How to Refinish Wood Veneer Furniture
It is possible to refinish the veneer furniture in your home. However, it is advised that you should not go for refurnishing, until you find it necessary. Veneers are not hardwoods and can easily get damaged during the refurnishing process. Basically, the veneer is made up of plywood, with a thin layer of good quality wood glued on the outer side. Therefore, you should be very careful when you sand the outer surface to remove the previous polish. Therefore, you will be really lucky if you find the layer of the wood on the veneer, more than ¼ inches. It will really give you a relief, when you will start working on your furniture.
Instructions
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1
Getting Started:
Remove the hardware from the furniture that you want to refurnish. For instance, if you plan to refurnish veneer cabinets, remove hinges and knobs from it and place it on sawhorses, with newspaper or any other sheet placed under it. -
2
Cleaning the Surface:
Before you start applying new polish on the furniture, you need to remove the old one first. Take an 80-grit sandpaper and rub it softly on the furniture, until you find the old gloss removed or you see the body becoming whitish and cloudy. Make sure, you only sand the gloss, rather than sanding the wood. Therefore, you must take care of the fact that you should stop the sanding process right away when you see the wood colour coming out, without gloss on it.
Image Courtesy: thesandpaperman.com.au
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3
Applying Gloss:
Take a can of polyurethane and gently stir it. Never shake the can. In fact, always open it and stir it well. If you shake the can, bubbles will form, which you will never want to be applied on your furniture. The main goal is to apply the new gloss in a smooth manner, in a way that it does not leave any streaks or bubbles on the surface. Going with the lines of the furniture, apply the gloss using a brush. Make sure you cover all the area with the gloss. -
4
Applying More Coats:
After you are done with the first coat, allow the close to dry. Now you can apply the second coat. Normally, when you paint something, you just apply the second coat directly. However, in polishing the furniture, it is completely different. While applying the second coat on the veneer furniture, you need to buff the surface, which will allow the second coat to stick. Use fine sandpaper (120-grit or more) to buff the surface. It will be weird to see scratches on the first coat. However, they will disappear after you apply the second coat. It is advised that you should repeat the process for one more time, in order to make it more shiny and beautiful. Your furniture now looks like new.
Image Courtesy: england-furniture-suppliers.com
