Stripping wood furniture: My how to & a lesson learned

A recent furniture renovation was supposed to be an fairly easy project, however ended up taking a lot more time than anticipated but ended up being a great learning experience.  

Great way to learn is fixing your mistakes, right?

I picked up this table at my local Goodwill with a $15 price tag and instantly knew the plans I had for her.  I wanted to paint the bottom white and stain the top darker, a very popular look lately. 

Where the failure occurred:

I sanded the entire table with my electric palm sander using a 120 grit removing all the gloss protective finish from the top.  I took my time being sure {to what I thought} was removing the finish to make the remainder of the project easier.  After I sanded, I did as usual, and wiped down with my tack cloth and grabbed my Miniwax Stain.  After the first coat sat for about 5 minutes I started to see this:

See the little spots? That's not what you want to see when staining... I knew something didn't go as it was supposed too. 




I was tempted to call it a lost cause since it was a cheap table to begin with and in my eyes was a failure.  But, I called on some of my favorite ladies I envy with their talents and skills of redoing furniture.

Marian @ Miss Mustard Seed  and Natalie @ Natty by Design

I emailed them in a frantic mess explaining what I did up until this point and what's the best options to rescue the piece.  Both suggested the same thing {strip the piece and start from scratch..again}.
Marian helped me better understand when to strip rather than sand and why the pooling occurred.
Natalie suggested a specific brand of paint stripper to use, and explained how she tackles pieces.

So the next day I set out and picked up
* Citristrip {what Natalie suggested}
* rubber gloves that were paint stripper safe
* plastic scrapper {metal can cause damage on soft wood when stripping}
* mineral spirits
* steel wool 0000
* lint free cloths



I already had some Jasco paint stripper on hand and was really curious between the two, which I'd like better so I decided to take the opportunity and strip the table half and half to see the differences.

What I did to strip
I laid out plastic tarp {be careful, can be slippery} and ensured I had PLENTY of ventilation.  Wiped down the table to be sure it was clean of any dust/lint. 

Following the instructions on each bottle {which were the same} I applied ample amount of paint stripper over the entire table.  If you use a brush I suggest using a cheap one you can just dispose of afterwards.  Don't apply the strip like you would paint, coat in one direction and don't go over the area more than once.  Each time you "swipe" the brush with thinner you're evaporating more of the chemicals that is used to strip the paint.  Just lay on a thick layer and let it be.



Initial reaction between the two:
Citristrip didn't have as harsh of a smell and was easier to ensure you were applying a thick layer.
However, I could see Jasco paint stripper working instantly which made me to initially believe it would work better.

I let it sit for 20 minutes without touching it.  Then came back and lightly scrapped a little bit off both sides to see if it stripped easily.  If it doesn't in your case let it sit for another 10 minutes, then try again.  If it still doesn't remove easily, you will need to completely scrape the surface and reapply more stripper as after 40 minutes the essential chemicals for stripping have evaporated off and will not be strong enough. 
The paint stripper will have bubbles on the surface, and the Citristrip didn't seem to bubble in the same way.
{After 20 minutes}

In my case 20 minutes was long enough and I began scrapping away.  I used an old empty paint can to collect the scrapings for easier clean up.
You'll want to scrape lightly without a lot of pressure as you can easily dent your wood at this point if it's a soft wood.


{After I scraped the entire table}
I actually ended up thinking the Citristrip worked better at an overall removal

Then I used steel wool and wiped it down to ensure the remover was completely off, and then gave it a good wipe down with mineral spirits and a lint free cloth.  Change the surface of the cloth often {after a couple wipes} to an unused portion of the cloth.  You don't want to wipe the table with a part of the cloth that has remover on it, as this step is to remove any left over paint remover. 

Voila, a brand new slate to begin the staining process..{again}
While this did take a bit of time, it sure is easier than finding out after you begin staining that you didn't sand off the finish entirely. 

Before I stained the table top again, I applied a wood conditioner which I'd suggest if stripping any soft woods.  Once you apply the conditioner you can stain the piece within 15 minutes but don't want to wait longer than two hours.

After all said and done, I was very happy to take the time to strip the piece as I LOVE the results:




{HAPPY DANCE}

What do you think?  Let me know if you have any questions about the products I used, or any paint stripping questions!




{I wasn't paid or compensated by Jasco or Citristrip for this post and all opinions and thoughts are my own}