Expert: Eileen Cronk - 6/12/2008

Question
yesterday I bought 6 matching oak chairs at St. Vincent de Paul for $4.50 apiece. The reason they were cheap is that the finish is flaking right off. Not sticky flakes; dry, that can be flicked off with fingernail. I'm no expert in furniture, but these guys have 'oak' stenciled right on them, plus some acronym and a basic style that suggests government issue. They are ultra-sturdy and vintage, though not antique. There is a sort of combination bracing/shelf/'rungs' below each one.

I think the flaking finish is the original and that they have been stored a long while in some warehouse. They are so sturdy they seem to be designed to survive a nuclear blast, which makes 'em perfect for my tribal dining area.
(Like many a mom, I have threatened to just install a Trough because Fine Dining so seldom happens.  ;-)

This would not be my first furniture refinishing; the 'bug' bites me about every other year since the kids got old enough to not need watching every minute.

I have a small jug of the orange citrus-y stripper left from when I stripped the kitchen cabinets (vs. buying new).
What I am wondering is if simpler measures can be used first.

My kids are now 14 and 20 and may be able to assist with applying new finish coat(s).
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out with old, in with new...the dining room chairs we've had since pre-child days are approx. 1940's-1950's Duncan Phyfe: 5 armless and one Captain. They used to 'take turns' getting wobbly, but I think, over time, the Hubs has fixed them all pretty well. They need a refinishing, but my motivation is Low because: the matching drop-leaf table was given away before a military move; it had a crack right up the pedestal ( a shame, because I had refinished the table) and we had a weight limit to consider on freight.   
One chair got the refinishing, years ago, with a Formby's kit just to see how it would look, and the color's just lovely with no additional stain needed.

There is a matching china cabinet that is probably revivable without stripping and refinishing, though it would then be darker than the chairs. My main issue with the cabinet is that it will only store/display a limited amount of Anything, for the footprint it takes up in a room.

I'm disenchanted with cleaning and re-covering the fabric on dining room chairs. The plywood in the seats got replaced all 'round and the seat fabric's been replaced several times.

If my daughter has any special attachment to the mahogany chairs, I may keep 'em. She's not so far from leaving the nest one way or another.  ;-)  

Interestingly, it is the Husband who has deep attachment to Old Stuff. I told him I am weary of the 1970's 'incredible hulk' hutch and dresser with monster-sized drawer pulls, dark pine, matching 'cannonball' bedframe. He's perfectly happy with the whole fugly matching set...though if I had a garage sale, 'tis likely no one would buy it.

refinishing Spouse's aesthetic sensibilities is a larger task than furniture, that's for sure!!!  He's not into the furniture refinishing at all. When I refinished the kitchen cabinets, I did 95% of the work myself, and caught flak about the time and the mess. I should've sent him out to price New...  

Answer
Hi Dorothy
Nice to hear from you.
What a great letter.
Not often folks take the time for interesting comments and I rather enjoy it.
The chairs sound great and my gosh the price is greater.
Oak furniture like this is indestructible.
I think you have one of two finishes on these chairs Dorothy.
Either shellac or lacquer.
So your question was, "is there a method simpler than stripping?"
Not sure but there are two things you can try before you get out your remaining stripper.
With what I am going to suggest, you cannot stain a different color.
First get a small bottle of denatured alcohol.
This will dissolve shellac.
The idea is to get rid of the flakes and smooth out the areas where these flakes came off.
Use a medium steel wool pad dipped in the alcohol as a scrubber.
If that fails, get a small can of lacquer thinner.
This will dissolve old lacquer.
Use the same method as with the alcohol.
So try this and let me know how you make out.
Both the alcohol and thinner are very cheap.
Great Question
Regards
Eileen