Part 1 - Painting my antique wardrobe

[Aangelique1611]

OK, I have just bought a unit requiring LOTS of work... and I have never done so much as changed a light bulb ... needless to say Im on a rather steep learning curb and you may be hearing lots from me, hopefully most of it wont seem too silly... But 1stly something trivial. I have decided to tackle the things I am happy to stuff up 1st ... this weekend it is an antique wardrobe that is lacquered, do I really have to strip it back (using lacquer stripper or paint stripper if it gets too tough i think) or can I just sand it a bit then paint it ... obviously the latter would be my preference. I stripped a black coffee table last weekend and it was HARD work, with all the detail in this beast I would like to avoid scraping at all costs ... direction anyone?

[Ben (TM)]

It's probably going to depend on a couple of things.
1. What are you going to finish it with - paint or a stain/varnish type finish?
2. What condition is it in?

If you are going to use paint, then you may very well get away with a light sand and patch up any holes/knocks with putty, then on with your new paint. This assumes that the existing finish is in reasonable nick - ie not peeling or cracking up anywhere.

If you want to go for a clear finish, then you will probably have to strip back to bare timber to get a decent result.

[Bin J]

Hello!

A friend of ours bought a restaurant and all course everything that comes with it, including all the tables and chairs. They were solid timber, painted with gloss enamel blue and yellow paint! :eek: So she got rid of them and bought new ones. She took a really big table home and had it out the back of her house for ages. It had dog food all over it and was generally disgusting. They were going chuck it to the tip and I asked for it.

It took me about 6 weekends to strip back the paint with paint striper and sander. It took me another 2 weekends to stain / finish. The table had NO intricate routing or anything. It was hard work, but definately worth it. It's not perfect, still kind of rustic, but it was free (in $ anyway) and I fixed it!

You are stripping back clear lacquer? I don't know if there is other stripper for that, other than normal old paint stripper . . . Unfortunately I don't think there is any miracle, easy way to do these things . . .

[Aangelique1611]

It is in perfect condition surface wise I just want to make it white rather than dark timber. Might run with the sanding idea from what you have said.... I still have lots of paint stripping to do with the coffee table and am not enjoying it so would like to avoid more of the same... Thanks for telling me I can! My gut feeling said yes but I didnt want to stuff it up ... Thanks.