We have an old end table that needs refinishing. It is stained and in
places the wood has darkened considerably.

My question is what can I use to bleach the wood that while not
returning it to the blond color of some of the 1950's pieces at least
will bring it back to the natural wood color.

Once we get the color problem taken care of we will finish it in the
normal way.

On Sat, 20 Oct 2012 22:43:30 -0400, Keith Nuttle
wrote:

We have an old end table that needs refinishing. It is stained and in
places the wood has darkened considerably.

My question is what can I use to bleach the wood that while not
returning it to the blond color of some of the 1950's pieces at least
will bring it back to the natural wood color.

Once we get the color problem taken care of we will finish it in the
normal way.

If it's not veneered, try lacquer thinner. I took all the finish off
Mom's old dining set with that in a solvent-proof squirt bottle. The
squirt bottle allows you to physically flush the pigment out of each
pore. Caution: This takes freakin' forever, so wear really good
gloves and breathing apparatus with good ventilation.

Remove the finish any way you can: stripper, thinner, sanding. Try
mineral spirits if you want, for a milder test solvent, but lacquer
thinner works really well.

Use long-cuffed thick nitrile or rubber gloves. Thin nitrile and latex
dissolve way too quickly with lacquer thinner.

--
Fear not those who argue but those who dodge.
-- Marie Ebner von Eschenbach

On 10/20/2012 9:43 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
We have an old end table that needs refinishing. It is stained and in
places the wood has darkened considerably.

My question is what can I use to bleach the wood that while not
returning it to the blond color of some of the 1950's pieces at least
will bring it back to the natural wood color.

Once we get the color problem taken care of we will finish it in the
normal way.

Sherwin Williams has a new blonde paint. It isn't too bright, but it
spreads easy.


--
Robert Allison
New Braunfels, TX

Larry Jaques wrote:
On Sat, 20 Oct 2012 22:43:30 -0400, Keith Nuttle
wrote:

We have an old end table that needs refinishing. It is stained and
in places the wood has darkened considerably.

My question is what can I use to bleach the wood that while not
returning it to the blond color of some of the 1950's pieces at least
will bring it back to the natural wood color.

Once we get the color problem taken care of we will finish it in the
normal way.

If it's not veneered, try lacquer thinner. I took all the finish off
Mom's old dining set with that in a solvent-proof squirt bottle. The
squirt bottle allows you to physically flush the pigment out of each
pore. Caution: This takes freakin' forever, so wear really good
gloves and breathing apparatus with good ventilation.

Remove the finish any way you can: stripper, thinner, sanding. Try
mineral spirits if you want, for a milder test solvent, but lacquer
thinner works really well.

Use long-cuffed thick nitrile or rubber gloves. Thin nitrile and latex
dissolve way too quickly with lacquer thinner.

As well, it might be worth trying alcohol and a 3M pad or 0000 steel wool
first. It's far less powerful than lacquer thinner, but you may find it
softens and repreads your finish just fine - depends on the finish. If it
does not work, then you could always move on to lacquer thinner.

--

-Mike-

Robert Allison wrote:
On 10/20/2012 9:43 PM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
We have an old end table that needs refinishing. It is stained and
in places the wood has darkened considerably.

My question is what can I use to bleach the wood that while not
returning it to the blond color of some of the 1950's pieces at least
will bring it back to the natural wood color.

Once we get the color problem taken care of we will finish it in the
normal way.

Sherwin Williams has a new blonde paint. It isn't too bright, but it
spreads easy.

Yes - I have heard that it goes down nice...

--

-Mike-