Gentle Furniture Stripping Wash
Yes, wash is the correct word. We never, ever, dip furniture here. Dipping furniture in paint stripping chemicals can dissolve old adhesives and weaken joints that have held tightly for decades. Instead, we gently wash down each surface with the minimum amount of stripper required to dissolve the finish and only the finish.
We use two different brands of commercial wood stripper so if one type does not work we can switch to the other. Your furniture is safe with us and we will restore it to grand condition.
This huge steel stripping tank is where we wash off old finishes.
Gentle Handling
We are careful to avoid damaging or disfiguring the original architecture of each piece when refinishing antiques.
Matching Original Materials & Fasteners (when possible)
We do everything we can to replicate the original look of your furniture. Some of the ways we do this are:
- Using fasteners that are faithful to what was used on the original item.
- Looking for materials that will match what was used decades ago.
- Minor carving, when required, to restore furniture to its original appearance.
3. We Color Match Furniture Finishes
Getting the Color Right
Color matching of stains and finishes is a very important part of the furniture stripping and refinishing process and is needed on almost every piece of furniture we restore. We carry the entire line of MINWAX oil stains in our shop. You can choose a color from our large sample board, or we can custom match stains and finishes as needed for your refinishing project.
Spot Repairs & Magical Tools
For spot repairs we have a stash of secret tools and materials in our toolboxes to handle spot repairs on your old tables, dressers, chairs, trunks …well you get the idea. We use dye powders, hot wax fillers, crayons, markers, and probably other tools I am not remembering at the moment. We often tint our clear top coats to obtain the best color shading and match possible. We also mix fast-drying alcohol dyes on the spot to ensure color matches.
We keep all our shop stocked with high-quality finishing materials and tools so we are always ready for you to bring in your furniture for stripping, repairs, and refinishing.
CHECK OUT OUR
FURNITURE STRIPPING and REFINISHING PROJECTS
Pie Safe (stripped & refinished)
This is a huge old pie safe we restored recently. The original varnish finish had literally crumbled into powder, the stain was nearly gone in some locations, and there were multiple layers of paint on the stamped metal inserts. It took hours of careful work to remove the paint and prep the pie safe for stain and final finishes. The customer was so thrilled with the results that she gave us another project restoring an antique china cabinet.
China Cabinet (water damage restoration)
This old china cabinet was ruined by severe water damage. A customer gave it to me thinking it was past saving. His insurance had already paid him for the piece as a complete loss.
I brought the cabinet back to the shop and gave it to my apprentice Tim as his first potential solo project. In short order Tim sold the pie safe customer on the idea of restoring that china cabinet. Tim did a fantastic job on that project. The formerly destroyed plywood top was replaced with a solid mahogany one. Bubbling veneers were reglued. With new stain and semi-gloss topcoats you can see the dramatic changes to that formerly ruined piece.
And, you know, the original key for the china cabinet fit the pie safe as well, so that was fun for everybody. Now they can lock up both their pies and their china.