How to remove varnish from a wooden surface?

It happens in life that an old chest of drawers, a chair or a table, has bored you with its appearance, but its functionality has not ceased to surprise you. You decided to change the appearance of this product, and the first stage is the removal of varnish, but you do not know how to remove the varnish from the wooden surface. In this case, you need to get the right information about it. In this article, we have selected for you the most relevant materials on the removal of varnish by various technologies.

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Why is it necessary to eliminate varnish from a tree?

First and foremost, it is necessary to understand that removal of paintwork from a tree is necessary in order to completely and completely expose the surface of the tree. After this, using a variety of tools, you can update its texture, provide the old furniture with a more elegant look, thereby giving it an antique value.

Before removing the varnish from a tree, you must learn that this procedure requires a lot of patience, and also that it is carried out carefully enough, in several stages. Even the slightest damage to wood is simply unacceptable.

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Chemical treatment

This method of liquidation of lacquer coating implies a fairly simple process of operation - apply some chemical composition to the surface of the tree. From it, a layer of old paint will begin to peel off and seem to lag behind the wood surface.

Important! Pay attention to the fact that it is not even worth trying to eliminate the old varnished surface on the panels from the chipboard. Together with a layer of varnish you remove the main decorative film. As a result, you can basically forget about the pleasant appearance of the product. Effectively remove the varnish can only be from the surface of natural wood.

You can remove varnish with gels, powders, special fluids or simply with a universal solvent like acetone.

Choice of remedy:

• If your wood surface is covered with shellac, it will be more effective to clean the entire old layer with the most ordinary denatured alcohol.
• Liquid formulations are especially good where it is necessary to remove a maximum of several layers. This is done because the liquid quickly enough to weather, respectively - because of this effect can not be absorbed sufficiently deep.
• Powders are relevant in those cases in which the amount of necessary work is incredibly great, so these materials can be kept long enough.
• Gels and pastes are useful for cleaning a fairly large number of layers of old paint or varnish.

Sequence of work

Now let's talk about the sequence of work - a brief instruction how to remove the varnish from the wooden surface with the help of chemistry:

1. Take the brush, dab it in liquid, then apply the composition to the plane with which you are going to work. In this case, try to apply the mass in such a way that the brush is directed in one direction, and also that one section does not pass twice.
2. Cover the whole treated surface with a film - this is done so that all the applied washings are not weathered and absorbed as deeply as possible.
3. Hold the film for 1-4 hours. The rule here is simple - the more layers you need to eliminate, the longer do not remove the film. But by and large, if it can be seen that the applied paste changed its shade, darkened, and the varnish allegedly swelled, then you can proceed to the next stage of the work.
4. Take an ordinary spatula with a width of about 10 cm, and then gently begin to remove the old layers of varnish. In this case, pay attention to the thickness of the layer, because if it is thin, it will probably be enough to walk on its surface with ordinary sandpaper.
5. Now neutralize the chemical effect of the wash directly on the surface. For this operation, either ordinary water or water to which you add vinegar is suitable. Just take and wash all the chemistry. Then wipe the plane with a flannel cloth and wait until the wood is completely dry.

Useful tip

Since you are likely to get the most common spatula, namely with sharp edges, we recommend that you use a bulgaria to slightly round them. The point is, if the edges are sharp, then there is a risk of damaging the wood surface directly while eliminating the varnish. A safer method is to take a plastic spatula, but they will have to work longer.

Important! Work with chemicals very carefully. Use protective gloves, respirators, carefully ventilate the room. Otherwise - you can cause irreparable harm to your health.

Advantages and disadvantages of chemistry:

1. High speed and efficiency of the process is the main advantage of using solvents.
2. The possibility of damage to the structure of the material with improperly selected substances or incorrect application of it, as well as the risk of allergy, poisoning, are obvious drawbacks of this method.

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Mechanical method for removing varnish

It is also possible to remove varnish from a wooden surface by direct physical action.

spatula In fact, this method is a surface cycle, in other words - this is the most common layer ripping with a special tool. The tool is an acutely sharpened plate that is made of steel. It must be secured at an angle in order to increase the pressure on the wooden plane, which is varnished.

Emery

Also refer to the mechanical method and surface cleaning using sandpaper by hand or by grinding machine. That is, an ordinary Bulgarian is taken, a circle is attached to the rotational mechanism together with sandpaper.

Important! This method is good, but consider that it is suitable only for planes, the thickness of which is small.

Advantages and disadvantages of the mechanical version:

1. What is the main advantage of the mechanical elimination of varnish, is that completely eliminated sharp, toxic smells. In addition, the wood itself is not subject to damage from the effects of liquids, as well as moisture.
2. If we talk about the disadvantages of this technology, then they are quite obvious - to clean the surface with a caving machine or the same emery will have a long enough and tedious. That is why, if you eliminate the varnish yourself with the help of mechanical cleaning, then you will have an incredible patience. And besides, the forces here will also need a lot.

Important! When working with grinding machines, a very large amount of dust enters the air from the working surface. Therefore, if the work is done directly in the living room, be sure to cover all valuable items with a film, and do not forget about the respirator and glasses.

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The correct procedure for applying a new paint layer

The approximate scheme of work should look like this:

1. Sand the whole wood surface with sandpaper. As a rule, first they work with a coarse fraction, and then gradually go over to fine-grained paper.
2. Then protect the tree against signs of rotting, bug breeding, mold. Produced this is quite simple - pour in a special jar of antiseptic liquid and apply a brush on the entire wooden surface. Try to soak the tree properly, in order for the antiseptic to penetrate as deeply as possible into the structure of the wood.
3. When the antiseptic layer completely withers, take a stain, paint or varnish, gently apply one or several layers to the surface of the tree. Usually this is done with a brush or roller. The main thing - be sure to wait for the complete drying of each of the previous layers.

That's all, now you know how to remove varnish from a wooden surface and apply a new layer. We hope that the information that was collected in this article was useful for you.