Keep surfaces moist? and another question

[aaronfude]

Hi,

I read the following in a howto on refinishing furniture: "Again, keep the surfaces moist while you are working, to avoid drying out the wood" when talking about using semi-paste and liquid strippers. When they say "moist", do they mean "moist with the stripper" or just dampening the surface with a wet rag or something?

Also, I don't quite understand the need to remove *all* of old finish. If there's a sanding step there anyway, and sanding is bound to take of a little bit of wood, but not let it take of the 5% of the old finish with it?

Thanks!

Aaron Fude

[JGS]

[aaronfude]

Thank you! That clarified a lot and explained why yesterday was such a fiasco. Yes, I meant refinishing.

Thanks again,

Aar> Sounds to me like you are confusing "resurfacing" and "refinishing". If you

[Baron]

Sanding is really necessary if you are using a chemical stripper. Many refinishing jobs that don't call for a water rinse can be finished directly after a good solvent wipe down. The grain isn't significantly raised with organic solvents. By not sanding, you can also preserve some of the patina that is in / on the wood rather than in / on the finish. Having said that, I like to go over a stripped piece lightly with 180 for softwoods or 220 with hardwoods.

Good Luck.