WAY over-applied 100% tung oil removal, stripping?

[Harold Balzonia]

I made a cutting board for a client and she's now asked me to "refinish" (strip, sand and finish) a 4'x8' solid wood island in her kitchen. No problem, right?

Well..... she moved into her house 6 months ago and because she "loves" her giant kitchen island, she's been rubbing Old Master's 100% Tung Oil on it "once a week whether it needs it or not."

She's very sweet and well intentioned, obviously, but her island is SLIMY with Tung Oil. It's beyond saturated. How can I remove this amount of tung oil? Wash it with turpentine? DNA?

Or am I better off spending some quality time with a card scraper? I know if I took a sander to it, the paper would gum up instantly....

here's the product she's been rubbing on it:
IMG_0691.JPG


Any any thoughts on cleaning up this mess to get to bare wood?

TIA!

[John C Cox]

Does it really need to go back to bare wood or can you just scrape the muck off, level it, then rub it out with a very thin coat?.... You may need to use a quality paint stripper product - as it is a drying oil which turns into a natural varnish.

Then give her some advice....
Tung oil must be rubbed in very very thin... Dampen a cloth with it. Wipe on and then wipe it all back off till the wiping cloth comes off completely dry. It needs plenty of UV to cure. So sunlight is the recipe and absolutely no more applicaton till it's not tacky or oily at all.... Here's a very good video showing how it's supposed to be applied... It's about tru oil on a guitar but the process is the same.

[Doug Hepler]

Harold,

Old Masters is an oil/varnish blend. You would strip it like any other oil based varnish, except that it is in her kitchen (I assume you can't easily remove it to outdoors) Try a bowl of orange oil degreaser or orange oil paint remover (e.g., Citristrip) and some coarse plastic or steel wool on a small part of the top. Be patient. If it works and the smell isn't too bad, that's how to proceed. Otherwise, use a handled paint scraper. I would definitely avoid stronger paint removers like methylene chloride for indoor use. Don't forget to use dropcloths on the floor and to mask the sides.

Doug

[David Huston]

Pretty sure old masters makes both a 100% Tung oil and a Tung oil/varnish blend. I don't have any ideas on how to remove it though.

[John C Cox]

A good sharp Card scraper to remove it if you are doing it inside her kitchen and don't want to risk paint stripper ruining her kitchen.... Head on over to Neanderthal-ville for endless arguments about what type to buy and how to sharpen them... .

If you are doing it in your shop - a good premium stripper which will handle varnish and urethanes will work fine.

But they really are the ticket when you need to rip old finish off something without chemicals or tearing up the wood underneath. And "sticky" will not bother the card scraper one bit like it will destroy sandpaper...

Here is a video showing how fast it goes. (I don't sharpen them this way but I do use them like this...)

[Prashun Patel]

I wouldn't use mechanical removal yet. Wipe the surface down with mineral spirits. In fact, you can use a very fine abrasive (like 800 or 1000 grit) or a non-woven pad to polish the counter with mineral spirits. This rectifies heavy applications of oil or oil-varnish for me.

[John C Cox]

Another possible solution is to give it a good shot of UV for a month.... UV lamps are commonly used by Violin guys with the ancient traditional varnishes as well as people trying to replicate the old period correct oil varnishes pre-1900.... Most of these old varnishes don't cure out without significant UV... An easier solution if you don't have UV lamps is to leave them near a good a sunny window till they cure hard...

Then - level and polish out any fingerprints or uglies and rub on a top coat...

[Doug Hepler]

Pretty sure old masters makes both a 100% Tung oil and a Tung oil/varnish blend. I don't have any ideas on how to remove it though.

Yes, my mistake. They do make a product labelled 100% tung oil and the OP asked specifically about that. It might be easier to remove than the blend. The same advice applies.

Doug

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[Harold Balzonia]

Thanks for the insights... the island top is definitely staying in the kitchen.... whoever built it used a lot of construction adhesive to connect the top to the cabinet boxes below.... no screws or anything logical.... I wish I could get it out and to my own shop but that ain't happening.

i think I'm headed for an intimate date with scrapers... I was hoping someone might have a magic solution. If I use strippers I run a real risk of dripping some on her hardwood floors or on her bright red painted cabinets underneath no matter how well I mask things off..... and the smell can be an issue, too.

thanks!

[Prashun Patel]

"magic solution"

Have you tried my suggestion of wiping with mineral spirits, and polishing with a fine abrasive?

That will be much easier than having to scrape. If you scrape, you will have to re-apply the oil several times after to seal. If you try my method first, you may have to apply only a single coat, and possibly NO coat.

[Jim Becker]

Yea, scrapers (and, perhaps sanding) sounds like the best approach and both are "safe" to do indoors.

[Pete Staehling]

I'd try steel wool and mineral spirits first.

[Mike Monroe]

I'd try something like Goo-Gone first.