On 3/3/2010 11:18 PM blueman spake thus:

I need to strip the finish from some old furniture.
Someone suggested using Minwax Furniture Refinisher which supposedly
contains (among other things) alcohol, mineral spirits, and lacquer
thinner.

that doesn't even make sense if you think about it: that's like saying
"I have no frigging idea what that finish is, but if I just throw any
and all solvents at it, maybe it'll come off". (Assuming that that is
really what is in it; I have no idea.)

Alcohol will dissolve shellac, but nothing else. Lacquer thinner
(acetone + other stuff) will dissolve lacquer, but probably nothing
else, though it may damage paint or varnish. Mineral spirits, well,
won't dissolve anything really.

However, would I be better off just testing alcohol, mineral spirts, and
lacquer separately to see which ones best remove the old finish. The
theory being that it is better (and cheaper) to use the full-strength
version of the right solvent.

You could try alcohol and lacquer thinner to see whether the finish is
shellac (dissolved by alcohol) or lacquer, but if it's neither, you're
not even going to make a dent in it.

Sorry, you need to use some kind of real stripper here. Maybe that
Minwax stuff is it, but in that case, it has a lot more in it than the
ingrediments you mentioned.


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