On Mar 4, 2:18*am, blueman wrote:
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.

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.

Or is there an advantage to using Minwax's magical formulation?

Methylene chloride-free product, perceived by unknowing
buyers as being safer. Unless you can't stand the odor,
you'd be better off using a methylene chloride based stripper
such as Bix or Zipstrip, since it works a lot faster than a slow
ATM formula. For lacquer or shellac, use the appropriate solvent.

The mineral spirits in your can of Furniture Refinisher do
nothing but bulk the product with a cheap, inert filler,
increasing profits for Minwax.