Stripping Furniture
 

I'm trying to get a bureau stripped and repainted before the exchange students come and somehow I had the idea that I would apply the stripping agent and the paint would practically slide off without much effort. Wrong. We followed the instructions to the letter. Argh.

Does anybody have any tips?

I've only stripped furniture once and the only thing I can offer is patience and extra product. We were stripping a ladder back chairs (we picked up these chairs at a rummage sale) and it took several thick applications of the chemical stripper, some sawdust to absorb the sludge and a plastic putty knife to gently scrape. It also didn't help that it looked like there were several layers of paint that had just been painted over. Good luck!!!

I've tried those strippers and they never have worked.

I usually just sand it, then re-paint.

Ok...I read the title and the first thing that came to mind was...why would anyone inquire about furniture used in a strip club.....?

I also second the sanding it and then re-painting.

That may not be the "correct" way to do things. But I'm currently helping my aunt strip furniture for her nursery. I did that with a chest of drawers and it turned out fine.

But I felt that just skipping the chemical strippers was the better way to go. Good luck!

This isn't going to be super-helpful because I can't remember the name of the product, but I had an experience using a gel based stripper that did pretty much what you described that you wanted: it turned the old finish into goop that I could just rub off with any kind of scratchy pad.

The old finish was a varnish and stain rather than paint, so maybe it's the paint that won't soften?

Before I committed to actually sanding the whole thing down, I might try a different product if you can. ETA: I do think that I had to sand before I re-finished, even with what I used, but it was just a light sanding to make sure you got the stripper stuff off, not the kind of sanding you'd have to do to actually consistently remove a finish all over.

I assume you're looking for this:

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/wp-co...Pole_To_Go.jpg

The key with stripping agents is patience. Give the stuff plenty of time to permeate the wood so that the stains and paints will lift easily from the surface.

I always found it helpful to have a bowl of water somewhat nearby in case a fleck of stripper landed on my skin. I always wore long sleeves, pants, and rubber gloves.

I am about to start the same project on two pieces of furniture, but I am really thinking of using a sanding machine.

Let me know how things turn out for you.