How to Remove Paint From Wood Furniture

Natalie
by Natalie
6 Materials
$50
3 Days
Medium

When paint is chipping, peeling or completely damaged, we've got to get that paint off of the furniture before we can do anything else to it. So let's talk about how to remove paint from furniture.

This is what the dresser looked like before we started to work on it. The paint was chipping off because of water damage.


We were planning on painting it a dark grey, but we had to get the old paint off before we could paint it again.


Otherwise the new paint would just chip off with the old stuff, and it would look horrible!

We started by testing the paint for lead.


Yes you can still remove lead based paint, and you don't need to call in a pro. You can do it by yourself with a few safety precautions.


The white paint tested negative for lead, but the gold paint tested positive.


When you have lead based paint, it's best to remove it with a chemical stripper instead of sanding it. I wouldn't recommend sanding anyway because it's usually a much longer process, especially when you add in all the details on furniture.


Also be sure to gear up with your safety gear that is recommended for lead removal, so you don't ingest it in any way.

We put a nice thick layer of Citristrip Stripper all over the dresser and covered it with plastic wrap to make the stripper work longer and better.


The plastic wrap really works wonders, you neeeeeed to try it!

After we let it sit overnight, we removed the plastic wrap one section at a time and then scrapped off the paint and stripper.


Then we cleaned up the residue with mineral spirits and fine steel wool. And then we let the dresser dry for a day or so.

Once it was dry we sanded the wood down nice and smooth.


Instead of painting the dresser grey, we decided to go with a raw wood look.


So we sealed the wood with poly and finished off the "raw wood" look with a thin coat of a homemade cream colored wax.

Here it is all finished up with new hardware!!


Get even more details on this process over on our blog!


P.S. This post contains some affiliate links. These help you to find the products that we use, and they don't cost you a thing. But the company might pay us a small amount for sharing.

Suggested materials:
  • Citristrip Stripper
  • Plastic Wrap
  • Scraper
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Natalie
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 6 questions
  • Pam Davis Pam Davis on Nov 24, 2018

    Any thoughts on veneer?

  • Bridgette Saunders Bridgette Saunders on Mar 20, 2019

    How do you distress wood look for cabinets? And dry bush how to do it

  • Sharon Sharon on Sep 06, 2020

    It looks great and I appreciate that you can use a chemical stripper on lead paint but I was wondering about the disposal of the used stripper with the lead paint in it. Does it need to be disposed of as hazardous waste or is it safe to dispose of in the regular trash?

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  • Imp Imp on Sep 06, 2021

    Love it. The dark hardware is perfect on this piece.

  • Leslie Leslie on Sep 07, 2021

    Brava, brava, brava, Natalie, I have on various occasions warned about lead paint on wood with paint that is 1978 and older. That is when the law for using lead in paint went into effect. I wouldn't go by that date alone since many people still used what they had after 1978. People can get the test kits in HD or Lowes or similar establishments. They cost about $10.00 or with what is happening with inflation the price may have increased. Your bureau came out lovely. Thank you for sharing especially about the testing of old paint.♥️👍️♥️

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