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| I have an old scrubbed pine table. It has a polyurethane finish on it that looks almost plastic. What would be a good product to take this off, and what would you recommend to refinish it to look more natural? I am considering using wax only. Is that a good option? Thanks so much! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Mechanical removal, most likely by sanding. Wax is about zero protection for wood and spots very easily with water. |
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| I prefer to chemically strip finishes. Though messy, it's over shortly, works thoroughly, keeps any patina, avoids sand-through risk on veneers, and waves on solids. A MC chloride stripper is the most commonly available and will work. Just a couple of my observations about "polyurethane." * The "plastic look" of polyurethane is more often a flaw in application vs. a flaw in product. Though I think it's often overused, it is not a bad finish, but there may be better ones for your application. Flexner, the author at the above links says, "Wax is the closest thing to no finish there is." I am also careful to point out the difference between a waxed finish and a wax finish. The former is some other type of finish (lacquer, shellac, or varnish) that has a top coat of wax. As far as what other finish, that depends on a lot of things: |
Here is a link that might be useful: Finishing for first-timers.
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| While I use methylene chloride stripper a lot it needs a great deal of care. Cancer issues are the least of the problems. When MC gets into the body it ties up hemoglobin (just like carbon monoxide). If you have ANY history of heart disease this can cause a lot of problems. It also burns skin on contact, and is a serious hazard to eyes. Using it is full rubber glove (the long ones that go past your elbow), face shield, and respirator territory. It is really nasty stuff. An old table with a very glossy surface sounds like it may have been refinished, and very well could have polyurethane on it. No wax based finish provides a very large amount of protection to wood. |
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- Posted by Lea(mrlea2@aol.com) onSun, Feb 6, 11 at 9:19
| I just finished making a tabletop out of 100 year old 4 X 4 wall studs for a lady. I put on 4 coats of semi-gloss minwax poly (what she thought she wanted) and 2 coats of paste wax. Now she wants a satin finish instead. Do I need to strip down to the wood or can I just sand the semi-gloss and put satin over it? |
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