How to strip a nasty finish off a chair

Hi! I am returning to the blog after a few years. I only posted once (an Introduction) and just didn't have the time to commit to running a blog when I was trying to set up my business and care for my young children. well fast forward two whole years and I'm back, hopefully this time for regular posting. Now my children are a little older and I have gained some valuable experience in these past few years, I feel I am ready to share the process of my restorations. Hopefully, I they will be of some help to you and offer some inspiration and encouragement. 

Since my last post I have secured a great concession in Hemswell Business Park Gainsborough in a delightful new Antique shop called All'N'Sundry. I am also A stockist of the fabulous Frenchic Chalk and Mineral Paint and currently stock 16 colours. I still struggle somewhat to juggle business and family but it is getter easier. I've learnt a great deal but I am still learning and discovering new interests.

Anyway back to chair stripping....

I have a rather large amount of stock, which I've accumulated these past few years and amongst this stock is rather a large number of dining tables and chairs. I have become quite a hoarder, like many fellow furniture up-cyclers. So now is the time to crack on and get through these chairs! I have developed a passion for Ercol furniture. Who doesn't love the classic design and quality, well how could you not! If I get the opportunity to buy it I will, so I have quite a few chairs. Amongst them I have four Ercol Fleur De Lys chairs. I absolutely love this design and was thrilled when hubby collected them along with a nice circular drop-leaf table. Having first tackled the table (which I will come back to), I set about on the chairs. I had mixed a custom Frenchic colour using Panther and Lady Grey, which produced a light charcoal dark grey type of colour. When I further inspected the chairs I discovered to my horror that they had the most horrible glossy finish, which actually still felt tacky to touch!

So here's a picture of the finish on the chairs. Doesn't look bad until you touch it or try to sand it!

I soon realised that it wasn't going to be feasible to paint over this (even though you can do this with chalk paint). In some instances you do have to fully prep rather than just clean. Whatever this tacky stuff was it had to be removed. I tried to remove it with some 80 grit sandpaper and it just clogged straight up. So I applied some paint and varnish remover and began the long process of scraping off the first layer.

Before I continue here is a list of the items I used to completely strip the chairs

• chemical stripper
• flat scraper
• two concave cabinet scrapers (for spindles and chair legs)
• Wire wool
• methylated  spirit
• 80, 120 and 220 grit sandpaper
• inexpensive brush\large flat brush for dusting off
• safety goggles
• protective gloves
• the correct mask and filter if not working outside

I was lucky enough to be given the most wonderful tools by my father called Concave Cabinet Scrapers http://www.axminster.co.uk/concave-convex-scraper-sets. Used by cabinet makers they are made from high quality CS80. They are shaped specifically to scrape curved areas such as spindles, chair legs etc. My dad purchased them when he was making walking sticks and they really are the only thing I find works on jobs like this. Just to add make sure you use the right protection when working with chemical strippers. You'll need to protect your eyes, it's very easy to splash stripper in your face, and skin (it will hurt). Thirdly work in a well ventilated area or use a suitable mask, not a dust mask. Inhaling the fumes will cause long term damage. The thicker gel like strippers are better.

So to start, working in small sections (don't plaster the whole chair in one go) apply the stripper liberally and wait for it to work, up to 20 minutes. When I applied it to my finish the reaction was instant. Then with your scraper you can begin to gently scrape the first layer off. Be carefully to get the right angle so you don't gouge a hole in the wood. 

You may have to do this a few time repeating the process. The aim is to remove enough finish so that we can sand the surface and not clog the paper up completely. Sandpaper is not cheap so we don't want to be using a tone of it!

The varnish begins to react with the stripper

using the concave scrapers a spindle

use the concave scrapers on the spindles again be careful with your angles as the edges are sharp and it's like planing the wood, go careful not to dig or scratch the wood and choose the correct size.

the base after chemical stripper applied and scraped

 Once I stripped the top half of the chair I cleaned the excess gunk off with some wire wool and methylated spirit before I sanded. I folded the sand paper to get into the nooks and crannies.













after I sanded with 80 grit and then with 120 grit

 Next I tackled the legs using the same method. Once the whole lot was stripped I sanded by hand starting with a course grit and eventually moving on to a fine grit like 320 until I was happy the surface was nice and smooth.

