Stripping, sanding and oiling a softwood table

When we speak of "softwood", we usually mean spruce, fir or pine. The wood of these trees has a beautiful light colour that can darken pleasantly over the years.

Antique furniture made of softwood often has a coat of paint, a so-called "frame". This finish may be original to the piece of furniture or, as in this case, it may have been applied later.

How can the lacquer be removed from the wood?

With thickly applied varnish, as in this example, neither spirit nor nitro thinner will help. There are two ways of removing the varnish from the wood:
-heat the varnish carefully with a hot air blower and scrape it off with a spatula.
-Paint with paint remover, let it work, scrape it off and then neutralise it.

When working with a hot air dryer, care must be taken not to heat glued joints too much. The natural glues used on most antique furniture dissolve at high temperatures.
Use a spatula, scraper and brass brushes only in the direction of the grain. The traces across the grain would be very difficult to remove later.

After the varnish was off, the surface was cleaned, lightly sanded and primed with shellac. Then the wood could be sealed with hard oil in several layers.

We restore your softwood furniture!

Simply call us or send us pictures of your piece of furniture in advance by email, SMS or WhatsApp. We can usually estimate the restoration costs based on the photos. However, we are also happy to come to your home to discuss details on site.

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