We recently purchased an older home (built 1941) and there are several built in cabinets and a fireplace made of oak. The furniture came with the home, is antique and is the same color of the cabinets and the fireplace. It's an orange-ish looking wood and is hard to decorate around. I really do prefer the deeper, darker wood colors (so does my husband). Can I sand and restain the wood darker without worrying about ruining the wood? It's so old.
2006-10-19 04:39:28 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Decorating & Remodeling
woooooo lucky you! Sounds like a nice place!
You should be able to refinish without hurting it, and if you want to make it easy, try Formbys. They make (or did a few years back, which is when my experience was) a refinisher that actually cleans off the old varnish, which may be your biggest problem, anyway. Old varnish changes color as it ages. You just apply this stuff with fine steel wool, and it really works great. (keep in mind, once you've changed the finish, the furniture can't be sold as an 'original' antique, but it doesn't sound like you're planning to sell, anyway!)
2006-10-19 04:45:14 · answer #1 · answered by Baby'sMom 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Someone mentioned Formby's ..good stuff for a general clean up.
Back in the day, oak as you describe it was not typically stained.
The color came from the finish.
The finish you describe is probably orange shellac which will darken over time.
If it will soften w/ denatured alcohol, that's probably what it is
Oak is hard to stain evenly , but if must go darker , remove the old finish w/ alcohol (if it proves to be shellac) & bronze wool , then cloth until cloth is clean.
Sounds like you have a treasure...please do'nt sand.
You can buy tinted shellac from an online specialty store & they may offer some good advice.
Shellac finishes are easy to apply with a good brush also easy to touch up.
Thin coats w/ a fine bronze wool rubbing in between.
A final rubbing with a hard paste wax does it.
That finish lasted over 60 years, do it the old fashioned way
Good luck.
2006-10-19 07:05:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
sounds like you bought a mission style house and furniture. oak is about the hardest wood used in furniture. that stain color has been on there a long time and has soaked in to the grain deeply. and it is an ugly color. you shouldn't have any problem stripping that wood. it has never been stripped before so that is good. i would suggest that you buy a good stripping product and follow the directions. when all is done you can stain and varnish the wood as you like. sanding will roughen the wood for repainting...which is another idea..but it will do nothing to allow you to restain. good luck sounds like you have a big job ahead of you...another option is commercial strippers which i have used...some money involved of course but a fast job...
2006-10-19 04:45:37 · answer #3 · answered by Cheryl E 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just purchase some kind of stripper to remove finishing. It will take every bit of the finish off. Then choose a finish that you like(color wise) and make sure it contains polyurethane. then you just have to refinish it. just like taking paint off something and repainting it. just don't get rough with it, you don't want the wood scratched up and etc.
2006-10-19 04:45:29 · answer #4 · answered by vbeaver31 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As long as wood is not rotten or too cheap, it can easily be restored.
2006-10-19 04:49:33 · answer #5 · answered by LittleLady 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