ECO FRIENDLY FURNITURE REFINISHING

One of the most common means of furniture restoration is furniture refinishing. Refinishing furniture can breathe new life into pianos, tables, chairs, cabinets, bookcases, jewelry boxes and other items that have started to look a little bit worn.
With any furniture restoration project - and furniture refinishing is no exception - there are a few things to consider. First, you want to think about whether or not you can do it yourself. You may be thinking, "Why couldn't I tackle furniture refinishing myself? All it takes is a few hours, some sandpaper and new stain." While in many cases this is true, some furniture restoration should be left to the pros.

For example, piano refinishing isn't the same as refinishing a jewelry box. Many large pieces - pianos, armoires - are far easier for professionals to restore and refinish. Another furniture restoration project that may be better suited for a professional is refinishing chairs. You may find that, for these projects, hiring a professional will cost less and take less time than if you were to do the projects yourself.

Another professional who you may want to consult before taking on a furniture restoration project is an antiques appraiser. While refinishing furniture you bought new can help give the piece more character or even help you to sell it for a profit at a yard sale, there are rare and collectible pieces of furniture that will lose value if they are refinished. When you've bought an antique dining room table, coffee table or cabinet, furniture refinishing could lower the value of the piece and you may want to look into a thorough professional cleaning instead.

If you are only looking at refinishing furniture that is newer or that has sentimental value, you may choose not to consult with a professional. In that case, it's often best to get right into the project on your own.

To start your furniture-refinishing project, it's often best to find a spot that won't be noticed as a test site. In this spot - low on the back of the piece or on the bottom - you'll want to start the furniture refinishing by removing a small portion of the current finish. Doing so will let you see what you're up against and how hard will it be to remove the current finish from the furniture.

The answer to that question will vary some. Simple surfaces like a table will be easier to refinish than a cabinet with intricate corner work. Using a furniture stripper and a scraper will make it easier to remove a painted or varnished finish than merely using sandpaper. Once you've determined how to best remove the old finish from the furniture, the next step is to work outdoors (when possible) to remove the old varnish and paint.

Furniture refinishing, however, is not just about removing the old finish. Refinishing furniture requires stripping the old finish and then preparing the surface for a new finish by sanding the surface and wiping down the sawdust that sanding stirred up. Only after the surface has been prepared can you start the final step in this furniture restoration project: applying the new finish.

Refinishing the furniture, therefore, means knowing what the new finish will be. For some, the goal of refinishing furniture is to strip off color, get back to the natural wood and apply a clear finish that shows off the item's natural beauty. For others, furniture refinishing is a matter of taking the wood to a darker shade - staining pine so that it takes on the color of cherry or mahogany wood.

Still others look at furniture refinishing as a chance to bring color to their table, desk, bookshelf or bureau. When refinishing furniture, many are likely to choose a colored stain followed with a topcoat of varnish for sheen. Another common choice people, who are looking for color, make is to select paint that matches the room or provides the contrast they are looking to achieve in their room.

Furniture restoration, after all, is a personal choice. Refinishing furniture gives you a chance to create a new look without going out and buying something new. For those inclined to take on little projects on their own, refinishing furniture can be a great way to spend a weekend - and have something to show for their time, for years to come.

With the threat of global warming looming large, more and more people are switching over to energy-efficient appliances and environmentally-friendly products. Offices are large consumers of furniture and in keeping with the green revolution it is important that office furniture should be eco-friendly. The primary concerns to be considered when choosing eco-friendly office furniture are the choice of wood and the chemicals involved in the manufacture of the furniture.

Hard wood has traditionally been the material of choice for office furniture. However, with increasing pressure to save precious natural rainforest resources, the new trend is to manufacture furniture only from woods obtained in an environmentally friendly manner. Most furniture makers are now committed to sourcing their wood only from lumber companies that are known to indulge in sustainable forestry practices.

When buying office furniture, look for those that have been certified by recognized authorities such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). These certifications guarantee that the wood has been sourced from well-managed forests that meet the principles of environmental conservation including maintenance of ecosystems, conservation of biological diversity and establishment of long-term management practices.

Recycled materials are also beginning to find favor in the office. Office chairs are now available that are being constructed of material that is made from recycled soda bottles.

It is equally important that office furniture should also meet indoor environmental pollution standards. Certain finishes, glues and stains create emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) that are largely responsible for indoor air pollution. Eco-friendly office furniture includes powder-based finishing coats that require less energy to manufacture, create less waste and are VOC- free. Greenguard, a non-profit organization evaluates the effects of various products on the indoor air quality. Opting for furniture with a Greenguard certification ensures that only low-emission materials that are non-polluting are used in the product.

