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The ins and outs of STRIPPING! {Stripping Furniture 101}

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I’ve been dropping hints about doing a stripping tutorial, and TODAY IS THE DAY!

I think stripping furniture is a universally dreaded task. Understandably! But it’s really not that difficult or time-consuming once you get your supplies together and just go for it! I predict that painted furniture is going to be a thing of the past sooner than later, so we might as well become familiar with the techniques needed to undo all those blasted layers of paint we’ve inflicted on our furniture!

The ins and outs of STRIPPING! (Stripping furniture 101)

Our new friend Sandy dropped off her tabletop to get a staining treatment done my moi, but before I could do my magic, I needed to strip ‘er down to the raw wood.

Prepare to learn how to disrobe your wood!

Your wood project, before

I also have a tutorial on stripping painted wood with nooks and crannies, if you’re interested! But today we’re going to focus on the basics and simply tackle the strippage of simple stained/sealed wood.

These 3 tools are KEY!

Essentials of STRIPPING!

(contains affiliate links)

  1. Hefty Scraper (we love this one)
  2. Simple wire brush 
  3. Stripper (unfortunately our favorite tried and true stripper, pictured in this tutorial,  is no longer made. This one is our second fave!)

I brushed on the stripper with a natural bristle chip brush on a 2’x2’ area.

Stripper

SAFETY NOTE:  I recommend wearing gloves and eye protection. I shudder at the thought of getting a spatter in your eyeball)

The stripper starts making the finish bubble up within seconds. After finishing my two-foot section, I wait 2-3 minutes, and then start scraping away with my hefty scraper. This thing is like a putty knife on steroids.

Plan on frequently scraping the goobers off your scraper. I keep an empty ice cream bucket handy for the nasties.

Stripping a Stained Finish

The bulk of the finish is gone, but you can see how the wood is still holding onto some of the stain.

Stripping Furniture 101

So I repeat step 1 and slop on some more stripper, then scrub at it with the wire brush to really get into the grain of the wood.

Stripping Furniture 101- using the wire brush

Then scrape one last time.

How to strip

It’ll be very obvious when the stain is gone. You’ll just know. You’ll feel it in your heart of hearts.

Once the stain is gone, it's time to sand

Then sand ‘er down REAL smooth. I start out with 120 grit, and finish off with 220. I used an orbital sander, but it would work just as good sanding by hand. You might just need to use some elbow grease.

Stripping and Sanding Furniture

Stripping and Sanding Furniture before and after

Simple as that!

Here’s my quote for the day:

‘Stripping is a dirty job, but sometimes you MUST for the greater good.’

So as not to leave you without an after picture, here’s Sandy’s table with my stained technique! For the full tutorial on that, click here!

Stripping furniture and unique staining technique!

And be sure to click here for our tutorial on stripping paint from cracks and crevices, and furniture with ornate detail!

Stripping Paint (102) - all the nooks and crannies!

Related:

Comments

  1. 47

    The link to your stripper of choice is coming up item not found on Amazon. Can you WRITE out what the name of the stripper is? Want to make sure I don’t waste time buying an inferior choice if you have a preferred kind. thanks!!

    Reply
  3. 53

    Hi Beth!

    Just recently found your blog and love it! Where in the world do you find the Zinsser Strip Fast? I have looked at every store in town and online as well. The only place I can find that sells it is Meinards and we don’t have one of those. Did they change the name? Amazon doesn’t even have it. Thanks so much! Jenn

    Reply
    • 54

      Hey Jenn, I noticed that recently too. It’s been a minute since I’ve stripped any furniture, and I’m guessing it’s been discontinued. Which is a bummer! I know a lot of DIYers love CItriStrip, so that’s something you could try.

      Reply
  4. 57

    You do realize that that this paint stripper is made almost entirely of methylene chloride right? This is an extremely dangerous chemical and can cause serious health effects. It can enter the body through skin contact and inhalation. Telling people they don’t have to wear a respirator is dangerous and irresponsible. You are also not wearing any gloves to prevent skin contact! This is something that cause fetal development and reproductive issues and can be transferred through breast milk. You need to read the Safety Data Sheet on these types of chemicals before you use them and protect yourself.

    Reply
  5. 58

    You only want to strip a piece if you’re planning to stain it. If you’re just wanting to paint, you could degloss (to help the primer stick better) or just sand with 220 grit to cut down the sheen before priming. Does that make sense?

