Refinishing the Dresser: Phase 2

This week I finally got some free time to get back to work on my furniture. Luckily my dad was kind enough to help me so it wasn't as lonely and went a lot faster. This week we striped all the drawers and cleaned up any streaks that were left on the wood. We used the same strip-all to accomplish this but instead of fine steel wool we used very course steel wool which worked A LOT better. The courser the better. Also an improvement- rubber gloves instead of latex gloves. Latex gloves are great for lighter projects but rubber gloves are a must while working with this potion. So, I will go over the process that I did this week.
1) Take out all the hardware and remove the drawers from the dresser
Taking out the hardware is going to be the easiest part of this project so enjoy it. I put all mine in a little baggy in case I want to refinish those later or use them on something else. Then I took out all the drawers and stripped down the wood in between the drawers which was relatively easy just because they are straight boards. If you look closely, you can see the little ridges that caused me some trouble and those are both at the top and the bottom of the furniture. AND on the drawers :(

2) Strip the drawers

This will take a while especially if your furniture has a bountiful 11 drawers like mine does. Some drawers are large, some are small, and some are that happy medium. No matter the size, they were all kind of a pain in the ass. They have the little ridges on each one of them and those are some crooks and crannies even the nimblest of fingers can't reach. All you can do is poke and prod in there until you see some results and then by that time there is more gunk (the stuff you are trying to take off just in a liquid form now that it is being dissolved) that you need to remove before it dries. So in my opinion, it is best if you have someone help you because your hands, eyes, and mind will get tired just trying to accomplish this task alone. 

3) Clean up

As mentioned above there is gunk. And a lot at that. Let me paint a clearer picture of what gunk actually is. It is this this strip all mixed with the dissolving stain/varnish/lacquer that you are trying to get off. Gunk is a pain because the strip all will evaporate so quickly that this goo will dry on your surface unless you dissolve it all evenly in timely manner. This stuff is a bad deal and has the consistency of  thick liquid glue. And it gets stuck in any crevasse that your furniture has. Rant over. So, to clean up this gunk you have to take a clean steel wool, and clean strip all and go over the surfaces again in a uniform fashion so that there are no streaks left and if there are they are with the grain of the wood so no one will notice anyways besides you of course. Then after you do this you will have gunk that will have dried on in big blobs and that wont come off with strip all. What I found that works well is just a wall paper scraper because it has a wonderfully flat blade that scrapes off big blobs of gunk. 

And that was the end of phase two. In phase 3 I will be sanding and staining and hopefully be showing you the finished product by the end of next week. I am thinking I will go with a darker stain even though this cherry wood is absolutely gorgeous. Stay tuned and please if you have any questions leave them in the comments! 

Love, 

Tinsel & Tulle

Refinishing the Dresser: Phase 1

I recently came across an opportunity to take an entire bedroom set from one of my very generous neighbors. It is a gorgeous set but needed a little face lift. That's where I come in. I am blessed to have as large of a workshop that I do in order to accomplish projects as big as this one but it can be very overwhelming. So I have decided to do it in phases. I have a dresser, armour, nightstand, foot board, and headboard to redo. I am starting off with the dresser and my first step was to strip all of the old stain, varnish, lacquer, and wax off. Here's how I did it:

1) Buy some Strip all 

This stuff is a nasty potion but it gets the job done! Make sure you have a well ventilated area and some sturdy rubber gloves. I poured some strip all into a metal paint tin (DO NOT USE PLASTIC) and grabbed some course steal wool and got to work. Since I had a large area to do, I had to go over it twice. The stain, wax, and varnish that is all coming off is really goopy so be generous with the stripper and let it dissolve the goop. After I had finished this part, I realized that I had some streaks to clean up so I got myself some fresh steal wool and stripper with fresh gloves and did my clean up. Now, what I learned is that wiping it down with the stripper will dissolve most of it but if you wipe it dry with a paper towel it will leave you with a clean streak- free surface which is exactly what you need. I disposed of all my used materials except my metal tin and put it all outside in a plastic bag far away from the house because the stripper is extremely flammable. 

Here is the original furniture:

And the after:

I did not accomplish getting the entire dresser stripped but that's okay! Taking this project in small steps (or any project) is a good idea because it allows you time to think and recuperate before you go back at it. So, do it in your free time and enjoy what you are doing! Have some friends over and have them help you or make it a date night! Big projects like this should be FUN if you are choosing to do them :)

Next week I hope to get all of the drawers and the sides done! Subscribe to us so you don't miss out! If you have any questions please leave them in the comments and we will get back to you!  

Love,

Tinsel & Tulle