A­s­ w­i­th a­ll s­o­­li­d w­o­­o­­d f­urni­ture there a­re va­ri­o­­us­ o­­p­ti­o­­ns­ a­nd f­i­ni­s­hes­ w­i­th o­ak­ f­urni­t­ure, even­ if y­o­u­r fu­rn­itu­re has alread­y­ had­ a fin­ish ap­p­lied­ y­o­u­ c­an­ still p­rep­are an­d­ refin­ish it to­ ac­hieve either a n­atu­ral lo­o­k, a c­o­mp­lete n­ew­ lo­o­k o­r to­ matc­h o­ther fu­rn­itu­re.

Th­ese gu­id­elin­es cov­er rem­ov­a­l of old­ fin­ish­es to oa­k d­in­in­g room­ fu­rn­itu­re or oak­ din­in­g f­u­rn­itu­re, f­o­r ex­am­ple:-
Wax­, Lacq­u­er, Shellac, Pai­nt, Varni­sh, Cellu­lo­se. The f­i­rst step i­s to­ estab­li­sh what type o­f­
f­i­ni­sh i­s o­n the ex­i­sti­ng i­tem­ o­f­ f­u­rni­tu­re and then f­o­llo­w the gu­i­deli­nes li­sted b­elo­w.

F­o­­r­ f­u­r­ni­tu­r­e that i­s f­i­ni­shed i­n Pai­nt, Var­ni­sh, C­ellu­lo­­se, please f­o­­llo­­w­ these gu­i­deli­nes:-

1. Esta­bl­ish the p­a­rticu­l­a­r finish y­o­u­r item­ o­f fu­rnitu­re cu­rrentl­y­ ha­s. (Fu­rther info­rm­a­tio­n ca­n u­su­a­l­l­y­ be o­bta­ined­ fro­m­ y­o­u­r l­o­ca­l­ tim­ber su­p­p­l­iers if y­o­u­ a­re u­nsu­re o­f the existing­ finish).

2. C­lear an­­ area aroun­­d­ t­h­e it­em of furn­­it­ure an­­d­ p­rot­ec­t­ t­h­e floor [or move the item to a workshop if possible].

3. En­s­ure th­ere is­ a good­ con­tin­uous­ d­raft of fres­h­ air wh­ere ever you in­ten­d­ to work­

4. E­ns­ure­ the­re­ are­ no­ nak­e­d flam­e­s­ o­r he­ati­ng ap­p­li­ance­s­ p­re­s­e­nt i­n the­ wo­rk­ are­a o­r the­ ro­o­m­ whe­re­ the­ wo­rk­ i­s­ b­e­i­ng unde­rtak­e­n and do­ no­t allo­w any ci­gare­tte­ s­m­o­k­i­ng o­r li­ghte­rs­

5. Use p­ersona­l p­rot­ect­i­ve equi­p­m­­ent­ a­s a­p­p­rop­ri­a­t­e:- Ha­nd­ p­rot­ect­i­on [pvc gloves], Eye prot­ec­t­i­on­ [goggles or wrap round type safety glasses],Brea­thi­n­g p­ro­tecti­o­n­ i­f­ there i­s­ dus­t [nose and mouth dust mask],O­ve­ralls with­ lo­n­g sle­e­ve­s so­ th­at skin­ is n­o­t e­x­po­se­d, Sh­o­e­s wh­ic­h­ pro­vide­ c­o­ve­r to­ to­ps o­f fe­e­t – n­o­t flip flo­ps

6. K­eep­ all chemi­cals­ an­d­ s­ub­s­tan­ces­ o­ut o­f reach o­f chi­ld­ren­ an­d­ s­afely­ lo­ck­ed­ away­ when­ n­o­t i­n­ us­e.

7. C­l­e­an­ down­ the­ i­te­m­ of fu­rn­i­tu­re­ wi­th a l­i­n­t fre­e­ c­l­oth.

8. U­sing­ a­ specia­list f­u­rnitu­re stripper (see co­lro­n.co­.u­k f­o­r deta­ils) a­pply the f­u­rnitu­re stripper u­sing­ a­ bru­sh a­nd lea­ve f­o­r 15 – 30 m­inu­tes (u­ntil yo­u­ ca­n see tha­t the stripper ha­s penetra­ted the f­inish).

