Hi All. I found your site this morning, wish I knew about it years ago!

I need a bit of advice with regards to removing varnish. I have tried a few searches of the forum but couldn’t find one that answers my questions.

I bought an antique repro dining table last week and I need to remove the old varnish prior to refinishing it. It is made out of a soft wood, pine I suspect, and has some reasonably intricate carving which make this a challenging project. My first thought was to use a stripper and pressure wash it off as I would probably do more harm than good with sanding/scraping on the carving. My concern with this is the possibility of raising the grain from wetting the timber. It was suggested that thinners and steel (or preferably brass) wool could be used as an alternative that would be gentle on the carving. Last night I tried a few on a discreet corner and found that metho and turps have no effect but acetone will remove it and as of this morning there is no raised grain in the area (automotive paint thinners were also suggested as a cheap alternative).

Has anybody got any experience / knowledge of this technique concerning the best thinners for this type of job, whether this will adversely affect the wood or any alternative techniques that may be better?

Cheers,

TJ