![]() ![]() I would rather put in a little more time and know that I’m not at risk of damaging my skin or breathing in toxic fumes. Sure, using harsh chemicals probably could’ve gotten the job done faster, but at what risk? If something says it might burn your skin, I say no thank you! Once the surface is wiped clean, you’re ready to refinish your furniture! Wipe your surface to remove any remaining sawdust. Continue sanding using higher grit sandpaper until you achieve your desired smoothness. Sand using 120 grit sandpaper for a smoother finish. 60 grit will not leave your furniture feeling great, but you will spend a lot less time using the 80 grit than you had to spend on the 60 grit. Sand using 80 grit sandpaper to smooth your furniture back out. Sand your furniture using 60 grit sandpaper until the majority of the color is gone and the natural wood is revealed. I tried it both ways! If you do skip the scrubbing make sure the mixture is dry to the touch before sanding. When your furniture is no longer feeling slick, you’ve successfully removed the polyurethane and are ready to sand! Note: you can skip the scrubbing, but sanding is significantly quicker if you do complete step 3. Scrub your furniture with 3M Heavy Duty Stripping Pads or wire brushes. Let it sit on your furniture for a few minutes. Step 2: put the mixture on your furnitureĬover your furniture with the mixture using a cloth or paintbrush. Stir it all together and then add in your cold water and cornstarch. Pour your 4 cups of water into a bucket and add 3/4 cup baking soda and 1 tbsp of vinegar. Mix together 1/2 cup cold water and 1 cup cornstarch until it creates a thick paste. Step 1: create your varnish removal mixtureīoil 4 cups of water and remove it from the stove. If you’re planning to strip furniture that is made from one of these woods, I’d recommend trying another method like sanding or a chemical stripper. Oak, mahogany, cherry, and maple tend to have higher tannin levels. The low tannin levels weren’t enough to cause a chemical reaction with the wood but helped to strip the polyurethane. Pine has very low tannin levels, which explains why this method worked fine for us. Tannin levels vary from wood type, but woods with high tannin levels can have a chemical reaction when it comes in contact with baking soda. Baking soda reacts with the tannins in wood. Upon further investigation, it seems that the baking soda was likely the issue. This method worked for us, but we had a few readers reach out saying that it didn’t work for them and actually stained their wood. New to DIY? Download our free 5 Steps to Getting Start with DIY guide!īefore we dive in, I want to offer a word of caution. This post contains affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link, I earn a small commission, but it won’t cost you a penny more)! How to remove polyurethane from wood without chemicals Fair warning, you might be spending an hour (or several) sanding. ![]() So I decided to modify a mild varnish remover that I found from Hunker, but I was going to take out the main ingredient: ammonia.įor us it did! We were able to get 3 coats of poly, paint, and stain off of our fire pit table and start fresh. I looked around for natural removal methods and every time I thought I got close to finding one, I realized it really was too good to be true. I looked at the poor table that had already been stained, painted, and sealed three times and insisted that we refinish it.Īndrew didn’t like the idea because stripping all that poly usually requires some pretty harsh chemicals. It didn’t match our new design and colors at all, but I didn’t want to build a new one. We had almost completed 5 projects without coming up with a single new project to do. So when we were updating our screened porch, we thought we were almost done. I can’t stop thinking about the next thing and he can’t stand to think about the next thing until the current thing is finished. Whenever we start a project, it always snowballs in 5 more and Andrew hates it. One project always leads to another, which leads to another. ![]()
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