Stripping Unknown Finish From Tabletop

[Kyle Brookshire]

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This is a kitchen table that also serves as a “command central” for all of my kids’ arts and crafts, painting, and who knows what else; so it gets a lot of wear and tear. We inherited from the old owners of the house, so I have no idea the type of wood or finish it has.

I’d like to strip it, and refinish with something like Rubio (kind of my go-to) sine it’s easy to sand and “spot-repair” from time to time.

Any suggestions for a stripping product that will take most of the top coat off and not require a lot of sanding (I’d like to preserve some of the rustic knots, and wear in the wood so would like to avoid needing to sand too deep).

seen suggestions here for Kleen Strip, but it’s seems pretty caustic. So, I’d prefer to avoid that if there’s an alternative like Citristrip or the like.

thanks ya’ll

[roger wiegand]

Can't tell without some chemical tests what the finish is, if it's a newish piece of furniture, probably a polyurethane or a commercial conversion varnish. If so you'll need to resort to something with a bit of cutting power to get it off.

I'd do an experiment, starting with relatively benign strippers and moving onward if necessary. Put some Citristrip on a spot, cover it with saran wrap and let it sit overnight, The next day, see if the finish has dissolved and come off. If so you're good. If it's unimpressed then you need to move on to a stronger stripper, like Kleenstrip. If that doesn't work you need to either look for a stripper that contains methylene chloride (banned in many states for consumer use due to cardiac toxicity-- it's metabolized to carbon monoxide in the bloodstream) or hire a pro to do it. If you use methylene chloride you need a fair amount of PPE. And be aware it eats nitrile gloves pretty quickly, so you need to change often. If it doesn't come off with methylene chloride you're stuck with sanding.

If you're happy for it to retain some "character" than sanding might not be so bad, you don't need to get every bit of finish off if you sand it down, apply a coat of dewaxed shellac and then a clear finish over top of that. Shellac is great because it sticks to almost everything, so makes a good intermediate barrier. I don't know if that's compatible with a finish like Rubio, I kind of doubt that it would work well, as Rubio wants a raw wood surface.

Traditional stripping with lye might also work, but I can't recommend doing that to any piece of furniture. Many inexpensive commercial stripping companies use a lye dip tank. More often than not it wrecks the piece of furniture.

[John TenEyck]

I think methylene chloride has been banned in all strippers, in all states; Federal regulation a few years ago. I'm still using my last gallon of KleanStrip Premium which takes off most anything. No clue what I'm going to go with when it's gone. So I can't help you with a stripper recommendation, but sure would appreciate knowing what you find that works.

If your tabletop is made from solid wood, Rubio Monocoat would be a great choice. If you use a film finish it will crack where the breadboard ends meet the field of the top unless the RH never changes.

John

[roger wiegand]

You can't buy it if it's labeled for paint removal, but it (methylene chloride, AKA dichloromethane) is still widely available from many sellers. It's a ubiquitously used solvent in chemistry labs. If you know someone who runs a lot of LC/MS analyses they probably have gallons and gallons of the stuff that is still very pure that they are paying to dispose of. It's still perfectly good for stripping paint. In a quick look I found it for sale on Amazon and from Grainger. You obviously don't need to pay for reagent grade material to use as paint stripper.

You can just add it back into the Kleenstrip like products that have the wax thickeners and such if you want those properties.

Don't use it if you don't understand the hazards and the appropriate precautions to take. Many organic respirators don't take it out, so you need to check the labeling and replace the cartridges religiously, as well as only working with it in a very well ventilated area-- eg outside on a breezy day. It's not something to mess with. Unfortunately nothing I've found works as well.

I think methylene chloride has been banned in all strippers, in all states; Federal regulation a few years ago. I'm still using my last gallon of KleanStrip Premium which takes off most anything. No clue what I'm going to go with when it's gone. So I can't help you with a stripper recommendation, but sure would appreciate knowing what you find that works.

If your tabletop is made from solid wood, Rubio Monocoat would be a great choice. If you use a film finish it will crack where the breadboard ends meet the field of the top unless the RH never changes.

John

[Kyle Brookshire]

Good suggestion about just trying a spot with a different product or two and seeing what works. I’d only be afraid that may leave me with kind of a patchwork of half-done spots; and I’d probably never end up actually taking it to any kind of professional.

Someone else on a local FB group suggested just using a No 80 cabinet scraper? Y’all think that would cut through the top coat and not go too deep?

[Jim Becker]

Abrading a finish off if you don't absolutely know it's solid wood can be very dangerous. There is a lot of furniture that looks solid, but is in fact veneered construction and if you cut through that, whether or not with sanding or scraping, you're hosed.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

It looks like soft wood with a distressed finish. If you can confirm that is is solid wood, using a heat gun can work. Protection and ventilation required. I have laid a solid rustic table top on the ground and run the Floor Boss floor sander over as a first step. Enough sanding and you could do away with what appears to be faux distressing.

[Kyle Brookshire]

Looking at it more closely this morning, it may be some sort of plywood actually; with solid boards for the edges and breadboards throwing me off. It doesn’t seem to be a glued panel

With that being the case, I’m guessing stripping will be tough not to cut into any veneer. I’ll probably just make a new tabletop out of whatever 4/4 has a good price and a fairly light color and that I can darken a bit with finish next time I’m by the lumber yard.

thanks for the advice guys!!