How to remove the varnish. How to remove varnish from a wooden surface: basic options. Mechanical and thermal cleaning. Chemical processing. Varnish application. Is it worth it to spend money on chemical washes

When restoring furniture, there is often a need to remove varnish from a wooden surface. For many people, calling a professional master is an expensive pleasure. And why, if most of the necessary tools and materials are in the house, it remains only to use them correctly. In our article we will look at how to remove varnish from wood using the most popular methods, without making gross mistakes.

Should you spend money on chemical washes?

Removing varnish from furniture is often done using chemicals. They are a complex of specialized substances and are called washes; they can be in a liquid, powdery and gel-like state. Their task is to destroy the outer layer of the paintwork quickly, efficiently and effortlessly. The choice of a suitable remover depends largely on the type of varnish. So, it is better to remove oil varnish and paint with white spirit or turpentine, bakelite and alcohol varnish - with ethyl alcohol, and gasoline is also suitable for other categories. There are quite a few specialized washes.

Among them, we can mention a tool for removing varnish from wood Docker S5 Lack... The advantage of these household chemicals is that they are odorless, so they can be used for indoor use. Despite this, when working with chemical solvents, it is necessary to ensure all safety measures - open the vents, wear a cotton suit, rubber gloves, a respirator and goggles.

The further process will consist of five main stages. The first is the preparation of the working solution. If you purchased the wash in liquid or aerosol form, you do not need to do anything, but the powder will need to be diluted with water in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. As a result, you should have a thick paste that will adhere well even to a vertical surface, until it is removed. The second step is to apply the wash. Take a paint brush, pick up the required amount of paste and spread it over the entire surface in a thick layer. The third stage is fixing the polyethylene film. Prepare a regular film and cover the washed area with it. This will help enhance the solvent effect. We leave the film until the removal of the wash, when it acquires a dark brown color, and the paintwork itself is swollen.

The fourth step is to remove the remover and varnish. After the time specified by the manufacturer, the paintwork should completely peel off, and it can be easily removed with a spatula, after which you need to walk several times with sandpaper over the surface. When working with a trowel, we recommend using a tool with no sharp edges in order not to damage the wood. When using a new tool, its blade must be lightly treated with a sharpening stone. Alternatively, use a plastic squeegee.

The final stage is the elimination of the residues of the wash. To complete the process and move on to the next stage of the restoration, prepare the cleaning agent by dissolving 100-150 ml of table flavor in half a liter of water. Dip a foam rubber sponge into the mixture and walk it over the entire wooden surface, then remove excess moisture with a dry cloth and leave the furniture to dry. Instead of a vinegar solution, you can also use alcohol; it will well remove adhering varnish and remover residues.

Mechanical cleaning - sandpaper or drill?

To remove the top layer, in addition to chemical action on the paintwork, a mechanical method is used. It is especially effective in cases where the varnish layer is rather thick and it is problematic to remove it with solvents. When cleaning mechanically, remember that the sanding tool must move along the wood fibers so as not to damage their integrity.

The easiest way to remove varnish is with coarse sandpaper or a steel brush.... They are convenient to use if the paintwork is peeling off in fragments and the working area is small. When finishing work in hard-to-reach places, the varnish can be removed with a spatula. For mechanical cleaning, a special construction tool is also used - a scraper, which consists of a comfortable wooden handle and a sharpened steel plate. Due to the angular orientation of the handle, it is easy to work with such a tool, creating the necessary pressure when acting on the surface.

And for the process to go faster and with minimal effort, you need an electric drill with a sticky or rubber grinding wheel. You can cut out a piece of sanding paper yourself and press down with a screw.

When working with such a device, a lot of chips and dust are generated, therefore, you should open the windows, cover the work surface and nearby things with film, and also wear a respirator and goggles. To remove varnish from furniture, we put on a drill a grinding wheel with emery paper with a grain size of 80 to 120 mm. When the main layer is removed, we change the sandpaper to paper with a grain size of 180 mm, neutralize all the remnants of the paintwork.

Exposure to heat and moisture - how does paintwork react?

To remove varnish from the surface of furniture by the thermal method, heating elements are used - a blowtorch or a hair dryer, which soften the top layer and allow you to quickly clean the surface. When carrying out such work, you should be extremely careful not to damage the wood. If the coating begins to char, smoke and bubble, this is a sign of overheating and work must be stopped urgently. For example, when working with a building hair dryer, many do not take into account that this is a device with a high heating temperature up to 600 ° C. As a result, the hair dryer is brought too close to the wooden surface, it begins to deform, turn black and becomes unusable.