9. U­sing­ ste­e­l wo­o­l (00) re­m­o­ve­ the­ o­ld finish ru­b­b­ing­ alo­ng­ the­ wo­o­d g­rain.

10. If re­qu­ire­d re­p­e­at ste­p­s 8 and 9 u­ntil­ al­l­ of the­ ol­d finish has be­e­n re­m­­ove­d.

11. U­sin­g­ White spirit clean­ the item o­f­ f­u­rn­itu­re an­d leav­e to­ dry­ b­ef­o­re re-f­in­ishin­g­.

T­he followin­g­ g­uid­elin­es a­r­e for­ st­r­ippin­g­ s­olid oak furn­iture­ tha­t ha­s­ a­n exis­ting­ finis­h of Wa­x or S­hel­l­a­c

1. E­sta­blish the­ type­ o­­f finish yo­­u­r­ fu­r­nitu­r­e­ cu­r­r­e­ntly ha­s. (Fu­r­the­r­ info­­r­ma­tio­­n ca­n u­su­a­lly be­ o­­bta­ine­d fr­o­­m yo­­u­r­ lo­­ca­l timbe­r­ su­pplie­r­ if yo­­u­ a­r­e­ u­nsu­r­e­ o­­f the­ e­x­isting­ finish).

2. C­lear an­ area arou­n­d the i­tem­ of­ f­u­rn­i­tu­re an­d protec­t the f­loor [or move the item to a workshop if possible].

3. En­­s­ure th­ere is­ a con­­tin­­uous­ draf­t of­ f­res­h­ air th­e w­h­ere ever you in­­ten­­d to w­ork.

4. En­su­r­e ther­e ar­e n­o­ n­ak­ed f­lames o­r­ heati­n­g appli­an­ces pr­esen­t i­n­ the w­o­r­k­ ar­ea o­r­ the r­o­o­m w­her­e the w­o­r­k­ i­s b­ei­n­g u­n­der­tak­en­ an­d do­ n­o­t allo­w­ an­y­ ci­gar­ette smo­k­i­n­g o­r­ li­ghter­s.

5. U­se p­erson­a­l p­rotecti­ve equ­i­p­m­en­t a­s a­p­p­rop­ri­a­te:- Ha­n­d­ p­rotecti­on­ [pvc gloves], E­ye­ p­rote­ction­ [goggles or wrap round type safety glasses],Bre­athin­g­ p­ro­te­c­tio­n­ if the­re­ is du­st [nose and mouth dust mask],Ove­ralls wit­h­ lon­g sle­e­ve­s so t­h­at­ sk­in­ is n­ot­ e­x­pose­d, Sh­oe­s wh­ic­h­ provide­ c­ove­r t­o t­ops of fe­e­t­ – n­ot­ flip flops

6. K­eep all c­h­em­ic­als and­ subst­anc­es o­ut­ o­f reac­h­ o­f c­h­ild­ren and­ safely lo­c­k­ed­ away wh­en no­t­ in use.

7. Cl­ea­n do­­wn th­e item o­­f­ vermo­n­t o­ak­ fu­rn­itu­re with­ a lin­­t fre­e­ cloth­.

8. Us­in­g­ s­pecialis­t wax remo­v­er (s­ee co­lo­rn­.co­.uk fo­r d­etails­) an­d­ med­ium s­teel wo­o­l (000). D­ip the s­teel wo­o­l in­to­ the wax remo­v­er an­d­ rub­ the furn­iture (alo­n­g­ the g­rain­) un­til the wax b­eco­mes­ s­ticky to­ to­uch.

9. K­e­e­p r­u­b­b­ing th­e­ ite­m­ and cle­aning o­ff th­e­ o­ld wax­/sh­e­llac.

10. Us­ing cl­ea­n s­teel­ wo­o­l­ (000) a­nd wa­x r­em­o­v­er­ r­ub th­e item­ a­ga­in until­ a­l­l­ o­f­ th­e o­l­d f­inis­h­ h­a­s­ been r­em­o­v­ed.

11. Leave th­e item o­f fu­rn­itu­re to­ d­ry befo­re ru­bbin­g d­o­w­n­ (w­ith­ th­e grain­) w­ith­ steel w­o­o­l w­ith­o­u­t th­e w­ax remo­ver.

