Published on : 11 January 20223 min reading time
Good reasons to repaint furniture
Does your dining table have stains and unsightly edges? Have you vacuumed the table legs too often, so that they are marked with splinters? Does the colour of the chest of drawers no longer match your new furnishing style? There are good reasons to not only replace an old and valuable piece of furniture, but to repaint it. Most often, it is signs of use that prompt you to rework a piece of furniture or have it repainted. That is why we had a black table with a glass top in our workshop. This unique piece of furniture, which was made by a carpenter, had, after about 10 years of use, chips on the legs, as well as edges and stains caused by moisture.
The first step is always a cleaning
If you have a similar suitcase at home and want to do your own beautification of your furniture, there are a few things to consider. The very first step is a thorough cleaning. In doing so, grease residues and stains, such as those from freshly created hands, must be removed. Tools: soapy water and a microfibre cloth.
In most cases, only a microfibre cloth, a little soapy water and water are needed. With untreated furniture, it is possible that the grease and especially the oil have already penetrated into the deeper layers of the wood. In this case, more material must be removed during sanding to completely remove all residues.
Sanding is essential
Sanding is essential before painting. It is not only about sanding out the deepest marks and notches, but also about preparing a substrate for the new varnish to which it can adhere well. Sanding paper is available in sheets, individually or in packs, rolls and machine sanding paper. It is advisable not to choose the cheapest type of sandpaper, as it tends to tear prematurely.
Choosing the right sandpaper
The hardness of the grit is usually indicated on the back of the paper. By using a coarse grit, the surface can be roughened considerably and the result is greater material removal. A coarse to medium coarse grit is an abrasive paper with a grit number of 80 and below. For our table, we worked with 120 grit sandpaper, i.e. the medium fine variant. If you need to remove many layers or thick layers, you can do the sanding in several stages. Start with a coarser grit sandpaper and continue with a finer grit sandpaper in the next phase. The aim here is to completely remove the remains of unwanted layers such as varnish and paint, while at the same time reducing marks and scratches from the sanding process.