However, if you adhere to several important rules, then removing varnish from wood by the thermal method is quite simple, fast, and most importantly high quality. The first thing to remember is not to heat the entire surface at once, but to heat some of its fragments with a blowtorch or a hair dryer. Keep the heater away from the wooden surface, without raising the temperature. After the paint and varnish layer has melted, it must be quickly removed with a spatula before it has time to harden again. We do this gradually with the entire surface of the furniture until the varnish is completely removed.

The safest and most cost-effective varnish removal method is water. For this, you will need a bowl of water, a foam sponge, and coarse sandpaper. We dip a sponge in water, moisten the entire surface of the furniture, after which we take coarse sandpaper and repeatedly walk over the wood. We continue to repeat the steps until the varnish begins to flake off and turn into gruel. At the end of the work, the furniture must be thoroughly wiped, dried and processed with fine-grained emery paper to eliminate small roughness. This method is suitable for removing a thin layer of varnish.

Summing up, I would like to say that if you are going to cover the furniture with new paint and open it with varnish after removing the old layer, choose a remover to dissolve the paint and varnish layer, and if you tint products with stain, use the mechanical or thermal method so that it lies flat. We hope that one of the above methods will work for you! Good luck with your work!

Varnish is used to cover various wooden products: furniture, parquet, panels, etc. They can be made from natural wood, as well as from wood products (chipboard, fiberboard).

Therefore, the question of how to remove an old varnish from a wooden surface requires studying the features of the structure of the tree and the properties of the varnish with which it is covered.

What types of varnish are used

Rare wooden things are covered with solutions of natural resins: shellac, alcohol compounds.

Modern things are varnished with a complex chemical composition.

Varnishes are divided into three groups: alcohol, alkyd, oil.

When applied, any varnish creates a thin transparent film on a wooden surface. The wood retains its natural pattern and the lacquer finish gives it a shine.

In the newest varnishes, there are no solvents at all, they are replaced by oligomers. With the help of catalysts, they quickly harden, providing accelerated drying of the varnish on the wood.

How to remove old varnish from a wooden surface efficiently and quickly, without damaging the surface?

Instructions for removing varnish from a wooden surface

The main task of the master is not to damage the base of the wooden product when removing the varnish.

If a layer of old varnish is removed mechanically, then the top layer of wood must be removed. This method is completely unsuitable for products with chipboard, since it violates the texture. Mechanical varnish removal (scraping) is carried out with great diligence, applying a lot of effort, with a special cycle tool. For a single coat of varnish, sandpaper will suffice. Craftsmen also use a grinding machine. The advantage is that the varnish is immediately removed and the surface is sanded.

Another option is to thermally remove the varnish from the wooden surface. So you can remove the varnish very quickly, but special devices are needed: a building hair dryer or a gas burner. You also need special skills, since you need to hold the heating device with one hand, with the other to remove the varnish that is lagging behind the tree. You need to be especially careful to prevent ignition. Certain types of varnish do not flake off when heated, but simply peel off on a wooden surface. Therefore, it is worth picking up a special chemical agent and rinse off the remaining varnish.

How to remove varnish

Step one. Purchase a specialized nail polish remover. Study the instructions.

Step two. Wear gloves, goggles, protecting yourself from contact with the skin and mucous membranes. Apply the product with a brush to the varnished surface.

Step three... Allow time for the liquid to react with the varnish. Darkening of the liquid and swelling of the varnish are observed. To remove several layers, it is necessary to extend the exposure time by covering the surface to be cleaned with a film.

Step four. How to remove old varnish from wood when it has softened? Just take a putty knife and start sanding the wood. The procedure must be carried out carefully so as not to damage the top layer of the wooden product. The remaining particles are removed with sandpaper, lightly grinding the surface.

Step five. Neutralize a special wash on a wooden surface. To do this, you need to quickly rinse the area of \u200b\u200bremoval of varnish with water, wipe with a dry cloth and allow the tree to dry before the next coating.

All work on cleaning a wooden surface with chemical agents should be carried out in a well-ventilated area.

DOCKER LACK is an industrial varnish remover. Effectively removes all types of varnish from wood, metal, stone. Deep penetration wash. Gel. Without smell.

