Restoration of lacquered furniture

Lacquered furniture at all times was in great demand. Such products look incredibly beautiful, and the interior thanks to them becomes more solid. But this furniture has a huge drawback - it is very easy to scratch it. Therefore, they try to restore old interior items so as not to buy new ones. All these problems are completely solvable; it is possible to improve the appearance of varnished products so well that no one will even guess that they are already many years old. Restoration of lacquered furniture is a rather laborious, but interesting business. Today we will tell you how to do it on our own.

to contents ↑

Restoring wood surfaces

No matter how carefully we handle the furniture, stains, scuffs, and scratches appear on it all the time. All these defects are easy to eliminate, the main thing is to know how to do it correctly:

• If the wood surface has lost its gloss, then you need to find a quality tool for caring for it with orange oil. First, take a clean sponge, moisten it a little, warm for 20-30 seconds in the microwave. Spray the product with a spray bottle, then wipe with a hot sponge. Be sure to use rubber gloves.
• Stains and scuffs on the tree can be removed with a banana peel. It is enough to rub it slightly.
• Serious stains are removed with retouching markers, denatured alcohol and wax. First, the surface is cleaned with a dishwashing detergent, then after drying it is wiped with alcohol. Color is fully restored in most cases. Deep scratches are painted with a marker of the desired shade.

Important! To restore the surface shine, it is necessary to cover it with wax or polish it with a soft cloth.

• If there is a need to smooth out small irregularities, then you can use a nail file.
• If the tree is very swollen from moisture, then you can fix the problem with olive oil and salt. It is enough to mix these ingredients, apply gruel for damage, gently rubbing in a circular motion. The composition is left for 20-30 minutes. Salt just absorbs moisture, olive oil will make the fibers elastic again.
• In the presence of chips, the problem is solved by puttying. You can use a car or special for wood. It is better to buy a light putty, and give it the necessary color. The chip is smeared, then the putty is distributed over the adjacent surface. As soon as it dries, you should smooth the surface with sandpaper.

to contents ↑

How to restore polishing yourself?

Repairing the polished furniture surface is more complicated. Like any other restoration, it begins with the cleansing and degreasing of the lacquer coating. It is safer and safer to clean it with detergent.

Perform a polishing upgrade, depending on the nature of the damage, as follows:

• Iodine allows you to paint scratches on dark furniture. To achieve the desired shade, just dilute it with water or apply in several layers.

Important! You can also use furniture markers.

• Deep scratches are removed using mastic.To prepare it, it is necessary to mix three parts of turpentine and four parts of melted wax. The paste is applied to the polished surface, then it is rubbed with a soft cloth.
• If you have shoe polish at the right color for your shoe, you can cover it with a scratch and polish it with a cloth.
• Any stains of known or unknown origin are removed with gasoline. The soft tissue is moistened in it, then the lesions are rubbed. After the stains disappear completely, the furniture is polished with a soft rag to a shine.

Important! A mixture of denatured alcohol with linseed oil helps restore shine.

• If the furniture has white spots from the hot, you can wipe them with alcohol. Then the surface is updated with a mixture of alcohol and linseed oil.
• The deepest spots are removed using a mixture of alcohol and drying oil. It is enough to grease the spots with this composition until they disappear completely. Then the surface is rubbed with alcohol, polished with a rag.

to contents ↑

How do I remove old polish from furniture with my own hands?

It often happens that the full restoration of the lacquer coating of furniture with one's own hands is simply impossible due to the presence on it of polished which has become unusable. Modern interior items are mainly painted with tinting paints, due to which their surface becomes dull. No matter how serious the problem with such furniture is, it is definitely necessary to remove the polish.

You can do this in several ways, because the composition of varnishes is also different, so you have to choose the appropriate recovery option empirically. Perform a polishing removal using one of the suggested methods:

1. Old polishing can be removed mechanically. Of course, it is better to use a special grinding machine, but if it is not, then you can use coarse-grained sandpaper, which will allow you to clean off the varnish layer before the appearance of wood. After this, fine-grained paper is taken, the surface is polished to smoothness. But this option does not always work.
2. You can also use old glass. Put on gloves, break a piece of glass into several fragments. Then brush off the edges with sharp edges to the wood. The recesses and chamfers are scraped off with sharp edges. After you remove the main polish, you can take fine sandpaper and bring the coating to a smooth state.
3. In extreme cases, chemical methods are used. Ready-to-use polishing removers are available for sale. But you should work with them especially carefully - it is better in a draft or in the open air, since their vapor is harmful to health. The instructions on the package have all the recommendations for removing polishing.

to contents ↑

How to stain polished furniture?

If you decide to paint the old furniture, then:

1. First, clean it from dust, wipe with a damp cloth, let it dry thoroughly.
2. Then putty smooth all the bumps, wait until it dries.
3. Take sandpaper, sand first with medium, then fine grain.
4. Then apply a primer and wait for it to dry.

Important! The primer is selected for the paint, which they plan to use for painting.

Staining occurs with a brush or roller:

• It is enough to apply the paint in several layers, but only sequentially so that leaks do not appear. To make the surface monotonous and even, it is better to apply two or three thin layers.
• It is better to apply varnish in a warm state with a brush or spray gun.
• First, the inner surfaces are painted, then the joints and edges, then you can go to the outer walls.

If you follow this sequence, you will not get dirty and will not touch already painted surfaces.

to contents ↑

How to restore the surface of veneer?

Restoration of furniture from veneer occurs in particular using already known means, but only the methods differ significantly.

Let's look at the most popular and effective ones:

1. If the veneer has swollen after entering air, then it is necessary to collect a little PVA glue into a disposable syringe, puncture the bubble, insert it into the cavity. Then a piece of dense fabric is laid on top and a load is placed. If the surface is concave or convex, then it is better to use a bag of heated sand as a load.
2. In the event that the veneer was glued with alcohol glue, the swollen part can be returned back by ironing it with a hot iron through a cloth. The iron cannot be overheated too much so as not to stretch the veneer.
3. You can also use a damp cloth. If you attach it to the surface and iron it, the tree will swell and become elastic again. To fix the swelling, you can introduce PVA glue inside, and then heat it with an iron.
4. If the swollen place cracked, then it is enough to tear off the exfoliated piece. Then peel off the old glue, spread with PVA glue, combine the fault lines, lay a thick cloth on top, put the load on until dry.
5. Traces of restoration and scratches are removed from the veneer the same as from wood, that is, they are painted over with a furniture marker. Deep scratches are filled with molten wax, then it is rubbed, polished, the entire surface is varnished.

to contents ↑

Stock footage

Do-it-yourself veneered furniture restoration, as you see, it requires accuracy, patience, strength. The main thing is to act methodically and gradually, without violating the recovery technology. Sometimes you have to use several methods at once, because the damage can be both minor and quite serious. But the result will certainly please you.