Business owners have recognized the importance of buying eco-friendly office furniture. With furniture-makers acknowledging the need to comply with the ever-increasing demand, eco-friendly office furniture is now easily available in a wide range of designs and eco-friendly materials.

One of the most common means of furniture restoration is furniture refinishing. Refinishing furniture can breathe new life into pianos, tables, chairs, cabinets, bookcases, jewelry boxes and other items that have started to look a little bit worn.

With any furniture restoration project - and furniture refinishing is no exception - there are a few things to consider. First, you want to think about whether or not you can do it yourself. You may be thinking, "Why couldn't I tackle furniture refinishing myself? All it takes is a few hours, some sandpaper and new stain." While in many cases this is true, some furniture restoration should be left to the pros.

For example, piano refinishing isn't the same as refinishing a jewelry box. Many large pieces - pianos, armoires - are far easier for professionals to restore and refinish. Another furniture restoration project that may be better suited for a professional is refinishing chairs. You may find that, for these projects, hiring a professional will cost less and take less time than if you were to do the projects yourself.

Another professional who you may want to consult before taking on a furniture restoration project is an antiques appraiser. While refinishing furniture you bought new can help give the piece more character or even help you to sell it for a profit at a yard sale, there are rare and collectible pieces of furniture that will lose value if they are refinished. When you've bought an antique dining room table, coffee table or cabinet, furniture refinishing could lower the value of the piece and you may want to look into a thorough professional cleaning instead.

If you are only looking at refinishing furniture that is newer or that has sentimental value, you may choose not to consult with a professional. In that case, it's often best to get right into the project on your own.

To start your furniture-refinishing project, it's often best to find a spot that won't be noticed as a test site. In this spot - low on the back of the piece or on the bottom - you'll want to start the furniture refinishing by removing a small portion of the current finish. Doing so will let you see what you're up against and how hard will it be to remove the current finish from the furniture.

The answer to that question will vary some. Simple surfaces like a table will be easier to refinish than a cabinet with intricate corner work. Using a furniture stripper and a scraper will make it easier to remove a painted or varnished finish than merely using sandpaper. Once you've determined how to best remove the old finish from the furniture, the next step is to work outdoors (when possible) to remove the old varnish and paint.

Furniture refinishing, however, is not just about removing the old finish. Refinishing furniture requires stripping the old finish and then preparing the surface for a new finish by sanding the surface and wiping down the sawdust that sanding stirred up. Only after the surface has been prepared can you start the final step in this furniture restoration project: applying the new finish.

Refinishing the furniture, therefore, means knowing what the new finish will be. For some, the goal of refinishing furniture is to strip off color, get back to the natural wood and apply a clear finish that shows off the item's natural beauty. For others, furniture refinishing is a matter of taking the wood to a darker shade - staining pine so that it takes on the color of cherry or mahogany wood.

Still others look at furniture refinishing as a chance to bring color to their table, desk, bookshelf or bureau. When refinishing furniture, many are likely to choose a colored stain followed with a topcoat of varnish for sheen. Another common choice people, who are looking for color, make is to select paint that matches the room or provides the contrast they are looking to achieve in their room.

Furniture restoration, after all, is a personal choice. Refinishing furniture gives you a chance to create a new look without going out and buying something new. For those inclined to take on little projects on their own, refinishing furniture can be a great way to spend a weekend - and have something to show for their time, for years to come.

One of the most common means of furniture restoration is furniture refinishing. Refinishing furniture can breathe new life into pianos, tables, chairs, cabinets, bookcases, jewelry boxes and other items that have started to look a little bit worn.
With any furniture restoration project - and furniture refinishing is no exception - there are a few things to consider. First, you want to think about whether or not you can do it yourself. You may be thinking, "Why couldn't I tackle furniture refinishing myself? All it takes is a few hours, some sandpaper and new stain." While in many cases this is true, some furniture restoration should be left to the pros.

For example, piano refinishing isn't the same as refinishing a jewelry box. Many large pieces - pianos, armoires - are far easier for professionals to restore and refinish. Another furniture restoration project that may be better suited for a professional is refinishing chairs. You may find that, for these projects, hiring a professional will cost less and take less time than if you were to do the projects yourself.

Another professional who you may want to consult before taking on a furniture restoration project is an antiques appraiser. While refinishing furniture you bought new can help give the piece more character or even help you to sell it for a profit at a yard sale, there are rare and collectible pieces of furniture that will lose value if they are refinished. When you've bought an antique dining room table, coffee table or cabinet, furniture refinishing could lower the value of the piece and you may want to look into a thorough professional cleaning instead.