You will need

• - brush,
• - film,
• - putty knife,
• - latex gloves,
• - protective glasses,
• - metal brush,
• - knife,
• - sanding paper of different grain size,
• - Sander,
• - a container with water,
• - a few sponges or rags

Instructions

Use a remover (special compound) - this is the traditional way of removing old varnish from wooden parts of objects. It is unlikely that you will be able to wash off the coating in one go, so tune in to a rather long process. Apply the remover liberally to the surface to be treated and spread evenly with a brush.

To prevent the remover from drying out, cover the workpiece with foil or plastic. After a day, remove the wash with a spatula, separating the varnish from the wood. First, try separating the wash and varnish in one place. If the coating does not come off completely, apply the wash again, again for a day. Use a soft wire brush or a knife blade if you need to work on embossed parts.

After removing the stripper and coating, rinse the workpiece in warm water to completely remove all the chemicals in the stripper. Then leave the product to dry (at least one day).

You can remove the varnish by firing, just do not allow the product to char. Soften the varnish layer with a blowtorch or air dryer. Heat small areas until the coating melts.

Work in two: in one, a hairdryer or a soldering iron, in the other with a spatula, with which you scrape off the softened varnish. As soon as the coating starts to bubble or smoke, stop heating to avoid charring.

The old coating can be removed mechanically, using a sanding or a scraper, but be careful not to damage the wood product itself. If the varnish already leaves the wood in layers, remove it with a stiff metal brush, and in hard-to-reach corners with a spatula blade or a large screwdriver.

Old paint can also be removed with an eccentric sander and coarse sanding paper. In this case, wear a protective mask as the grinder generates a lot of dust. After sanding the part with a coarse grit 80 to 120 grit sandpaper, switch to 180 grit paper.

You can also remove the varnish using the "wet" method: moisten the part with a wet sponge and sand it with paper with grain size 80 and 120, periodically moistening the area to be treated. At the same time, dust does not form, and the varnish from wet friction turns into a thick mass that is easy to remove.

Wipe the finished part thoroughly with a damp sponge, after drying, once again go over the surface with fine sandpaper. After that, the part is ready for further processing.

Removing varnish from wood - the most effective methods

Wood products are coated with tinted or transparent varnish to give durability and preserve the aesthetic beauty of the fiber structure. It looks pretty. But time passes, and the appearance loses its attractiveness. This mainly happens under the influence of the atmosphere: direct sunlight; temperature drop. Chemical processes take place and the integrity of the coating is compromised.
If the coating is intact, then applying a new layer of varnish on top does not cause the slightest difficulty. It is enough only:

• remove dirt and dust;
• mat the surface: sand the surface with fine sandpaper to ensure adhesion between the old and new layers of varnish;
• degrease the surface: depending on the varnish with a solvent or white spirit;
• apply one or more layers of varnish.

Situations often arise when it is necessary to remove the varnish from a wooden product. Visually, this is visible in the presence of cracks in the paintwork. When applying a new coat of varnish, both coats will begin to peel off or fold. This is also often the case when applying nitro varnish to an alkyd based varnish. As a result, you will have to remove all layers of varnish from the product.
The main ways to remove varnish from wood

The first way suitable only for joinery production. By means of a calibration machine, 1 millimeter of the surface is removed. But! This is real only with a door or a countertop, while the thickness of the product decreases, and in the door leaf, manual varnish removal on the seams and panels is also added to this. After calibration, the surface is sanded, prepared, and varnish is applied in 2-3 layers.

Second way the most time consuming and costly in terms of materials. Remove the coating by hand using sandpaper or, if the appearance is irrelevant, with a wire brush. You can remove from flat surfaces with a grinder. There are enough cons in this method. A lot of work time and a lot of sandpaper consumption. Some people manage, at home, to remove cracked varnish with a spatula, but you yourself can imagine the quality of the product's appearance.

Third way, in my opinion, the simplest and highest quality. Apply the varnish remover from wood evenly with a brush, roller, spray gun or swab. Wait 10-15 minutes and remove with a spatula and chisels in hard-to-reach places. The chemical agent should be chosen depending on the type of varnish. We recommend Docker S5 Lack wood varnish remover. This product is odorless, but you still need to adhere to safety precautions, protecting the skin and eyes from liquid ingress. After that, it is advisable to degrease the surface with a solvent, removing the remains of the chemical agent and sandpaper and degrease. That's it, the surface is ready for varnish application.

In some cases, the old varnish must be removed before applying a new coat of varnish or paint. This can be done in different ways: heat treatment, use a mechanical method, or wash. It can be quite difficult to immediately determine the choice of the most suitable option, because not every person understands the features of the use of certain means.

