Painting and Staining furniture question?
Question:I have a stand that has a thin chipped layer of paint on it, how and what way is the most professional looking technique I could use to refinish it. Should I sand it and then stain or paint, I would prefer a stain over it, but I dont want anything too labor intensive or alot of harsh chemicals. Is there any way to give a stain look without stripping it?
Is there an easy way to strip the paint off? Any tips or helpful advice appreciated?
Answers:
Hey i am a professional finisher and i could tell ya the way to do this. First off the hardest part would be sanding. What i would do is start with an 80 grit to get through the clear finish and a little of the stain. Switch over to 150 grit to get the rest of the stain off. Smooth the bare wood with 220 grit. Prior to staining dampen the wood with water then once again sand with 220. Now remember with stains a water base will be harder to use because it will dry faster and give less time to work with it, but on the upside it drys in a hour or two. Oil bases will be far easier to work with but you SHOULD wait 3-4 days for it to dry before clear finishing. All you have to do to apply stain is brush it on and wipe it off with a lint free cloth(t-shirts are great) WITH THE GRAIN, NEVER GO AGAINST IT WILL LEAVE SIDWAYS STREAKS. After the stain drys you put on a coat of clear (polyacrylic or polyurathane) but inbetween coats of clear you want to sand with 400 grit. This just keeps making it smoother. Generally it could take any where between 2-6 coats of a clear finish. Remeber that a polyacrylic clear is going to have a base of water so DO NOT use a wet cloth because that WILL take the clear finish off. Just use a cleaner such as an orange oil or pledge. Polyarcylic is easier to use but a polyurathane is tuffer and can be cleaned with wet rag. The choice is yours, have fun!
P.S. MINWAX SUCKS!! Go through a company called general finishes, much higher quality and most professionals use it.
That is difficult. There are so many opinions. Professional is white and black and stainless steel. Professional is warm tones and soft hues. Professional is what ever you want it to be.
The best advice that you will receive for this question is the answer to the following question:
What do you want?
God Bless
To avoid cheicals sand the piece with a low grade paper like 80 or 100. Use an electric sander. Then to make it smooth again sand with 220. If you can't get the stain out of nooks and crannies you might have to paint it.
You really have to get every speck off the piece if you want to stain it. This is hard to do. The only sure way is to look in the phone book for furniture dipping or stripping . They actually dip it in a chemical and it gets everything off. You then can stain it. Thats if the wood is a good quality worthy of staining like oak or birch. You can get most of it off by sanding ( Hard Work) and then use a Gel-Stain to get a stained look. Best bet is to sand smooth then repaint with an oil-based paint.
furniture.. labor intensive always!
However if this item doesnt have a lot of large surfaces I would recommend sanding it with a 120 to 220 grit sand paper to not damage it ,but just get the flakes off and even. Then spray it with one of the faux finish in a can sprays that you can buy at home depot. If you pick something with texture it should help hide the imperfections that it already has. Let it dry and seal it with a spray finish as well.
( Do this outside as it can be very messy and alot of over spray int he house)
The staining side is going to be 10 times the work because you'll need to get all the old paint off to reopen the wood to take the stain right, otherwize it might turnout uneven. good luck with you project and dont forget to protect your eyes and wear a mask when spraying :)
I'd definitely start out with sanding, course grit first to knock off the worst of the paint (which--lucky you!--shouldn't take too long since it's already chipping off.) Then move on down to a fine grade and sand it all off, always moving in the same direction as the grain of the wood. (Except for the nooks and crannies, where anything goes to get those last annoying bits of paint out. For those bits, tear your piece of sandpaper into two inch bits, fold them in half and work at it like you were trying to push an ex-boyfriend out.) Wipe everything clean with a damp rag. Let it dry while you go buy the stain that you want.
I like the water-based gel stains that Minwax puts out; they're simply easier to clean up after and don't smell noxious. Brush them on; let them sit for a minute; wipe them off with a rag, working on one flat portion or a leg at a time. Once the whole piece dries, you can decide if you like the final color or if you want it to be darker. If you want darker, just repeat the staining process. When you're done staining, follow the package directions on an acrylic sealer (again, I just use Minwax so it matches and is easy to clean up) and use a sponge brush to not leave bristle marks and apply as many coats as it takes for you to be happy with the way it looks.
This might sound labor intensive, but I actually find the whole process really relaxing (it's really kinda zen.) When I run out of my own furniture to refinish, I do other people's.
In order to get a nice even stain you need to strip off the old finish entirely. The easiest way it to use some sort of chemical stripping compound available at most hardware stores. They have both water and solvent based compounds. Personally I like the solvent based one best as water used in the clean up process might warp the wood.
Keep in mind the wood your stand is made from might not look good with a stain finish or might be plywood with a thin veneer over it which might be ruined by too much sanding.
If you really like that piece and don't want to deal with harsh chemicals you can get a professional to strip it for you. Rates are pretty reasonable and they do a good job.
More Related Questions & Answers...