Wardrobe cabinets, like other pieces of wood furniture, are generally stained to bring out the grain of the woods, and then sealed in gloss for protection. When you refinish an old wardrobe, you need to take off the gloss and the stain, getting it down to bare wood, so you can re-stain and re-gloss. Sanding is one of the easiest methods of doing this. A vibrating sander will take a little longer to remove the finish than a belt sander, but it also gives you better control. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Disassemble the cabinet using your screwdriver, removing all knobs, hinges and hardware. Set the cabinet wood pieces on spread-out newspapers.
2. Sand each surface of the cabinet with a vibrating sander and rough sandpaper, taking off most of the old finish. Wipe off the dust.
3. Sand the surface a second time with medium sandpaper to take off any remaining finish. Wipe off the dust. Sand it a third time with fine sandpaper to smooth out the surface. Wipe off the dust.
4. Brush wood stain thickly over the first section of the cabinet surface. Let the stain set for one minute. Wipe up the excess stain with cotton rags. Repeat the process for each section of the cabinet.
5. Allow the stain to set for eight to 10 hours.
6. Brush polyurethane onto the surface with a paintbrush, covering it with a thin and smooth coat. Let it dry for six to eight hours.
7. Sand the gloss lightly with fine sandpaper, enough to dull the shine so the next coat of polyurethane will stick. Wipe off the dust with dry rags.
8. Apply a second polyurethane layer. Let it dry for six to eight hours. Hand-sand it. Apply a third layer. Let it dry 24 hours. Put the cabinet back together.
Tags: Wipe dust, eight hours, dust Sand, fine sandpaper, finish Wipe, finish Wipe dust