Finally the chair was stripped and ready for painting. It did take a few hours and this one one of four! My next step was the apply the Frenchic which I'll cover in my next entry but you could easily refinish the chair if you didn't want it painted. It would take a lot more sanding though so I would be tempted to finish it in a darker colour to hide the dark gain.

I hope this has been helpful. Hopefully you won't come across this dreadful finish and you can simply sand the existing finish to provide a key for the paint. This is essential by the way if painting with acrylic eggshell paint plus you must prime before.

I'd love to see your comments so let me know what you think of my first post!

Gemma x

An Introduction

Welcome to my blog! First I'll introduce myself. I am Gemma, I am a mum of two and obsessed with paint and the restoration of vintage furniture. I live just north of the pretty Roman town of Lincoln in the east Midlands England. I lived in Spain for two years and returned home six months ago. It was a temporary job for my hubby and we were posted to the wonderful city of Madrid. In many ways it was a fabulous experience but (without going into massive detail as I don't want this to be a post about the trials of living abroad) it was challenging, lonely and frustrating. Trying to adjust to a totally different culture and language is no mean feet but the experience was invaluable. And although I'm happy to be home there are lots of things about Madrid I miss and yes the weather of course!  

As you can see we had two years of culture, old and new, gorgeous weather and even our own pool! Why did you come back you ask??? Well despite all this lets just say you can have it all but without your friends and family what is left is just a void that can't be filled. And familiarity. There's no place like home and I had had my fair share of feeling just a little isolated and lost. But now I am back I there is so much I miss. I ached to go home but I miss Madrid and all the things that drove me crazy too.

I named my business  Mariposas which is Spanish for Butterflies. I love butterflies and the word like the whole Spanish language it is beautiful, which hopefully my finished pieces are too. 

During my time over there I went on a porcelain painting course as I was on a pretty low ebb I needed something to focus on. There is nothing better than doing something creative for depression. Once a week for one hour it was total bliss and escapism from those long nights spent alone while hubby was travelling Spain with his work. I realised that I needed a creative outlet and that would help treat my depression, doing something where I was creating something beautiful. 

So on my return home six months ago I am searching for porcelain painting courses with no avail. So I stumble across a website for a local business Crofton Interiors in the pretty village of Hackthorn a mere ten minutes away. I read all about the chalk paint they stock, Autentico, Never heard of it although I was familiar with Annie Sloan. I have my friend Maxine at Crofton Interiors to thank for introducing me to Autentico chalk paint where I went along for a days workshop to see what this fantastic paint could do for me. It was a fab day with tea and cake included! I went away with my spice rack painted in 'poetic' and used the remaining paint on some other pieces at home. I just couldn't put the paint brush down. 

Now there's a rather unflattering pic of me in the red apron enjoying myself at the workshop. Now this paint has real chalk in it and is a joy to use and gives a lovely clean finish. The colour choice is amazing. This kick started my obsession with paint in all its glorious forms and vintage furniture! Having painted some other pieces with what was left in my paint tin I had to order more and more, trying different colours. The pleasure it gives me is indescribable, I never feel more relaxed then when I'm painting. My hubby thinks the same way of cooking but me sadly not lol! 

During the six months since, I have experimented with other paints, different chalk paint and eggshell and have produced some nice pieces. When we bought our first lots from the auction my hubby was struggling to see how this 'junk' could ever be desirable again. He wondered what he was going to do with all this stuff in the garage and envisaged having to take it all down the dump in six months time. 

Lets just say they weren't to his liking in their current state. But way behold after a waving my creative magic wand he was totally balled over!

and I'd only just started. He was sold so things were looking good. So I thought maybe I could make this work as a way of earning an income, so I don't have to try and join the ratrace, be over worked undervalued and underpaid any more and leave my kids at nursery, which lead me into my depression in the first place. In Spain I didn't have the hassle of all that but I had the opposite problem, doing nothing! It's great for a short while but you can't spend your whole life on a permanent holiday. And it's no holiday if you are on your own for most of it. What can you do in a country where you can't speak the lingo and learning it would take years. You can't work even part time and financially it's a struggle (it's so expensive there). so The only alternative is to come home after two years and find your vocation in life. I hope I can make this work, I have the will power and the belief that it will work. I am so inspired by others success stories. I take a lot of inspiration from fellow 'shabby chicers', furniture upcyclers or whatever you want to call them. Their success drives me forward. Hopefully I can be of an inspiration too one day. Lets watch this space.