To know if you can refinish a piece of furniture, perform the scratch, scrape, and wobble tests. High-quality wood pieces are the best candidates, whereas laminate or heavily damaged particleboard should usually be passed up or painted.
“The basic rule of thumb is, if the piece was made before 1850, you want to do some homework on whether it should be conserved rather than restored — meaning to preserve and stabilize the piece as it is now,” she says. “If it's been in the family a while, it's worth finding out before you do some damage.”
Refinishing is worth it if the piece is made of solid wood, has strong structural integrity, and you value custom style. You can save 30% to 70% compared to buying new, high-quality furniture, but it requires a significant time investment—often 10 to 20 hours for stripping, sanding, priming, and painting/staining.
Some new paint and gold knobs make this my favorite part of our living room. Frankly, there is NO possible way I'm going to sand an entire piece of furniture and re-stain it. That's a big job! The good news is that you can paint old furniture, without sanding, and it comes out beautifully.
Cost Comparison
Refinishing Refinishing typically runs 30–70% less than buying high-quality new furniture. Materials like sandpaper, stain, and clear coat are relatively inexpensive compared to the markup on retail pieces.
The jar of petroleum jelly or Vaseline that you have in your medicine cabinet can work wonders to remove white water rings from furniture. The oily petroleum base penetrates the finish on the wood, displacing the moisture trapped inside, and the oils also nourish and condition dry wood.
I'd say about 6 hours total spread out over 3 days. A couple hours to strip day one, it doesn't look like it needs much repair so a couple hours prep and staining on day 2. About an hour of shooting 3 coats of finish, probably some toning also, then about an hour cleaning and reapplying hardware.
The best way to refinish a dresser depends on your desired finish. For natural wood, the best approach is using a chemical stripper to remove the old finish, followed by careful sanding, applying a new stain, and sealing it with a polyurethane topcoat.
If budget is your main consideration, refinishing is often the cheaper option. Estimates have shown that refinishing cabinets costs about 2/3 the cost of refacing, and refacing costs about 70 to 80 percent the cost of installing replacement cabinets.
If we're thinking about identifying vintage furniture from an age point of view, many experts would say vintage counts as anything made from 50 years ago to 100 years ago.
The main downside of cabinet refacing is that it only offers limited structural changes. If you're looking to make major adjustments to your kitchen layout‒such as adding an extra cabinet or two, relocating the sink, or installing a kitchen island‒you'll need to go with a full cabinet replacement.
Yes, Murphy’s Oil Soap is excellent for deep cleaning everyday grime, grease, and dirt off wood furniture. It is mostly plant-derived and free of bleach or ammonia. However, it is a cleaner, not a polish, and some wood refinishers warn against using it on delicate antiques or unfinished wood.
Most Popular Types of Wood Finishes
To quickly tell if furniture is real wood or particle board, check the underside or inside for a manufacturer's label, inspect the edges to see if the wood grain wraps continuously around the corner, and tap the material—real wood will sound hollow, while particle board yields a dull, solid thud.
To revive old wood without completely stripping it, start by cleaning the surface with a gentle mix of mild soap and warm water. Restore faded color and camouflage light scratches using a finish-penetrating product like Howard Restor-A-Finish, then lock in the moisture with a wax or polish.
Avoid using bleach, ammonia, or any other strong cleaning agents. Excessive Scrubbing: It may be tempting to use a lot of elbow grease when trying to remove stubborn stains on antique wood furniture. However, this can cause scratches or wear down the finish over time.
Sandpaper Tip
For the purposes of refinishing wood furniture, you'll be working with grit strengths ranging from about 120 to 320. Don't sand with a grit higher than 320, which can reduce the wood's ability to retain stain.
Professional Refinishing Costs
Size and Complexity: A simple chair might cost $150-$300 to refinish, while a large dining table with intricate details could run $500-$1,200 or more.
You know you've sanded enough when the surface has a uniform scratch pattern, is perfectly smooth to the touch, and all old finishes or surface defects (like scratches and dents) are completely gone.
However, as a general rule, it's recommended to wait at least 2 to 3 days before sleeping in the house after refinishing with a natural oil. Wax finishes can take a bit longer, so you might want to give it a solid 3 to 5 days.
Yes, you can use Dawn dish soap on wood, but only if it is heavily diluted and you use it correctly. Dawn is excellent for cutting through kitchen grease and grime, but because it is a strong surfactant, using it too often or leaving it un-rinsed can strip protective finishes and dry out the wood.
Not only can you use Vaseline before applying eye shadow, but you can also use the jelly to remove it — and eyeliner and mascara — in one of the gentlest ways available. "It's light and lubricated, so the makeup slides right off without harming the skin," dermatologist Mona Gohara told Allure.
The best oil to rehydrate wood depends entirely on the item's use. For food-contact surfaces like cutting boards and spoons, use 100% pure food-grade mineral oil. For indoor furniture and antiques, nourishing drying oils like Tung oil or boiled linseed oil are best.