If you are only looking at refinishing furniture that is newer or that has sentimental value, you may choose not to consult with a professional. In that case, it's often best to get right into the project on your own.

To start your furniture-refinishing project, it's often best to find a spot that won't be noticed as a test site. In this spot - low on the back of the piece or on the bottom - you'll want to start the furniture refinishing by removing a small portion of the current finish. Doing so will let you see what you're up against and how hard will it be to remove the current finish from the furniture.

The answer to that question will vary some. Simple surfaces like a table will be easier to refinish than a cabinet with intricate corner work. Using a furniture stripper and a scraper will make it easier to remove a painted or varnished finish than merely using sandpaper. Once you've determined how to best remove the old finish from the furniture, the next step is to work outdoors (when possible) to remove the old varnish and paint.

Furniture refinishing, however, is not just about removing the old finish. Refinishing furniture requires stripping the old finish and then preparing the surface for a new finish by sanding the surface and wiping down the sawdust that sanding stirred up. Only after the surface has been prepared can you start the final step in this furniture restoration project: applying the new finish.

Refinishing the furniture, therefore, means knowing what the new finish will be. For some, the goal of refinishing furniture is to strip off color, get back to the natural wood and apply a clear finish that shows off the item's natural beauty. For others, furniture refinishing is a matter of taking the wood to a darker shade - staining pine so that it takes on the color of cherry or mahogany wood.

Still others look at furniture refinishing as a chance to bring color to their table, desk, bookshelf or bureau. When refinishing furniture, many are likely to choose a colored stain followed with a topcoat of varnish for sheen. Another common choice people, who are looking for color, make is to select paint that matches the room or provides the contrast they are looking to achieve in their room.

Furniture restoration, after all, is a personal choice. Refinishing furniture gives you a chance to create a new look without going out and buying something new. For those inclined to take on little projects on their own, refinishing furniture can be a great way to spend a weekend - and have something to show for their time, for years to come.

Table refinishing is a great idea that almost everyone can benefit from, and there are as many kinds and styles of tables as you can possibly think of. Many different kinds and materials to choose from too. There are end tables, dinette tables tilt top tables step tables wood ones metal ones wicker and rattan, Thomas Chippendale tables, Duncan Fife tables too, and Sheridan tables as well, just to name a few, and every one can be refinished several times. By far the most common table to refinish would be a type of classic wooden table.

Trees have been friend of man because they provide Wood a beautiful and renewable resource that has been used for thousands of years. Wood continues to be a great choice and is the material we are focusing on today. Of the millions of wood tables in use today that could be successfully Refinished, many will be discarded for no better reason than their owners don't know what to do to keep them in good and condition.

In grandpa's day, the idea of discarding otherwise good stuff just because of issues of wear was unthinkable. Thankfully there has been a movement toward better stewardship and most people have understood how bad the disposable mindset of the eighties and nineties was. When a good table begins to wear and the finish becomes ugly, the worn finish may be removed and another fresh finish can be reapplied, this is what is meant when we speak of refinishing.

The variety of finish colors and glosses are endless. Often through refinishing your table it can take on the appearance of an altogether different table, unrecognizable to most as the previous piece. For example, in the 1960's the use of early American decor called for an extremely orange color that was commonly used on birch and maple tables. The early American stain became so identified with that period that when the early American phase passed, nobody seemed to want those old orange maple tables, so we refinished hundreds of them.

Then again around 1974 dark pine came into fashion, most people never even noticed that the same tables from the sixties were now being finished and refinished in a color more in keeping with the design trend of the day and millions of tables continued to be sold with almost no design change, the only real difference was the finish color of the wood. In the eighties the trend toward cherry reached it's apex and furniture colors changed once again.

So it becomes understandable, that when one owns good tables that have become a worn, it makes sense to refinish. Although great tables are available at fine stores today, the old tables typically offer well-seasoned wood, good quality joints and workmanship of a higher quality than most made now, so you should think twice before you decide to spend your hard earned cash for new ones, and you too can enjoy better quality tables for less money than you thought possible if you remember to refinish rather than replace.

Learning how to refinish your furniture can cost you so much less than buying new furniture.

A lot of people prefer to buy new furniture because of the work involved in furniture refinishing. There are other people who don’t have the patience in completing it and end up having a terrible finish or just give up and go out to buy new furniture. One thing to remember is that “Rome was not built in a day,” and it will require time to complete any furniture-refinishing project.

Take a trip to your local hardwood store where trained professionals are there to help you to choose the right product for your refinishing project. You want to ditch the caustic chemicals and select a natural product for your safety. If you don’t mind working with chemicals, you must use these with care. Do not smoke while using these chemicals. Chemical strippers can be dangerous when inhaled, so wear a mask and gloves. If you are sanding inside the home, be sure to seal all air ducts and electrical outlets.