Consider how to choose the perfect way and remove varnish from a wooden surface at home, spending the minimum amount of time and effort.

Process features

There are no universal remedies that are suitable in all cases. The choice of the best option depends on a variety of nuances. Here are the most important ones.

• The thickness of the previous varnish coat. If it is thick, it will take a significant amount of time to remove it.
• The composition of the paint and varnish material.
• Surface type. Much will depend on what exactly you have to clean from varnish: parquet or piece of furniture.

Chemicals

The use of chemicals (washes) is a very popular method for removing varnish from furniture, doors and other wood products. It works especially well if the surface is delicate. You can use common solvents, special liquids, gels, powders.

The choice of the appropriate option depends on the specific situation. Denatured alcohol is suitable if you need to remove shellac.

If there are relatively few layers of varnish on the surface (up to 3), you can use liquids. Such funds are not absorbed very deeply, because they quickly disappear.

A great option for large-scale work is powders. Powdered products are easy to transport and have a long shelf life. They should be diluted with water before use. This creates a thick pasty mass that is convenient to apply to the surface. Various ready-to-use pastes and gels are also suitable for situations where a significant amount of paint needs to be removed.

You can also use spray cans to remove varnish from wood. A foam layer forms on the treated substrate. Such tools are convenient to use, but they are suitable only in cases where the amount of work is insignificant.

Instructions for the use of washes

With the help of chemicals, the varnish should be removed in several stages.

• Apply the wash first. This can be done with a brush. One place should be processed only once, the funds should not be too much.
• The effect can be enhanced with a compress... Place plastic wrap on the treated base. Then you should wait a few hours. In this case, the paint-and-lacquer layer may begin to "swell", and the wash may become brownish or dark brown.
• When the paint material has softened, remove it using a spatula... If the instrument is new, the edges may be too sharp. In this case, you can use a whetstone to round them a little. This will help you do your job more accurately.

When the varnish "swells", you will need to press on it as carefully as possible.

It is possible that you will not be able to completely remove the layer in one go. In this case, the procedure can be repeated, although some people prefer to simply use sandpaper.

• Remnants of the chemical will need to be washed off with a vinegar solution or plain water. The material should be removed with the utmost care, but do not treat the surface for too long, otherwise moisture can damage the wood. After rinsing the base, dry it and place the product in a ventilated and dry area. It is recommended to avoid direct sunlight on the surface. When the wood is completely dry, you can apply new paint and varnish to it.
• When working with chemicals, you must remember about safety. The room will need to be thoroughly ventilated.

Mechanical method

The essence of this method is that the varnish is peeled off the surface. It is convenient to do this using a cycle (a special tool that looks like a carefully sharpened steel plate with a handle). The pressure on the base is quite strong because the handle is angled. You can buy such a tool or create it yourself.

If you do not have the necessary fixture at home, ordinary glass is allowed. To avoid injury, gloves must be used to protect the skin of the hands.Also, this option has a significant disadvantage - the glass quickly becomes dull.

In cases where there is little varnish on the wooden surface, you can use regular sandpaper. You can attach it to the grinder or apply it separately.

The following types of special devices are distinguished:

• eccentric;
• vibrating;
• tape.

The most affordable in terms of cost are vibration machines. With the help of such devices, you can clean furniture from varnish. Place sandpaper on the “sole” of the device. Then it can be used. During such work, a lot of dust usually appears, but this method is more effective than sanding the surface by hand. The base is smoother and more aesthetic.

It is worth considering that dust can get on objects that are nearby, so they will need to be protected. This can be done with polyethylene film.

Many people who want to remove varnish prefer mechanical processing of wood, because in this case they do not have to use chemical agents, which are usually dangerous to human health. However, the use of mechanical devices has one drawback - such work is not easy and requires a significant amount of time.

Some do not want to engage in mechanical wood processing on their own, but prefer to contact specialists. Using professional equipment allows you to achieve the best results.

Heat treatment

You can heat the wood to clean it. As a result, the paint and varnish material will stick to the substrate much worse. Cracks will appear on the coating, and it can be removed using a special tool (spatula, chisel).

When carrying out heat treatment, there are several important points to consider.

• If the coating begins to char rather than flake off, the cleaning method will need to be changed. In this case, you can use chemicals.
• Goggles and protective gloves must be worn. Also, during and after work, thorough ventilation is mandatory. When the varnish is heated, it can release substances that are hazardous to human health. It should also be borne in mind that pieces of paint and varnish material can bounce off the base. It should also be remembered about fire safety.