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How to remove varnish from intricate wood work on an old wardrobe?

jonathanB
Finding My Feet

How to remove varnish from intricate wood work on an old wardrobe?

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The wood work around the mirror 

Jason
Community Manager
Community Manager

Re: How to remove varnish from intricate wood work on an old wardrobe?

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @jonathanB. We're pleased to have you join us and look forward to seeing how you can restore this wonderful piece of furniture.

 

What are your plans for it? If you let us know whether you are varnishing it again, painting or have some other plans it might help community members suggest your best course of action. 

 

Let me tag the ever-helpful Bunnings D.I.Y. expert @EricL for his thoughts on your project when he gets back on the site later today.

 

In the meantime, you might find these posts helpful:

 

 

 

Hope that helps,

 

Jason

  

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Re: How to remove varnish from intricate wood work on an old wardrobe?

Hi Jason thank you for getting back to me, my intention is to use a varnish/stain in Wallnut.

Jon

EricL
Bunnings Team Member
Bunnings Team Member

Re: How to remove varnish from intricate wood work on an old wardrobe?

Hello @jonathanB 

 

My apologies for the late reply. I suggest using Tricleanium 1L Paint Striper in combination with Glad Wrap. 

 

Before you begin make sure you are in a well-ventilated area with a large carboard piece under your timber furniture to prevent staining your floor. Make sure to wear personal protection such as gloves, goggles and a mask when using this paint stripper.

 

The general steps are to use an ordinary paint brush and apply a very thick coat of the stripper on the intricate woodwork and covering that area with Glad Wrap. I suggest working in small half meter sections. Do not be tempted to cover the entire piece as it will result in the stripper drying and it will become more tedious to strip the surface.

 

Give it 45 minutes to activate and inspect the surface. Once the varnish starts to lift use a Rocket 100g Multipack Steel Wool dipped in Diggers 1L White Spirit and scrub the surface clean. I propose using toothpicks to clean the really tight spots. It will possibly take an extra application to thoroughly clean it.

 

Let me call on our experienced members @daniknight4 and @lifestylebymari for their recommendations.

 

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

 

Eric

 

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