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| Leave it to the pro. Michael Dresdner, a nationally known wood finishing and woodworking expert, has answered hundreds of common wood finishing questions in Varathane’s Q&A library to help you successfully complete your project. Click on a link to the left for help and solid advice. |
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| "I recently had new base kitchen cabinets made. They do not match the old top cabinets so I am considering new doors for my top cabinets, and refinishing the frames, sides and bottoms. Would refinisher work, and would I need to use TSP or special cleaner to remove grease and wax before using refinisher?"
Refinisher, which is typically a mixture of methanol, acetone, and toluene, will take off only certain finishes, including lacquer, shellac, and some varnishes. Whether it will work depends entirely on what finish is on the cabinets. Try it and see. If not, resort to paint remover. In either case, it is not a bad idea to clean the wood first, but neither is it, strictly speaking, necessary. |  | |
| "If we are going to use polyurethane over bare wood without a stain, is it necessary to use a wood conditioner prior to using the polyurethane?"
No, it is not. Wood conditioner is ONLY for use when staining, and then only with certain stains and certain woods. | | |
| "I acquired a butcher block table top. This top was actually used for butchering meat and has a heavy grease or tallow absorbed into the wood. I would like to cut this top in half and create small bar tables for around a pool table. I am at a loss as to how to prepare the surface to accept a bar finish. I have always had great success with all Varathane products and wondering if they have a product for a bar finish or if it is even possible to prepare this top to accept a finish with all those fats absorbed into the wood. I would like to avoid shaving the top surface so the character of the butcher block (knife marks and worn areas) can remain as it was."
All things considered, I would simply continue its maintenance as a chopping block, since trying to remove tallow and grease from end grain is indeed a fool’s errand.
The standard treatment for butcher block is to scrub it or scrape it about twice a year, then pour molten paraffin wax onto the surface. Once the wax dries, scrape off all that was not absorbed. This impregnates and seals the end grain, and leaves you more or less a wood surface. The paraffin will resist water from sweaty glasses, and the process is quite easy to renew each year, or whenever it is necessary. As an occasional table, it may last for many years before you need do anything. | | |
| "I recently purchased a guitar kit. The body has a thin veneer of maple on top of basswood. There is no paint or stain on the wood, but a sealant was applied to the wood at the factory. I would like to stain it, but I do not want to risk sanding the thin maple veneer. I have been told that this rules out the use of a water-based stain, and that I will have to use an alcohol-based stain. Is this correct?"
Nope. It is both incorrect and misguided. If you want to stain the wood, strip off the finish, since stain should go onto raw wood. However, the right way to strip finish off veneer is chemically, not by sanding. Paint remover will take off the sealer but leave all the veneer intact, and you will be free to stain it with anything you like. |
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