I bought an unfinished kitchen set and had previously painted it white. We decided after a year that we wanted a bit of a different look. So, we decided we wanted the contrast of a natural or stained table top while leaving the rest of the piece white. I figured I'd just sand the top down and then decide on a stain color followed by 5 or 6 coats of polyurethane.
I've put some serious effort into sanding the table-top. From a distance, it looks good. But as you get close, you can see the white specs dotted throughout the table.
I figured just more sanding would do the trick. After about another 40 minutes of sanding w/ an electric sander w/ 60 grit paper, the good majority of the dots are still there. I guess i didn't figure that the wood was so porous.
The gentleman at my local hardware store pointed me toward a paint stripper called Zip Strip and said to scrape and steel wool after I apply that.
Before I crack open the bottle of the stripper, I wanted to see if there was anything I was missing.
- Is this stripper combined with the scraping & steel wool going to be worth it?
- Am I better off just continuing to sand or is that a lost cause?
- Should I just refinish the top back to white and call it a day?
I'm sorry, but I don't know the exact species of wood.
Best Answer
The paint stripper could be helpful but there is no guarantee, especially after you have sanded it quite a bit already. The stripper may get down into the porous parts of the wood and congeal the paint so as to make it come out. I would say that it is certainly worth a try in a small area to see if it helps. You'll know in short order if it would be worth the effort to go over the whole surface with the stripper. I give it a maybe 20 to 30% chance of making some difference.
If you do take on using the stripper....
Just to comment on your sanding effort. You did not specify how big the table is but 40 minutes of sanding with a small orbital sander using 60 grit paper over a large area is not really that much sanding. You have come this far so you may want to give it another go at further sanding. Do change your paper often as this can make a huge difference on how well the paper removes the wood. Also note that after sanding with 60 grit paper so much you will need to sand it with successively finer grits all the way to 220 or finer to get the surface in excellent shape for your poly finish.