Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - stripping wood

I have a mahogany bedroom set that was "antiqued" 40 or more years ago. The wood inside the drawers is absolutely gorgeous. I want to take it back to the original wood. A local well reputed furniture stripper has attempted to remove this layer of "antiquing" but was unsucessful. He warns against dipping the furniture. What experiences have you had with dipping or removing this kind of paint?

Someone who hoses the stripper over the furniture and scrubs it will damage the furniture less and likely be more successful. Removing old finishes can be challenging.

Hope this helps.

As a professional cabinet maker and finisher.

Please dont dip, it really messes up things.

It is likely, due to the age of the pieces that they are finished in Cellulose or Pre cat Laquer. This can be hand stripped with a propriatery paint stripper and wire wool. (starting with rougher grades for bulk removal and working down to 0 grades for final removal). Test in a not seen area 1st.

One problem that I have encountered over the years is wax build up, not allowing the stripper to reach the surface. Therefore as a matter of course, I always de-wax with a special chemical before and after I strip.

I live in Euope and obtain my strippers and sundrys from either John Mylands in London, or Morrells, in Rochester Kent.(if your in America I dont think it will help much sorry). But with patience and time, you should be able to succesfully remove the old finish and renovate.

Bear in mind that a lot of the original patination (antiquing) could have been achieved with a spray stain, which could have a high tar content. This is difficult to strip and has to be washed out with an appropriate solvent (try turpentine ).

Good luck.

Mark H

I also prefer the 'flow-over' method for stripping, although I rarely use it. Since I'm not equipped for this operation, I strip mostly by hand.

Kwik and Strypeeze are the two paint removers I favor.

Decreasing grades of steel wool ( as referenced above) allow removal of the finish and a final cleaning. The last pass I make over the furniture is with lacquer thinner and 0000 steel wool. This serves a dual purpose of removing the final residue from the grain as well as neutralizing any (solvent based) stripper that may remain.

as an added note - 'dip stripping' utilizes solvents strong enough to destroy the older glues. I have seen a solid piece go into a dip tank and come out in pieces.