Refinishing Antique Furniture Like a Pro

Knowing the ins and outs of how to refinish antique furniture can help you restore beautiful pieces you find at estate sales, tag sales and thrift shops to their former glory. Whether you’re looking to update a tired-looking piece or completely refinish a piece of antique furniture, RMP Finishes can help you add shine, color, and character to your wood furniture restoration project.

Refinishing Antique Furniture With a Modern Twist

Matching antique wood furniture to your home’s modern aesthetic is simple with RMP Finishes products on your side. No matter if the antique furniture needs restoring or just repairing, we can help. With finishing oils like our Pure Tung Oil that showcase the beauty of wood grain, paste waxes like our Soft Wax that restore shine to dull surfaces, and 57 colors of Real Milk Paint® suitable for almost any furniture-flipping project. We also offer products to prep and clean surfaces, protect your clothing, and apply finish and color to your antique furniture.

Determining If Antique Furniture Is Worth Refinishing

When you find a piece of old furniture you love, consider if it’s worth refinishing before you decide to purchase or pick it up off the curb. Antiques with the original finish intact or pieces made from rare woods are often better left untouched, since preserving them usually protects their value. Painted antiques are sometimes notoriously hard to strip — especially if you’re at a beginner skill level and it has multiple layers in its existing finish. If you decide a piece is worth refinishing, consider using Soy-Gel Professional Paint Remover to eliminate the old finish. This high-quality product from RMP Finishes not only quickly strips wood furniture down to its original finish, but also traps debris and lead for safer furniture restoration DIY projects.

Overall Antique Furniture Quality and Current State

Sentimental Value of Antique Furniture

A piece of furniture’s quality and overall state are something to consider when deciding to refinish it. Higher-quality antiques made from woods like oak, cherry and walnut typically have the structural integrity to withstand refinishing, so pieces made prior to 1950 usually work best for someone who wants to restore antique furniture. Modern furnishings are more likely to have particleboard or plywood elements, so be sure to look the old furniture over a bit before you decide on restoration, paying attention to visible signs of wear like scratches, spreading chips, worn patches, or a piece in bad shape that is becoming unsafe or uncomfortable to use.

Additionally, some antiques may look good on the outside but have internal issues that make them difficult to repair or restore. With that in mind, be sure to access any drawers or hidden spaces to ensure components haven’t incurred internal damage and been reglued. These interior areas can reveal problems, and a sticky finish even after gentle cleaning can mean the protective layer is failing.

Keep in mind that you may have to make some necessary repairs before you begin your furniture refinishing project. Decades of dust, smoke, and old wax buildup can mimic a failed finish, so start with gentle cleaning before deciding on major stripping. If the piece is made from a solid wood like oak, it should be simple to bring it back to its original luster, and once wear exposes bare wood, refinishing helps protect it from humidity and dry rot; small dents in the wood grain shouldn’t be difficult to fill with a top-notch product like Real Wood Filler. Likewise, pieces with metal stains can be quickly restored with proper cleaning and application of our Oxalic Acid Wood Bleach. When loose joints need repair, hide glue is often preferred in antique restoration because it is reversible and more historically accurate. If you decide on a piece made with plywood or laminate, you can usually make minor repairs with something like epoxy putty, though the results may not live up to your expectations or may be difficult to maintain.

Other factors go into determining if antiques are worth repairing and restoring as well. Some things to look for before you decide to refinish antique furniture include taking pictures and recording any important repair details to help preserve provenance, history, and sentimental value, especially for a family heirloom.

Inscriptions and manufacturer’s stamps

Antique furniture with inscriptions and manufacturer’s stamps makes it quite a bit easier to trace its provenance and determine its value before you purchase. Sometimes, these marks may be as simple as a note inside a wood drawer, though pieces from the 20th century usually have paper or brass labels or even stamps on the wood.

Dovetail or mortise-and-tenon joinery

Drawers made with dovetail joinery usually indicate an antique is of high quality. Older furnishings may have irregular cuts at these joints due to the handmade nature of their construction, whereas more modern pieces usually have uniform cuts, as they were generally built in factories. Block-cut mortise-and-tenon joinery also indicates age and quality due to the strength added to the piece in question.

Original hardware and unique details

Antique furniture with the original brass hardware sometimes has more value than pieces with knobs and pulls replaced with contemporary ones, and collectors often prefer preserving the patina rather than replacing or overusing polish on those details. Likewise, pieces with hand-carvings and unique moldings may be a little more work to repair and restore, but the finished results are typically worth it. With original brass hardware, choose each cleaning method for the specific material, and oxalic acid can help remove dark stains around fittings without aggressive sanding that could damage veneers. Aggressive stripping or heavy power-sanding should be a last resort around delicate details and original hardware.