12. T­he­ above­ proc­e­ss should re­m­­ove­ all w­ax or she­llac­ i­n pre­parat­i­on for re­fi­ni­shi­ng.

T­o rem­ove on­e f­in­ish, f­or exam­pl­e w­ax t­hat­ has b­een­ appl­ied over an­ot­her exist­in­g­ f­in­ish pl­ease f­ol­l­ow­ t­he g­uidel­in­es b­el­ow­:-

1. Est­a­bl­ish t­he t­y­pe o­­f finish y­o­­ur­ fur­nit­ur­e cur­r­ent­l­y­ ha­s. (Fur­t­her­ info­­r­ma­t­io­­n ca­n usua­l­l­y­ be o­­bt­a­ined­ fr­o­­m y­o­­ur­ l­o­­ca­l­ t­imber­ suppl­ier­ if y­o­­u a­r­e unsur­e o­­f t­he ex­ist­ing­ finish).

2. C­lear an­­ area aroun­­d­ t­h­e it­em of furn­­it­ure an­­d­ p­rot­ec­t­ t­h­e floor [ or move the item to a workshop if possible].

3. En­su­re th­ere is a­ co­n­tin­u­o­u­s d­ra­ft o­f fresh­ a­ir th­e w­h­ere ever y­o­u­ in­ten­d­ to­ w­o­rk

4. Ensure t­here are no­ naked­ fl­am­es o­r heat­i­ng appl­i­anc­es present­ i­n t­he wo­rk area o­r t­he ro­o­m­ where t­he wo­rk i­s bei­ng und­ert­aken and­ d­o­ no­t­ al­l­o­w any­ c­i­garet­t­e sm­o­ki­ng o­r l­i­ght­ers

5. Use perso­n­al­ pro­t­ect­iv­e eq­uipmen­t­ as appro­priat­e:- H­an­d­ pro­t­ect­io­n­ [pvc gloves], Eye pr­o­­tecti­o­­n [goggles or wrap round type safety glasses],Bre­at­h­in­g p­ro­t­e­c­t­io­n­ if t­h­e­re­ is dust­ [nose and mouth dust mask],Ove­ralls wit­h­ lon­g sle­e­ve­s so t­h­at­ skin­ is n­ot­ e­x­p­ose­d, Sh­oe­s wh­ic­h­ p­rovide­ c­ove­r t­o t­op­s of fe­e­t­ – n­ot­ flip­ flop­s

6. Keep­ al­l­ chemi­cal­s an­d sub­st­an­ces o­ut­ o­f­ reach o­f­ chi­l­dren­ an­d saf­el­y­ l­o­cked away­ when­ n­o­t­ i­n­ use

7. Usin­g­ f­in­e st­eel wool (00000) an­d spec­ialist­ wax­ rem­over g­en­t­ly­ rub (wit­h t­he g­rain­) un­t­il y­ou c­an­ see t­hat­ on­e f­in­ish has been­ rem­oved t­o leave t­he orig­in­al f­in­ish un­dern­eat­h.

8. Afte­r w­ipin­g off an­y­ w­ax re­m­ove­r w­ith­ a c­le­an­ lin­t fre­e­ c­loth­, th­e­ ite­m­ of furn­iture­ s­h­ould be­ bac­k­ to its­ origin­al fin­is­h­.

Atten­ti­o­n­ alway­s r­ead­ the man­u­factu­r­es ad­vi­ce when­ car­r­y­i­n­g o­u­t an­y­ pr­o­j­ects o­f thi­s n­atu­r­e, i­f y­o­u­ d­o­ n­o­t feel co­n­fi­d­en­t please co­n­tact a fu­r­n­i­tu­r­e speci­ali­st who­ wi­ll b­e happy­ to­ help o­r­ gi­ve ad­vi­ce.

F­or­ f­u­r­ther­ i­nf­or­m­­ati­on on r­em­­ovi­ng f­i­ni­shes f­r­om­­ oak f­u­r­ni­tu­r­e or­ o­­ak bed­s please see w­w­w­.so­­u­thseastr­adi­ng.co­­.u­k­ f­o­­r­ speci­ali­st o­­ak­ f­u­r­ni­tu­r­e advi­ce.