Looking at an old oak table and chairs can make you feel like you are stuck in the 1970’s but it is possible to update an old finish that will look right at home in todays dining rooms.
This set had some big positives going for it like all solid wood and a 24″ self storing leaf. What it really needed was to get rid of the old orange finish with a new updated look in soft white and natural wood.
After a complete washing with TSP the table top and chair seats were sanded to bare wood using an orbital sander. Before staining, the top and chair seats were washed with mineral spirits to remove all remaining sanding dust and any oils that could be in the wood from previous use.
One thing that is very important when painting furniture white is to use a primer coat of shellac to prevent bleed through. I sprayed two coats of white on the base and chairs and then one coat of satin top coat for added durability.
Although this finished table top looks flawless it did have its problems. Even though the prep included cleaning with TSP and Mineral Spirits to remove any oil contamination from the surface it wasn’t enough to prevent problems in the new stain.
Supplies Used
- TSP
- Mineral Spirits
- Sand Paper
- Clear Shellac
- Minwax Wood Finish Silvered Gray Stain
- General Finishes Milk Paint Antique White
- Varathane Ultimate Polyurethane Crystal Clear Gloss – Used on the table top.
- General Finishes High Performance Satin – Used over paint on base and chairs.
As soon as I wiped on the new stain it was obvious that oil contamination was repelling the stain and that additional cleaning would be necessary. By doing two additional washings using mineral spirits, a scrubbing pad and clean towels to wipe off oil I was able to remove all but the tiniest of oil spots.
Hopefully the details that I’ve given here will be useful if you should ever run into oil contamination on a future project.