Phoenix Furniture
Rescued - Reimagined - Reborn
Stripping Furniture - Don't Make My Mistakes. Get Your Own!
There are many, many, many YouTube videos and blogs about the proper way to strip a piece of furniture. Rather than reinventing the wheel, I’m just going to give you a few thoughts on products I prefer, as well as things I’ve learned along the way. It’s always more fun to learn from someone else’s mistakes. It leaves so much more time to make mistakes that are truly original and yours.
I love CitriStrip.
For stripping furniture, my chemical warfare of choice is CitriStrip. It has a pleasant smell and isn’t as caustic as some of the products out there. Also, no noxious vapors. Because it’s a thick gel, it clings to vertical surfaces, which is also a big plus. After applying CitriStrip ( Don’t be stingy! ) you leave it on from ½ hour to 24 hours, according to label instructions. I‘ve never left it more than a couple of hours, and even then it tends to dry up and is no longer active. If your stripper has dried, just mist it with water. That should rehydrate it enough to reactivate the chemicals, and also allow you to scrape it off without risk of damaging the wood. If you know you’ll be leaving it on for an extended period of time, I’ve found that if you cover it with plastic wrap, you have fewer issues with dried up chemicals. That’s especially helpful if you already have reason to believe that you’re removing several layers of paint, which is often the case with vintage items. The more layers you’re removing, the longer it will take the chemicals to eat down to bare wood, increasing the likelihood that they’ll dry out.
Buy the after wash, you won’t regret it!
The first time I stripped a furniture piece on my own without my awesome mentor ( She lets me call her “Mom.” That’s probably because she is my mom. 😉 ), I read the back of my stripping product, which said something along the lines of, “To remove stripper residue and neutralize chemicals, either use water or chemical after wash with either steel wool or a stripping pad.” Chemical after wash? Why spend that extra money if I can just use water? I’ll tell you why. What they really meant was, “Pony up the extra $ for the after wash product because water doesn’t work worth squat, and you’ll end up driving to the store in a blizzard to buy the stuff anyway.” The Kleanstrip pictured here is just one of many options on the market, all of which seem to be equally effective. Sadly it does not have a pleasant odor and it DOES have noxious vapors.
Also, I found that using steel wool with the after wash was a mistake. It reacted with the chemicals and left dark spots on my wood that I was unable to remove. That first piece ended up being painted – not a huge loss in this particular case, but it could have been heartbreaking. Actual stripping pads ( They look a lot like Scotchbrite Dish Scrubbies, but heavier. ) are the way to go. Which leads me to my next tip.
Proper tools matter.
Always use PLASTIC scrapers when removing the stripper and varnish and/or paint. Metal may react with the chemicals. The wood fibers are also softened by the process, and metal tools are more likely to damage the underlying wood. If you have a lot of fine detail or tight corners you can use an old toothbrush to get into the smaller spaces. Do I have to tell you not to then put the toothbrush back in your bathroom? I hope not. 🙂
DON’T count on gloves that come 50 – 100 pairs in a box to protect your hands when stripping furniture! They can’t stand up to the chemicals. You will find yourself staring down at your bare fingers poking out of tattered remnants of latex or vinyl. Instead, make sure you buy heavy duty gloves intended for the job. It will say on the packaging if it’s intended to stand up to stripping chemicals.
When possible, work OUTSIDE.
I’ve done stripping projects inside, and I almost always end up swearing it’s the very LAST time I’ll do it. For one thing, any enclosed space is going to get a bit thick with the smells associated with stripping. Even if you use something not as intense, like the CitriStrip I prefer, there’s still the afterwash. And man! Does that smell ever travel all over the house!
For another, after using the chemical afterwash, you need to rinse everything really well with water. That is so much easier if you can just hose it off. Or at least can let the rinse water soak into the ground.
Stay out of direct sunlight! As with Gremlins ( You’ve seen that 80’s movie, right? It’s a classic! ), exposing stripping chemicals to direct sunlight can have unfortunate results. For one thing, it speeds up the chemicals drying out. For another, there is a recommended window of temperatures for using them. Even if the air temperature is within that range, direct sunlight can drastically increase the surface temperature.
PLEASE don’t assume that working outside means you don’t have to protect the ground in the area where you’re working. These chemicals are breaking down the structure of paint and varnish. They WILL kill your grass. Ask me how I know. Like I said in the beginning: Get your own mistakes. This one is mine. The rinse water at the end is fine to get on the grass, as everything is diluted by the large volume of water you’re using.
Last, but not least:
Don’t be scared!
Yes, stripping furniture can be a hassle. It’s messy. It’s smelly. It adds time to your project, and you may be ( as I always am ) impatient to see your vision for the piece come to life. But, Friend, there may be a treasure under that paint or very dark stain. There is a thrill that comes with scraping off layers and layers of paint and finding that you have something truly special. It is akin to working magic. Be brave! You can do this!