Some Tips for Refinishing Antique Furniture

admin post on November 2nd, 2012

One of the first questions you should ask yourself before restoring for refinishing antique furniture (http://www.prlog.org/11998277-tigerdirect-coupon-code-20-off.html) is whether you should even attempt to do so in the first place. Many times, when it comes to antiques, restoring, refinishing, or trying to improve the piece will actually diminish its value. You’ll want to try to figure out how old your piece of furniture is and if it was made by a craftsman or manufacturer who is very well known and collectible.

You may want to consider taking your piece of furniture to an expert and asking them for their recommendation. If your item is valuable it’s best to just leave it alone. If you are convinced that you can refinish your piece of antique furniture without destroying its value, then you can follow tips below (http://www.prlog.org/11996509-checks-unlimited-offer-code-50-off-coupon.html) on how to refinish your piece of antique furniture. If you have decided to go ahead and refinish a piece of antique furniture, one rule of thumb that usually applies is that less is more. An old piece of furniture can be very fragile so the less you can do to get it looking like new again the better. Too much handling, buffing, standing, stripping etc. can damage an old piece of furniture.

You will need to determine whether any old paint on the furniture needs to be stripped or if you can just wash the furniture really well. Sometimes a good cleaning and a fresh coat of varnish will be all your furniture needs to look like new again. You can use any commercially available product (http://www.prlog.org/11996518-bh-cosmetics-coupon-codes-save-30.html) designed for cleaning wood. If you need to get into some tight spaces you can use an old toothbrush to get into the little nooks and crannies. If you do you need to use a chemical paint remover, be sure to take the necessary safety precautions. Always wear eye protection (http://www.prlog.org/11996524-lifelock-promo-code-20-off-coupon.html) and rubber gloves and always work either outdoors or in a well ventilated area. Put a nice thick layer of stripper on the furniture and then place plastic sheeting or even a plastic trash bag over the furniture to keep the stripper from drying out.

When the finish has softened it is time to remove the stripper. Scrape off as much as you can and then wash down your furniture with water or an appropriate solvent. Scrub the piece with a stiff bristled brush to remove the stripper and the old finish. Use some sandpaper to lightly sand and remove any scratches. A fine grit sandpaper (http://www.prlog.org/11996528-sittercity-promo-code-25-off-coupon.html) will do because you are not trying to take off a lot of material, you’re just trying to create a nice, smooth finish. After the piece has been sanded it is ready for a fresh coat of paint or wood stain. Once the paint or stain is dry you can apply a finish coat of polyurethane and give that 24 hours to dry. In a few months (http://www.prlog.org/11996370-green-smoke-coupon-code-latest-working-coupons.html) I am planning on attending a home and garden show in Las Vegas where I hope to get more tips on maintaining and restoring old furniture. I got a great deal on a room with a hotels.com coupon and I found some discount airline tickets on the Internet. It’s always nice when you can find an easy way to save some money.