Furniture Restoration with Acetone

Stripping and refinishing second hand and low or no cost furniture using acetone

First, where to find local low cost furniture?

Acetone is a great tool for refinishing the low cost furniture that you picked up at the thrift store, or that beautiful piece you found in the “buy nothing” group. There are so many local sources for low cost and sometimes free furniture that acquiring someone else’s unwanted furniture and turning it into your new treasure has become a great way to furnish a home or apartment. Local discount furniture stores are the most obvious source, but there’s so many other options. Sources for low cost and free furniture include:

“Buy Nothing” websites and Facebook groups are an innovative and eco-friendly alternative, check out these links for more information.

https://buynothingproject.org/

https://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/green-living/buy-nothing-groups

Facebook Marketplace and other private listing sites like craigslist.org and offerup have extensive listings of furniture items being sold by neighbors in your local community.

The nextdoor community is a private social network for local neighborhoods and allows you to buy and sell items directly with people in your immediate area. This is an ideal option for those who want to meet and exchange furniture with trustworthy neighbors nearby.

I loved this posting with links and great advice on where to find free furniture.

Stripping and Prepping Furniture with Acetone

Once you’ve found that perfect item and you’re ready to show it some DIY TLC you’ll want to have plenty of acetone on hand for stripping and prepping before painting. There are many painting furniture techniques available and one of the most popular questions people have is how to paint furniture without sanding? Here’s a video for a no sanding method that I have used on a coffee table that I recently restored. I have never seen a stripping method that does not require some minimal amount of elbow grease, and technically, using a brillo pad is not sanding so I consider it a valid no-sanding technique

While there are many different methods and solvents available to strip paint from furniture the process should always include these basic steps.

The 5 Steps to Removing Paint From Furniture

1. Test the paint for lead
2. Apply the paint stripper (Acetone is preferred)
3. Scrape off the paint with a plastic scraper
4. Clean off any residue left behind
5. Let dry completely before doing anything else

Here’s our tips and tricks for each step.

As always follow our general safety guidelines for using acetone.

1. Testing for lead based paint.

Lead-based paint was once used to coat homes, toys, pottery and furniture, but the United States government banned the paint in 1978. Any furniture that may have been built and painted before 1978 should be tested for lead, because exposure can cause serious health problems in adults and children. The Environmental Protection Agency recognizes two types of lead paint test kits, one which uses a swab and the other which uses a liquid test solution and you can find these kits online or at your local hardware store. Follow the instructions carefully to determine if your furniture contains any lead based paint. If your furniture tests positive for lead based paint it is very important that you DO NOT SAND ANY LEAD BASED PAINT.

If your furniture does contain lead based paint you may proceed with stripping but be aware that you must never sand and you should be careful to collect and discard all paint chips that may fall off. As with all paint stripping, proper safety steps must be followed.

2. Apply the acetone paint stripper.

Pour the acetone directly onto the horizontal surface, use a bush or acetone soaked cloth for any vertical surfaces. Allow the acetone to soak for 2 to 5 minutes.

3. Remove the paint.

Use a putty knife to scrape off the paint, which should come off fairly easily at this point. If you have small corners that you have to get into, you can use a small toothbrush for this part of the job. If you are removing lead paint keep the face mask on to avoid breathing or swallowing lead particles as you work.

4. Clean off any remaining residue.

There may be some remaining residue after the acetone treatment and scraping. Use an acetone rag, or simply soap and water, or mineral spirits to work out any remaining residue.

5. Let dry.

Although acetone does evaporate quickly, it’s always a good idea to let the piece dry for several hours, or overnight depending on the humidity level, after using any liquid product on a wood surface.

Why use acetone for furniture paint and varnish stripping?

Acetone is a great product to use for stripping away paints, varnish, and other finishes from old furniture. When used properly it’s a low cost, safe, low toxicity solution. Keeping a few gallons of low cost bulk acetone in your home and workshop is a great idea and paint stripping is just one more example of the many uses of acetone.