If you have to use any kind of power tools, be sure to use earplugs. Unplug your sander when you are getting ready to change the sander paper. Tools that you will need to begin your project are sander, electric drill, putty knife, bristle brush, paint scraper, safety goggles or mask, sanding block, chisel, canvas, rubber gloves, rubber pallet, paint brush and seam roller.

You have to clean the surface of the furniture before you get started. You can clean it with a wax remover or wood cleaner. Cleaning the surface will determine if the furniture is worth refinishing.

To determine what finish was previously use, follow these simple steps:

• Soak a small cotton ball in alcohol.
• Put this on a concealed area of the furniture and leave for about ten minutes.
• If you see any type of dissolving, then the finish is shellac.
• If you don’t see any type of dissolving, then go ahead and test a lacquer thinner in a concealed area. If this dissolves, then the finish is lacquer.

If these two tests are unclear, you may then be dealing with a varnish or synthetic finish. If the previous finish looks like it is simply worn out, you may be able apply the same finish easily.

If you are doing a full finish, make sure you strip the furniture and then begin to sand it down. Sandpaper of 100 to 200 grits is recommended. You should make sure you change the sandpaper often to get a better finish. If you don’t change it often, then it becomes of no use and you may be polishing instead of sanding at that point. An orbital sander is the best sander to use because it operates at about 8,400 orbits per minute. A padded sanding block gives you an edge over reaching difficult areas.

You apply a sealer after you stain the furniture. Make sure the surface is smooth and then go ahead and apply the finish smoothly to prevent any streaks or bubbles.

hear it all the time, the tone of semi disappointed do it yourselfers after they spend countless hours on their refinishing project "it doesn't look like we hoped it would. Like so many other times in life, when good folks find themselves disappointed. It really isn't their fault at all, all they did was read the brochure, and then the theater of the mind took over. I hear them say, "we followed the instructions to the letter, so why does it not look at all like we were hoping?"

Here is why, Restoration by the very definition of the word, requires that the restorer understand from what condition the original finish has fallen. To put it another way, if you don't know what it was, how can you know what it should be? So it's another situation of not even knowing what questions to ask because the idea of there being some other way isn't even there.

It is true that some furniture is finished with a really simple process, perhaps a coat of stain and then three or four coats of polyurethane, and for home woodworking projects and other simply functional stuff that will do, but if you have a nice medium, or high-line piece and you expect it to look as spectacular as it did when it first came to your home using a simple one or two step treatment, you may not know it now, but soon you will, it's not going to look anything like you are expecting. Where the harsh reality and the hoped for dream collide, that is where disappointment lives.

What you were hoping for was something a little more. For example, the finish that one would expect to find on furniture from a company like Baker, Henredon ,Drexell or Gramco, is really, really sophisticated. It is done by Master finishers with decades of experience. Even the apprentices in an environment like this possess knowledge of the ways of the "force". Artistic finishes like this sometimes require as many as twenty or more steps to achieve the depth and richness that people have come to expect from top drawer brands like these. When you see the fantastic catalogues and well lit showrooms it may be hard to imagine that even though there are many layers of finish, sealer, glaze, cow tails, spattering, brush-graining and finally several coats of topcoat hand rubbed to a deep rich glow, it is still quite thin. That is what gives the furniture that really refined classic look. When you compare the two different methods you begin to see that there is no comparison at all. On one hand the single step stain followed by multiple coats of oil-cured polyurethane you end up with a monochromatic, thick, plastic finish, the one up side to all the mill thickness is that these oil-cured poly finishes are pretty durable.

However, if you are looking to achieve a finish that has real depth and character, one that people look at, and just get lost in, that will require a lot more, a whole lot more. At a minimum, A base dye of the required intensity, followed by a wash coat of sealer, hand rubbed then glazed, followed by another wash, rubbed again, then add the light distressing and rag work, wash coat and rub once again, followed by gun shading and highlighting. All that by hand free form to match a specified sample before the first application of topcoat is applied. That process is not one that comes off the shelf. It is derived from a lifetime of touching the wood, looking at how the light dives into the wood and knowing what comes next, it is the difference between a pop tart and a fine French pastry. Refinishing furniture can be a really exciting and fulfilling thing to do when all goes well and the results are what you were expecting, but when it does not it can be a bad way to spend your vacation time. So next time you are thinking about taking on a refinishing project do your homework before you begin, ask for professional advice. If all the lights are green, go. If not, and you still want to go for it, maybe you should consider an apprenticeship in our restoration shop, who knows in four or five years you too may be a member of this quirky band of brothers known as Wood finishers.