I have two old pine dressers that were refinished many years ago. One had a stain and the other is left pretty much alone.
Do you know of any products I should be using?
I also want to stain them so that they are a more reddish tone, rather than the buttery colour they are now.
I am dying to learn about furniture refinishing but don't know where to turn.
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You say they were refinished a while ago,but do you know what they have on them. If it is a polyurathane finish, you will have to use paint and poly stripper to get this off (messy and stinky) or you could go over top of this original poly finish (after scuffing with sand paper) with Minwax Polyshades. This is a stain and polyurathane all in one. The more coats you put on the darker it will get. If it is an oil finish, you can use Minwax Antique Furniture Refinisher. This will only remove the top coat, but leave the patina (colour) in the wood. This is stinky as well but alot easier and quicker to do than Stripper. At this point, you can put a reddish stain over top and then top coat it with tung oil or antique oil (easier to put on than polyurathane and IMO a nicer finish), try Wipe On Poly which is easier to apply than regular Polyurathane but much thinner coats. Or you can apply the Polyshades in a reddish colour. To tell if it is oil or a urathane, put some nail polish remover on a cotton ball and rub against the finish in an inconspicuious area such as the back or bottom of a leg. If the finish comes off on the cotton ball, the finish is oil or shellac and can use the Antique Refinisher. If nothing happens, then it is a ureathane and have to use the Paint Stripper.
I have attached a couple of links to Minwax with some tips but look around on the web site as well as there is more there than I can post.
[url]http://www.minwax.com/expert_tips/video_tips/[/url]
[url]http://www.minwax.com/expert_tips/wood_finishing/[/url]
[url]http://www.minwax.com/expert_tips/reviving_old_finishes/[/url]
[url]http://www.inthewoodshop.org/finish/minoil.shtml[/url] (How to apply Oil Finish)
[url]http://www.youtube.com/user/MinwaxCanada[/url] (This is DH showing how to apply stain and Polyurathane. Pay attention to how he dips his brush - don't wipe it off on the side of the can - and how he applies it to the wood - doing small sections at a time - redip the brush and work into the wet (this picks up and puddling from when you first touch the brush to the wood). This is the same technique for Polyshades product as well.
I know this is long winded, so have a look at the links and ask other questions you may have or PM me.