to, I’m a little confused and still not sure what this may be. I’m assuming the white haze substance could be the wax contained within the shellac??? I’m not sure why any company would want to finish a kitchen table top with shellac?
I need a little help here because I don’t want to remove the dye/stain coloration from the wood (my wife likes the color – nothing like a little spousal pressure). I just want to remove the topcoat and refinish.
What would be your suggested course of action and products to use for stripping the current top coat and refinishing.
Thanks,
David
Replies
that white stuff is likely pore filler. Pumice stone was used as a pore filler long ago. I recently refinished a walnut dinning set made in the 20s or 30s and under the shellac was pumice. the alcohol dissolved the shellac and also started to lift the pumice. i used shop cloths soaked in methyl hydrate and let them sit on the shellac to soften it up and then wipe it off. makes a mess. wrap the piece in plastic to keep the alcohol from evaporating, come back in 20 mins. later on you can fill any pores with new pore filler or make a slurry by sanding with 220 or higher and some BLO or other carrier, depending on how you are re-finishing.
If it's shellac dip steel wool in denatured alcohol and wipe with good pressure, turning the wool and adding more alcohol. use a new piece of steel wool (open it out into a strip to get the best use of all of it) when it is full of sludge. When you get down to bare wood keep wiping with alcohol until no more color/finish comes off. The color of the wood while wet will be the color you will have if applying a clear finish.
Thanks for the replies.
I've got a dumb question. Will commercial strippers work as well or are they too harsh? Remember, I'm trying to simply remove the top layers of shellac without removing the stain/dye coloration (patina).
How old is this table?
Commercial strippers will remove all the finishes on the wood. It will also remove any pigment stains used in the coloring process. But, almost any other stripper you use will do the same.
The table is probably only 10 or 11 years old - definately not an antique - but still nice.
Here is a link to what it looks like:
http://www.nicholsandstone.com/item.asp?ID=40
David,
I'm pretty sure the finish is nitrocellulose lacquer. Alcohol is a mild solvent for lacquer and will turn it white like your photo shows. A stronger solvent will make it quicker and easier to remove the finish. But... if the cracks in the finish do not go through to the wood and no water has penetrated the finish, you can repair the finish instead of replacing it. It's difficult to tell the extent of the damage from the picture. Also, the wood in the picture looks like birch. I finish quite a bit of cherry and birch and it looks more like birch than cherry.
If the finish is beyond repair (cracks through to the wood), use a semi-paste paint stripper to remove the finish. You don't need a paint & varnish remover (a stronger stripper) since lacquer isn't all that tough to remove. Slop a thick wet coat of stripper on with a natural bristle brush (cheap) and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Then use a plastic scraper or metal scraper with rounded corners to scrape the old finish off. Follow with liberal amount of lacquer thinner and scotchbrite. Follow that with liberal amounts of lacquer thinner and clean rags. Should strip and clean pretty quickly.
Once the old finish is off, wet the surface with mineral spirits, naphtha, or lacquer thinner to see how it will look with a new, clear finish. If you want/need to add some color back, take a picture of the wetted wood and re-post.
What new finish do you plan to use and how will you apply it?
Paul
Thanks for the input!!!
You're right - I hand planed a small section of the bottom of the table - it's birch.
I plan on ajdusting the color if necessary then pad on a coat of garnet shellac then wipe on Waterlox varnish. I've been successful with these steps in the past.
What do you know of KleanStrip Klean Kutter and Bix Stripper?
By the way - here is an image of how bad some of the cracks are. Some do go all the way down to the bare wood.
David,
Bob Flexner has an on-line article about finish strippers at this link - Finish Strippers - that discusses the different formulations and their strengths & weaknesses. The article is very brief compared to the chapter on refinishing in his book (Chap 18).
The KleanStrip Klean Kutter is a MC/ATM (MC= methylene chloride / ATM = acetone, toluene, methanol) product and will remove lacquer without a problem.
Bix makes a few different strippers. The one that says "Bix Stripper" is an ATM product (almost the same as lacquer thinner). Give it time to work and it will also do a good job on lacquer.
A semi-paste stripper won't evaporate as fast as a liquid stripper giving it more time to dissolve the finish. Don't use a water wash after stripping; instead use the lacquer thinner wash. Water will raise the grain and make it necessary to sand a lot afterwords. After stripping/washing, let the table dry overnight before starting with the new finish.
Paul
I do warranty service on furniture, and I run into this kind of damage a lot. I can usually do a good repair without refinishing (one that I can't find when I'm done). You might want to try this before you strip:
Spray on a light coat of strong lacquer thinner mixed about 75/25 with retarder, and see whether the finish "re-sticks" in about a half hour. If you can get a can of Behlen's blush eraser, that will work better. If it does, spray on a couple of light coats of lacquer mixed with retarder, or alternate coats of lacquer and blush eraser, and let it dry thoroughly. Then sand the surface down until it is relatively smooth, and build up a few more coats of lacquer. If the color hasn't come back, do some color touchup with artist acrylics before the additional coats of lacquer.
Once this has dried well, sand the damaged area completely smooth without sanding through the finish, clean and scuff sand the section of the top that is involved, and give it an overall thin coat of lacquer of the proper sheen. You can get Behlen aerosol touchup lacquers on line, or just about anyone's aerosol touchup lacquer will do.
When I do these repairs on site, they usually take 1 1/2 to 2 hours, but you would be better off to spread it out over maybe one hour on each of three evenings.
I agree that the finish is most probably NC lacquer, and that the white residue is just the result of alcohol on lacquer.
Michael R
Thank you everyone for helping out!
I have one comment to make (I hope some of you that participate in other forums are listening - you know who I'm talking about). The participants in the FWW forum have been very kind, curtious, professional and very understanding of my lack of knowledge about refinishing unlike some of those in other forums. In the other forums that I posted this same question to, there were always one maybe two that seem to have a "snotty nose" arrogancy that taint their ability to provide valid data and end up ruining my experience in that forum. Some of its members seem to not have the patience for those of us who are not in "the profession".
Thanks again - I appreciate your professionalism.
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