How to remove paint splatter on stain

[BobBrumby]

I picked up this dresser a couple of moons ago on a curbside collection day. I like the corroded mirror but the white paint splotches from the previous owner are a bit unsightly. How would you go about trying to remove the marks? I have tried nothing and am all out of ideas . I would entertain the thought of restaining the whole front, if it were the only option but... Is there some tricks of the trade that might be worth trying before pulling out the sander? Sorry i tried a quick search but my keywords are not finding much.

Bit of back ground: I found it infront of an old heritage queenslander house as the owner and probably his son were carrying it out to the foot path, had a chat to them and the son said it had always been at the place since he grew up there. If i had to guess the paint is oil based.

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[Robson Valley]

Hopefully, the paint droplets are sitting on top of the original finish.
I'd try a "cabinet scraper" first to skim off the "freckles."
That's mechanical and wouldn't disturb much of the original finish.

Try Lee Valley # 05K30.10. This should land you in the middle of several pages of scrapers in the LV Woodworking Tools Catalog.
I make little ones of my own from junk steel lumber strapping metal.

[auscab]

Yeah there is a trick of the trade . If you want to pick it off the finish on at a time I use a type of scraper , more like a screw driver looking tool but its made of Brass or bronze . A little rod of bronze rod from my gas brazing gear , hammered out at the end . fitted to a handle and filed all square and true like a fresh screw driver. This is the tool for pushing spots of paint off polish , or paint and crud off brassware. It amazed me when I first started using it to find that the difference between a brass tool and a steel tool could be seen and noticed on a polish job. But it is noticeable and better . when you get enough of the spots off I would give the finish left a rub back with fine sand paper like 400 and a linseed oil and turps mix to lubricate it . This should get rid of fine stuff you missed . Rob

[MrFixIt]

If you choose to use a scraper I would recommend you begin with a PLASTIC scraper, possibly the edge of a credit/loyalty card. Depending on the finish under the paint, you may find that the paint has soaked into the grain of the wood. If this is the case you may have very fine lines of paint remaining visible. The amount of effort required to remove such lines is probably more effort that it is worth for the result.

If you choose to use fine "sandpaper", you need to use wet & dry (I'd recommend 800 grit), the suggestion of linseed oil and turps mix to lubricate it is good. You WILL need to do the whole drawer front (unless you can do only the very fine spots). The use of any grade of wet & dry on sections of the drawer front WILL leave variations in the appearance, hence the need to do the WHOLE drawer front. To do this properly you will need to remove the drawer handles. Be aware that if you remove the handles it is possible that you may pull off some of the existing stain, so be careful when removing the handles.

Before making a start, I'd recommend reviewing what google has to say on this subject here is a search link https://goo.gl/r2G29c

[auscab]

Here is my little Brass / Tobin Bronze Rod fitted to a handle . Its the best at taking anything off aged brass without taking the aged layer . Plenty of times in restoration you need to re polish or remove polish or paint without changing the aged look of the brass ware. It also is good at removing paint spatter or spots off polish work.

It normally needs dressing up with a file or sand paper to give it crisp square edges for it to work well.

Rob