Expert: Greg Scholl - 12/16/2011

Question
I was given two pieces of early 1900's furniture from my grandparents after their home got hit by a tornado.  Unfortunately, the pieces were damaged by water on the tops and they are made of veneer wood.  They were not removed from the home for several weeks and were exposed to extreme heat and moisture during that time.  

To begin refinishing this furniture, I have stripped the lacquer from the tops with a 50/50 mixture of lacquer thinner and denatured alcohol (I rubbed it in with steel wool and wiped clean with a paper towel).  After that, I lightly sanded the tops with a rotary sander.  I am stumped now because the wood is two toned.  The water-stained parts are lighter than the original stain color.  I thought it would be the opposite...do you have any idea of how to even out the two tones?  If needed, I can attach a picture.

Answer
Hi Lindsey, you really need to strip the pieces with chemical stripper, especially one like the Jasco semi paste varnish and stain remover. You're likely dealing with analine dye stain which was popular in those days, and it's difficult to remove. Your method of removing the finish is ineffective as compared to a stripper, and will also expose you to a lot of fumes as both the lacquer thinner and alcohol evaporate very quickly, requiring you to use quite a bit, and breathe a lot of vapors. Strippers have additives that resist evaporation, to allow the product to stay active longer and work much more thoroughly....very important if you hope to remove analine dye stains.The Methylene Chloride strippers also break down finish and stain much better and more thoroughly.Your method will not have removed all the finish or stain down to the wood, especially wiping with paper towels...you need to be a little more chemically aggressive, which requires stripping......always the preferred method of removing a finish. Using a random orbital sander is also very risky, as some of that furniture has very thin veneers, and it's easy to sand through, especially on edges and other delicate areas.There is a method of water washing after the stripping process that is detailed on the can, that will enhance the stain removal of the stripper, (especially useful on these analine dyes that usually have reds in them), but even that may not remove it all.Until you VERY thoroughly remove the finish,..... you can't really plan for the next step, so start there....post back- regards- Greg

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