    Reply
  7. 61

    Wow this is genius! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing it and taking the time to teach us. Whaaaat?! You should be Sainted for this woman? And you reply to everyone too?! You are a Godsend!!!!!

    Reply
  8. 63

    this is by far the coolest thing I have seen! I’m going to try with my night stand!!!!! maybe I can make something out of this!!!

    Reply
  13. 70

    I have a drop lief table that was my dads and as a smoker he left several cigarette burns and in order to repair the table I had to strip it down. Stripper of choice for me is cutz-it and it does. I also like to use laquor thinner as a final wash, It really removes what is left easily. Any way back to the table. What a wonderful idea for the table top. It will really make it the centerpiece I wanted. Thanks for the Flower design I hope you don’t mind my using it. I also learned the art of stain shading on my own while restoring a ceder chest my husband picked up for $20.00. It has molding on the front that makes a design and when i got it it was all one color. I chose to stain the molding a very light oak while the rest is a dark cherry. it really made the molding pop. I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylilis and have been in a wheel chair for ten years but the love of restoring beautiful wood has kept me going. I wonder if a black and white photo could be blown up and used a a pattern for putting a face or faces of loved ones on the wood. One thing I have learned over the years you can always take it off and start again. Keep on staining.

    Reply
  17. 74

    I so wish this had been around when I stipped the table I’m working on. I ended up with chemical burns. The kind I used ate up two pairs of latex gloves and a pair of rubber gloves. It was horrible!

    Reply
    • 75

      Yes Melissa, that’s the thing about any stripper that actually WORKS… you have to protect your skin! There are special chemical resistant gloves you can buy, but I just use rubber gloves until they start breaking down and then I call it a day (or put a new pair on) because I’m cheap like that.

      Reply
  18. 76

    Thanks Bethany for the stripper recommendation, I’m going to hunt that down (and hope I can get it here, unlike a lot of US paints). It’s decades since I’ve used paint stripper but I have a reclaimed timber from a painted wardrobe that I want to make into a blanket box and it’s going to take more than a light sanding.
    Your stain technique was the inspiration for my chest of drawers (http://28gumtrees.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/chestoration/). Luckily that chest was so lightly varnished I went straight to the sander and had it clean in an afternoon.
    Looking forward to the paint strip tute,
    cheers
    Minuet

    Reply
  19. 79

    Do you rub that little metal brush over the entire thing?

    I have stripped a few pieces that were painted, and always end up with a horrid gunky mess. My tools, gloves, and the furniture itself have been covered with little chunks of dried stripper and paint. How do you avoid this? You make the process look so clean! How much different is the method when something is painted rather than stained?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • 80

      Sarah… stripping stained/sealed furniture is MUCH easier (and less messy) than stripping paint. So you’re not alone! I’m planning to write a second tutorial for stripping paint that involves a few more steps. Stay tuned!

      Reply
  20. 81

    I was just thinking the other day that I needed to do some searching on your blog to see if you’d ever done a stripping tutorial! Thanks for reading my mind! 🙂

    Reply
    • 84

      Welllll, this dining table (just the top surface) took me a full afternoon, but I took a couple breaks. If there were legs, it would have probably taken another afternoon (depending on how much detail the legs had). It’ll take longer if you’re actually stripping paint instead of a simple sealed/stained surface. For a dresser with no detail (cracks/crevices) and no paint, I would plan for 4-5 hours.

      Reply
    • 89

      I am intimidated by stripping… maybe because the only time I ever tried it was on a dresser that turned out to be about 100 years old with about 100 layers of sad paint on it. Yes. The paint was sad. It was infectious, and actually made me sad too. It is still sitting in the back house/work area partially unfinished. Maybe I will try again.

      Reply
    • 90

      @thedailydali, I KNOW how frustrating many layers of paint can be… but when that woodgrain starts popping through, it’s all so worth it! Whatever progress you made last time will give you a headstart this time. GO FOR IT! 🙂 And don’t be sad!

      Reply
  24. 91

    Great tutorial! I bet this will bring some interesting SEO your way 😉 haha! I’ve never stripped anything before, but I have been toying with the idea of stripping our dining table of it’s horrid honey oak blanket it’s wearing. Long live wood grain!

    Reply
    • 92

      HAHA… right? That’s ok. I like to turn heads. 🙂 Also, honey oak? …there are no words. Strip that sucker! Or save yourself some time and just strip the top and give it a dark stain, and paint the base a fun color! I’ve been thinking about doing that with our kitchen table (SHHHH don’t tell Nick!). 🙂

      Reply

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