10.12.2017

Just like old. Restoring wood furniture


For a lot of people, there is nothing more satisfying than doing some DIY jobs around the house, and one of the more satisfying jobs you can do is to restore some antique furniture. Antique furniture adds a sense of class to your home, it makes any room look infinitely better, and it's something you can take a lot of pride in at the end of the day. Of course, with the word antique comes a hefty price, but you can restore cheaper furniture and make it look just like new, or old. So here is how you do it.

Step 1: Strip The Furniture
This can be messy, so make sure that you do it in an area where you don't want chippings of oak everywhere. Make sure that you use an old brush, as the old ones were better, and that sense of roughness helps with the application of the stripper. You add a mix of vanish combined with polish to the furniture and then let it dissolve, and leave for up to 30 minutes until the finish has dissolved. If this trick that hasn't done its magic and removed all the layers, just add the paste again and repeat the process.

Step 2: Neutralizing The Chemical Stripper
You do this by using some steel wool, which has been soaked in white spirit or wax and polish remover. Make sure that you follow the grain of the wood, if you don't neutralize the stripper, it can reactivate the surface. Once this is done, make sure that you clean the rest of the surface, using cotton rags, and leave it for at least 24 hours. In the meantime you can clean dirt and polish by using ear wax remover, again using a steel wool pad

Step 3: Sanding Down
You use a sanding block or some glass paper to smooth the wood fibers that have been raised during the stripping and make sure that you work with the grain, not against it. After this is done, tackle the bleached wood areas, especially if the item in question has spent time in the sun, as this can bleach the wood color. You could either add a wood dye to give it a color that is suitable, or you can use some special paint, such as real milk paint. This is an old paint that was mixed by hand, but some companies do it now such as the Real Milk Paint Company, and you can find the Real Milk Paint Company information on their website. Make sure that when applying any of this paint that you try not to lose the shine.

Step 4: Improving The Sheen
Once you have waited 5 hours at least, rub the surface with steel wool, and keep reapplying finishing oil using a brush or cloth. The more coats you add the better the sheen. Once this is done and you are happy, apply some furniture wax over the item in question, leave for an hour, and then polish. And that is it! Voila! Enjoy, and make sure it's left out of the sun!

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