Wood Restoration

tonyhoward3000 · Post by **tonyhoward3000** » Sat Nov 21, 2020 2:45 am

Hi all,

I have these old blanket boxes that i am trying to restore, but im having trouble stripping of the old layers of paint, wax, dirt, stains etc. I want the wood to look almost as clean as new. I've used paint stripper, drain cleaner, paint brush cleaner, oven cleaner, toothpaste, household bleach, wood bleach, white spirit, but none have worked as well as I would have liked. I've seen sand blasting works well, but that's too expensive.

Has anyone had any luck with acetone? or any other methods?

I can't really sand them because I don't want to remove the old dents and scratches as they're part of their vintage charm.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sat Nov 21, 2020 9:38 am

I suspect that you have found the original wood finish was a wood stain covered by varnish. You have tried all caustic solvents and the varnish may well be gone but the stain is soaked in. This stain will be soaked into the wood by a couple of thou in some areas deeper in others. The only way to get it clean is to sand it out and then simulate new dents and marks. A bike chain thumped about and the ball of a hammer can do this.

Some pictures may suggest otherwise but that is my guess unseen.

DWD

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Sat Nov 21, 2020 9:39 am

I think you're going to have to accept that you will lose some of the dents and dings when you clean it up although there's nothing to stop you putting them back in if you wish. Take a photo and try to replicate their positions .
Going back to the cleaning up , on jobs like these my preference would be to scrape it. Either a cabinet scraper or something i use quite a bit is a piece of freshly cut glass. Makes a sort of disposable scraper. That should shift the bulk of the paint and so on. I'd then finish off with wire wool possibly lubricated with turps . Stainless steel wire wool is available as regular stuff can sometimes cause problems with timbers like oak.