Expert: Eileen Cronk - 8/29/2008

Question
I have an old Hoosier cabinet that appears to be stains, it has never been painted but it does look like it may have had some varnish applied on it somewhere through out the years.....we purchased it by someone that had purchased by someone else, been thru many families. It has found a home forever now and we want to take it back to the original shape and take care of it, it has been thru some pretty bad treatment.
So the question is.....how do we clean and re-finish a cabinet that has had varnish applied (never painted) it has old hand prints, etc. all over it from years of use.
Your help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Donna

Answer
Hi Donna
Nice to hear from you.
You refinish this old Hoosier the same as any wood furniture.
It must be stripped, stained and a new finish applied.
This will take a bit of time but well worth the effort.
And you can actually buy all the replacement things that went with Hoosiers.
Here is my complete instructions that apply to your Hoosier.
Take note of the stripper.
Its the one I recommend for this job.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR STRIPPING DONNA'S HOOSIER

The first thing you must do is assemble the material to do the job.
The stripper is the most important item.  
I am hoping you can get "CIRCA 1850" brand paint and varnish remover in your area.
Here is a link
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=1694&familyN...

MATERIAL LIST For the stripping stage.
1 gallon stripper
3 boxes of Bull Dog steel wool in medium grade.
One 3 inch oil based paint brush.
Rubber gloves (like you do dishes with), and a pair of cotton gloves inside the rubber ones.
People react differently to stripper. A lot of people feel heat through the rubber gloves, but I feel cold. Have no idea why.
An empty large coffee can. (for the stripper)
A couple of old tooth brushes to get in the cracks.
Lots of old rags (I like t-shirts or cotton but for this first stage whatever you have)
Lots of newspaper to protect the garage floor
LOTS OF VENTILATION..A MUST
That's all you need to get started.
HERES WHAT YOU DO...
Work in sections. Perhaps one side of the Hoosier at a time.
Brush on the stripper with the brush. Stripper will quit working if it dries, so keep it wet till the finish softens.
Then take a rag and wipe this mess off.
Then another coat of stripper, rag off again, then while the wood is still wet, take the steel wool and rub with the grain till the wood is nice and clean.
Use the toothbrush in crevices.
Thats all there is to it ...move to another section and continue.
In some cases a third application of stripper is needed but not for this Hoosier I don't think.
No other prep is necessary...and DO NOT SAND its not needed with this stripper and sanding can ruin a lovely old piece.
When the stripping is complete, stain with Minwax stain applied with a rag, then several coats of low lustre tung oil also applied with a rag (see here)
http://www.swingpaints.com/1802.htm
Please let me know if anything is not 100% clear.
A great project
Kind Regards
Eileen