How to Restore Antique Furniture

For this project, Ron Hazelton takes us to Rochester, New York, where Phyllis McKenzie shows us a wonderful, old dresser from the mid-1800's. Phyllis had stripped the white paint from the piece nearly ten years ago, but did not want to continue with the project because she was afraid she might ruin it. When she heard about Ron's new show, she hoped that with some expert help, she would be able to finally finish the project.

To complete the antique restoration, Phyllis and Ron needed to strip off all of the old finish, remove several watermarks, oil stains and other types of discoloration to the wood, put a new stain on the wood, and ultimately apply a finishing coat.

Click Here For a list of what you will need in order to complete this project.

1. Set Up:

• Start by setting up a space to work with good ventilation and a drop cloth under the piece of furniture.

2. Strip off old finish

• For the stripping phase of the project, Ron recommends a semi-paste stripper. It's thick, which is particularly good for use on vertical surfaces because it won't run off as quickly. Apply the stripper using an ordinary paintbrush but take care to use a minimum amount of brushing. Over-brushing causes the stripper's active ingredients to evaporate before they can do their job.

• You will want to give the stripper enough time to work, without allowing it to dry out. After about two or three minutes you will want to test the stripper by gently scraping the surface with a putty knife to see if the old finish is releasing. If not, allow it to sit a few minutes longer.
  
  
• In the case of Phyllis' dresser, it became obvious after another several minutes that the putty knife was not going to work to remove the old finish. Ron switched to a medium coarse steel wool, which in this case worked much better. When working with steel wool, always go with the grain of the wood.

3. Remove Stripper:

• The next step is to clean the surface of each stripped section of the furniture with a lacquer thinner using a clean, soft cloth. Lacquer thinner is a solvent product, which Ron recommends for a couple of reasons. First, it acts to neutralize the stripper, and secondly, since some strippers have wax in them, the solvent helps to remove the residual wax from the stripper before you use any finishing products. Always make sure there is plenty of cross-ventilation when using a solvent.
• Section by section, apply the stripper, work the old finish off with steel wool, and neutralize the surface with lacquer thinner until you have covered the entire piece of furniture including the drawer faces.

4. Remove stains and water marks

• Next, check for stains or stubborn spots. To get rid of watermarks, Ron uses something called oxalic acid. You can find this product in a home improvement center, under "wood bleach". Following the directions on the label, add the oxalic acid to very hot tap water and paint it right onto the watermarks. Unlike the stripper, it is okay to keep brushing this because you want to work it into the wood and let it really soak in. In Phyllis' case, Ron decided to use the oxalic acid on the entire surface of the dresser because there was slight discoloration in the wood.
• Allow the oxalic acid to dry, leaving a powdery residue. Then rinse off the surface using a sponge and warm water. If the acid doesn't work to completely remove the marks, you can also try a little household bleach diluted in water. Ron used one-part bleach to five-parts water.

5. Sand surface:

• If there are some very faint marks left, you can sand these out now with some 100-grit sandpaper. For a final sanding before applying the stain, Ron recommends 150-grit sandpaper.
• A good wipe down with a tack cloth will remove any dust or gritty residue that may have been left over from the sanding and then the furniture is ready for stain.

6. Apply stain:

• Ron suggests that you use a gel stain because they are easy to control, minimizing drips, runs and splashes, and can be applied with a cloth or a brush. Make sure to thoroughly work the stain into crevices, details and carvings. Following label directions, Ron allowed the stain to penetrate for about 3 minutes and then wiped off the excess. Once again, it is best to work on one section of the project at a time.
• When wiping off the stain, work with the grain of the wood, in long strokes along the entire surface. All stains should be wiped off after they've had a chance to penetrate the wood. The more pressure you apply and the longer you wipe, the more stain is removed. Here, too, you should experiment to find out what works best.
• Allow stain to dry for 24 hours.

7. Apply Finish:

• You will need to select and apply some kind of a finishing topcoat. For Phyllis' project, she chose to use two or three coats of tung oil. Follow instructions on the product label that you select.

THE RESULTS:

Phyllis was too afraid to tackle this project on her own, so it sat in her basement for ten years. Ron came to the rescue with the expert help and encouragement