Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Restaining vaneer

I would like to restain a desk to the same stain as the rest of the room. The other pieces are wood and this desk has vaneer on it. It is in pretty good shape. I would like to strip the old stain and restain it. How would I go about doing it

Success in your project will depend largely on how close to the color you want the piece is right now.

To remove a stain, you must first strip the piece - the color is in the wood, not the finish.

A two part bleach, available from most home centers and some paint stores would be next. It will remove SOME of the stain, but not all.

You may have to resort to sanding to remove the majority of the color. Since you know it's a veneer you know you can't sand much, and what sanding is done must be done carefully, so as not to 'burn thorugh' the veneer.

If the color is radically different now from where you want to go, or if you're dealing with two disparate woods (oak and walnut) for instance, your chances for succes are minimal.

what kind of stripper do you recommend?

If the piece has a factory finish it's almost certainly lacquer.

A 50:50 mix of lacquer thinner and denatured alcohol will readily cut it. Use with 00 steel wool to scrub the finish off.

This combination is flammable, so use appropriate caution.

I've found the 50/50 mixture with the denatured alcohol and lacquer thinner to be the easiest (and fastest) removal method as George suggested with the 0000 steel wool! Our family has used this method for years and swears by it! Just make sure the room is well ventilated and wear a mask.

Just a note about hithere's comments. The mask referred to should be a respirator with a charcoal activated filter, not a 'dust' mask. The latter offers no protection at all to fumes from the solvents being used.