Let’s Strip! (furniture that is)

I have a couple of antique wood magazine racks which I love!  I use one in the upstairs bath as a holder for pjs, lotion, bathroom necessities and magazines; the other is used in the family room as a magazine rack, photo display table.

Each of the racks were found at garage sales. One was painted a baby girl pink and since I didn’t want to buy the supplies to strip it and I was into crackle paint at the time, I chose to repaint it using the crackle technique to match the living room I was using it in at the time.  I love the crackle painted look!  I even used it on bathroom walls once – it was a rental and when I asked the landlord if she cared that I did some stenciling and painting of walls, she said ‘no’.  I may have forgotten to mention that I was into crackling at the time  🙂  

The crackled magazine rack eventually moved to the upstairs bath – which doubles as our Master Bath and I painted the walls in the bath to coordinate with the color – a bluish, seafoam green.  When I decided to upgrade the Master Bath by removing the fiberglass surround tub and replacing it with a walk-in, tiled shower, it was time to upgrade the rack for a fresh look.

I chose to strip off the layers of paint and refinish the wood instead of repainting the rack.  In the stripping process, I discovered there were several layers of paint below the pink.  Over the years, I’ve found it easier to remove paint when there are many layers rather than just one or two so I knew the stripping process would be easier than some of the other projects I’ve tackled in the past.  The key to paint stripping is to allow the paint remover to sit long enough to do the heavy lifting for you; if you rush it, you’ll need to use a lot of elbow grease and time to remove the paint.  The paint stripper I used this time was Citrus Strip. I liked that it was low fume and could be used indoors if needed. I found it at Home Depot.  It’s easiest to apply the stripper with a bristle brush. Some strippers will ‘eat’ a foam brush and then you just have a mess on your hands. Speaking of hands – always wear protective gloves with working with paint remover.

Once the stripper has set for the recommended time, a minimum of 30 minutes with this brand, test a small area with a putty knife to see if it starts to lift easily.  There were a couple of areas on this piece that needed a little additional stripper applied and more time to process.  When the paint had lifted enough, I used a metal putty knife to gently scrap off the old paint. Below are a couple of pictures showing my super attractive project clothing. I used a bit of paint thinner to remove some of the imbedded paint. 

• 

• 

When the paint was removed, I allowed the piece to dry completely and then scrubbed it with steel wool.

• 

• 

After the bulk of the paint was removed, I placed the rack on top of a table so it was at working height and so I had a better view of what needed sanded.  Now that the piece had been steel-wooled (not a real word, but describes what had been accomplished), it was time to sand.  You can see some of the paint that was deeply imbedded in the wood and where the wood was varied in color due to some old stain.  I have two small hand-held sanders; one is a Porter Cable, the other Black and Decker – both are great!  I’ve had them for years, the Porter Cable for at least 8 (I’ve used it extensively on my deck) and the Black and Decker mouse for over 3 years. The mouse is good for getting into the corners since the sanding area is shaped like a piece of pie.  My sanders are different models than the ones pictured, but this is what is currently available.

• 

• 

After doing a rough sanding with the sanders, I moved from external power sources to manual power – i.e. elbow grease.  My favorite manual sanders these days are sanding blocks and I’ve accrued them in many different grits.  The finished result was some nice looking wood!

The next step was to apply stain – an old, lint-free rag is what I’ve found to work the best when applying stain.  If your surface is rough, a brush works better.  The stain I’ve been using on the wood trim in the house is Minwax  Provincial 211 so I decided that would be the color to use, of course it helped that I had most of a quart left from the last project  🙂

• 

• 

Once the stain had dried, two coats of Minwax Polycrylic water based sealer in clear satin were applied.  I like to use a 1″ angled nylon bristled brush when applying poly, a foam brush can be used also but I find that if you move too quickly, little bubbles form and then another round of sanding is needed once that dries; hence my choice of a bristled brush.  No need to add additional steps to your project!

Although the wood was pretty once all the paint was removed and the sanding was complete, I was not prepared for the beauty that appeared once the stain and poly were applied!  I am SO happy with the result!

Supplies Needed

• Paint stripper
• Gloves
• Rags
• Putty knife
• Steel wool
• Sander and/or sandpaper
• Paintbrush
• Stain
• Polyurethane

For painting supplies and products, check out this post

Send me all the Goodies!

* indicates required

Email Address *

First Name

Leave this field empty if you’re human:

~ We May Earn Money Or Products From The Companies Mentioned In This Post ~