Refinishing a piece of furniture

[Eireann]

Today, I bought a piece of furniture for cheap. It's sort of like a wardrobe, but much smaller. Drawers on the left side, shelves on the right.

The thing is, the guy selling it decided to perk it up a bit. The cupboard (as I will call it) is about 50 years old. He thought painting it would be a good idea.

Theoretically, yes, it was a good idea. If you have the right paint. Paint that can go with many different interiors. Not this paint. This oh-dear-God-what-were-they-THINKING? paint. This orange horror that looks as if it might just glow in the dark. This orange-with-a-strong-influence-of-salmon.

I had no idea anyone, anywhere, ever, made any color like this. I can only assume that the person who painted it, and the guy who sold it to me, have some fairly serious issues with their color vision.

I thought of spending the afternoon sanding it. Then it occurred to me that sanding it, by hand, would take one hell of a long time. So I thought of paint stripper. The issues with that are, it's messy. It can be highly toxic. It smells.

I did find an organic paint stripper online, but I have no idea how much it costs, or how to order it. The company's website didn't see fit to tell potential customers these things.

I thought of homemade paint stripper. This remains a possibility.

Then I saw a YouTube video of a guy using a heat gun. One quick use of Google Translate and a brief search later, I found one that is highly affordable.

So, experts in this field, what do you suggest? Do heat guns work well? If I buy one, what should I watch out for in using it? I do have a pair of heavy-duty welders' gloves already. I would just need to buy a scraper.

What are your suggestions?

[csquared]

You are correct. You do not want to sand through the paint. All you will do is gum up the sandpaper.

The heat gun is one way of removing the paint. Go slowly, don't overheat an area and do it away from your smoke detectors. If you are not careful, you will crisp the wood.

Citristrip comes highly recommended from a local, high end, wood crafting store.. I have not used this brand myself.

Either way, you will have to steel wool & sand to get the remainder off. There is no guarantee the it will be good enough to clear finish/varnish it. You may have to settle for repainting.

Post pictures when you are done!.

[Eireann]

You can't get Citristrip here, alas. I had heard of it, but it's one of those things that's unavailable in this market.

I'm going to go with the heat gun. I can work on the cupboard outside, because there's an exterior electrical outlet where I can plug it in. Who knows? I may enjoy it, and do more work like that.

Or not.

[It's me]

Be mindful of ventilation.... if the paint is old enough it could have lead in it.

[Eireann]

The latest paint job is new. I'll be working on it outside.

[wolfie]

Before this latest paint job, was it painted or a clear finish? If painted, it might be old enough to be lead paint.

[Sliceanddice]

Today, I bought a piece of furniture for cheap. It's sort of like a wardrobe, but much smaller. Drawers on the left side, shelves on the right.

i have no restruaction advice, im more of make it look like it came straight out of the 70s or 80s person, just wanted to say it sounds like a chiffarobe

[Eireann]

Okay, this is what it looks like. It's not as bad in the cold light of day, but still, the color is damned ugly. I scratched at the paint a bit with my fingernail to see how many layers there are. I don't think there are very many - maybe the piece was stained first, then someone got the bad idea to paint it.

[Seshat]

My father used heat guns frequently to take paint off. You will need a scraper - the heat gun turns the paint into a bubbled/burned surface over the wood. You then scrape it off, but it scrapes off very easily, it's not attached to the wood anymore. Not really.

Once the paint is removed, you'll want some putty or spakfilla or other filling substance. How much will depend on how many dips, scratches and dents are in the cupboard. For this job, just the smallest packet available should do you: you'll probably just be making sure old dents and scratches are smoothed, and nail holes properly filled.

Again, once the paint is removed, test every drawer to ensure it runs smoothly. Test every joint to ensure that it's sound. If a joint isn't sound, check to see how far apart it pulls. If it pulls far enough apart to glue, put some wood glue in the joint, and then nail or screw it together.
(NOTE: if it was a dovetail or other fancy joint, rather than a simple glued-and-screwed joint, look in a book or online for fancy-joint-repair techniques.)

Once all holes are filled and all joints are sound, check the hinges and hardware. Now is the perfect time to replace unsound hinges, and replace door and drawer handles that you don't like - or which are unsound.
You are not limited to handles which use the same locations as the old ones, you can use the filler to fill in the holes the old ones used, and drill new holes for your new handles.

Either way, take the handles off (or don't put the new ones on yet).

Put masking tape over the hinges: painted hinges don't look as good, and can be painted stiff. If you're replacing the hinges, paint the whole thing before remounting the doors.

Sand it all smooth. Because you're painting it rather than staining it, you don't need to sand it down to the fine grades of sandpaper - ask the advice of the paint specialist who sells you the paint. She'll know what grit of sandpaper will give the surface good adherence.

DO use primer. Please. Unless the paint specifically is designed to not need primer.

Paint in thin coats. Thick coats WILL run: i know this from personal experience. (Damn it.)

Don't try for a gloss finish on your first paint job. Matte or semi-matte are very pretty, and much easier to do.

Don't reassemble it until the paint is completely dry, and you have enough coats to have the depth of colour you want.

Get help to replace the hinges, or use a vice or other tool to hold the door in place, at the right height and angle, while you screw the hinges in. Tools are more patient than friends, but friends can make adjustments and are more versitile than tools. So it's up to you...

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

Ditto to Seshat.

Also when repainting I find the finish is better if I use a small roller rather than a brush. Use a brush in spots you can't fit the roller and edges.

[Sliceanddice]

wow im even more useless to you now.... i would leave it that color it would match my bed room furniture, except my chair which hasn't been painted... yet

[Eireann]

UPDATE

The piece was only painted recently, and had no paint on it before that time, so I can rule out the use of lead-based paint. The paint looks to be pretty thick. I don't know why. I can't help wondering if the guy who painted it was itching to get rid of several buckets of that ugly crap.

Once I have removed the paint, I will not repaint it, unless it really looks necessary. I'd rather stain it. It all depends on the way the wood looks.

I'll have to wait until warmer weather before I do anything to remove the paint - it's just too cold outside, and it rained last night; I'm glad the furniture was inside before THAT happened.

Thanks for all your advice! Keep it coming!

[wolfie]

Just a thought, but all of the paint stripping methods mentioned earlier will take off ALL the layers of finish, including (if it had been stained and varnished originally) the varnish.

If the ugly paint is latex, you might want to try using a highly alkaline cleaner (like Fantastik) on it. From personal experience, that stuff will take off latex paint even when you don't want it to (e.g. cleaning the walls) but won't attack oil-based finishes (such as varnish). Could save you a few steps by taking you down to the original varnish. If it turns out the ugly paint is oil-based, and this doesn't work, you're back to where you are now.

[Seshat]

It can be very difficult to get rid of ALL the paint, so be prepared for the possibility that you won't be able to do the stain-and-varnish finish without having some trace paint in the fiddly corners.

Or use the heat gun for most of it, and brush paint stripper into the fiddly places where you can't quite manage to get the paint off by other methods. (As long as you use gloves and are in a well ventilated place, paint stripper's not so bad.)

BTW: PLEASE use safety glasses. I'm almost paranoid about the use of safety glasses. Mow your lawn in safety glasses. Trim shrubs in safety glasses. If in doubt, use safety glasses. You only have one set of eyes.

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

Another option I've seen for stripping paint is sand-blasting. It's only good for solid timber furniture (ie not plywood, chipboard or laminated furniture).

The result ends up being a 3D wood grain effect - really interesting. It can then be lacquered or oiled to finish.