Special Concerns When Refinishing Antiques

In the case of some antiques, you may not want to refinish furniture at all due to the value of the piece. Antiques like this generally lose value if refinished with an invasive method, making conservation a better option than restoration. If you suspect the antique you have may have substantial value, consider seeking help from a professional appraiser before you put it at the front of your repair and restoration project. This small pause to check things out could very well make a huge difference in the value of your antique, so researching beforehand makes sense in the long run.

Ways to Restore Antique Furniture and Refinish It

While there are special considerations when repairing and restoring antiques, most antique furniture pieces usually benefit from a basic restoration process. With that in mind, if you plan to restore antiques, the steps to refinishing antique furniture are deciding whether to preserve the original surface or apply a new finish, gathering supplies, removing the old finish with careful sanding or chemical stripping for an even, smooth surface, making repairs, sealing the wood to create a protective base before stain or paint, and then completing the restoration project.

Decide on a Wood Finish

If you wish to maintain a traditional look, consider the original finish of your wood furniture piece, especially if you’re wondering which finish to choose before starting a refinishing course. For example, simple yet elegant styles like William and Mary, Victorian, Revival and Federal don’t need a quick coat of paint but rather gel stains or furniture waxes; gel stains sit on top of the existing finish instead of penetrating bare wood, which helps even out color on antiques. Testing a hidden spot with denatured alcohol can help identify shellac, while lacquer responds to lacquer thinner. For pre-20th-century pieces, natural shellac flakes dissolved in alcohol are a more period-appropriate choice than a generic new finish. Likewise, Shaker and Mission pieces often look good refinished with Pure Tung Oil or a conditioning wax like our Wood Wax. More ornate antiques, such as an Empire-style table with carvings and moldings, may benefit from two-tone coverage with Real Milk Paint if you want to add a modern twist to the design.

Gather Refinishing Supplies

Refinishing supplies you need for most restoration projects include these practical tips for prep, testing, and cleanup:

• Soft cloth or clean rag
• Fine-grit sandpaper for removing the old finish by sanding, used carefully to keep the surface even and smooth
• Masking tape
• Wood filler and glue
• Finish remover for chemical stripping when needed, applied carefully so the surface stays smooth and ready for the next step
• Mineral spirits
• A paper towel for wiping a hidden spot with a little water to preview how the finish or color may look
• Denatured alcohol or lacquer thinner to test an inconspicuous area and see whether the existing finish is shellac or lacquer
• Wax, paint, stain or oil
• Varnish or polyurethane as a sealant/topcoat after stripping, either to protect bare wood before coloring or to protect the final color coat
• Paint brushes
• Surface protection, like drop cloths
• A tack cloth or vacuum for removing dust between steps
• Pictures and notes on major repairs to help preserve the piece’s provenance

Strip the Old Finish

When stripping away an existing finish with professional-grade removers, a well-ventilated area to work in is a must. Even all-natural products that melt multiple layers of gel stains, old paints, shellacs and varnishes typically emit quite a bit of odor, making them potentially hazardous to work with in closed spaces. This also means you need to work quickly and wear protective gear, coating the surface area with gloved hands and a clean rag saturated with the product. With removers like Soy-Gel, you can also cover the area with plastic wrap after saturation to keep the surface moist and let the remover do its work.

When you complete the stripping process, thoroughly clean the surface with a cleaner like Tri-Sodium Phosphate to remove all chemical residue and ready the piece for repairs.

Make Necessary Repairs

Now that your piece is stripped and ready to go, make the necessary repairs. Fill small dents with a good wood filler, and smooth laminate or plywood surfaces by first sanding, wiping away the dust with a clean rag, then adding a coat of epoxy putty using a putty knife. Metal stains from damp hardware typically come off easily with products like Oxalic Wood Bleach. Once you finish with repairs, clean the entire piece with Tri-Sodium Phosphate, then allow it time to dry.

Refinish Antique Furniture Pieces

Instructions for finishing antiques with various mediums typically follow the same format. You simply prepare your medium, then apply a first coat with a tool that suits its consistency. High-quality paintbrushes work well for applying everything from finishing oils to milk paints, while a wrung-out sponge makes a great choice for finishing glazes and creams. Oval brushes specifically designed for waxes work well with those mediums, and paste wax also applies easily with a soft cloth.

Once you apply the first coat, allow the surface to dry, then add a second coat when ready. If you’ve used finishing oils, you typically reapply the medium over and over again, letting it soak into the surface until it beings to pool on the top. You then wipe it on finish or wax with a clean rag and let it cure for up to 30 days. Paints typically require just two coats, then sealing with your choice of wax or sealer.

Now that you understand what to look for in furniture refinishing projects, learn more about how professionals approach the restoration project by reading our interview with Karen from Sycamore + Pine.