My cabinets are oak but were white washed by the previous owners in the 90s. I hate the white washed color because they get grimy and filthy and when I try to clean them it rubs off the finish. They are looking pretty gross now. I would like to have them refinished to a mahogany color.
I’ve had three bids now. Two companies claim that they can just clean them up and put toner OVER the white wash color and gradually stain them to a mahogany. They are not going to use stripper. One company is going to do a bit of sanding and then build the color over the white wash for 00 (which seems a bit high) but the other will just put the toner directly over the white wash with NO sanding for around 80. I have this other guy who refinished my deck and did a nice job and I gave him one of my cabinet doors to experiment on (he’s never done cabinets but has refinished lots of furniture and decks). He used stripper to get off the varnish and most of the stain, then lightly sanded to get the rest of the white wash off. Then he stained them with a mahogany color and sealed it with polyurethane. I haven’t seen the finished product yet, but he says he’s confident that he can do the job and make it look really nice. He’s willing to charge 00 for the job.
Which of these methods sounds the best? I just want my cabinets to look really good. I want the wood grain to show through and don’t want it to look painted. I also don’t want anything to peel or come off.

My kitchen chairs are oak, stained, and varnished, and pretty old. They have a build-up of a sticky black substance on the backs (not the seats). When I try to clean them, the finish/varnish comes off. Any Ideas on how to clean my chairs?

I am giving a wicker chair a touch up job but I am unsure what product to use. Should I use lacker? Oil? Stain? Varnish? What kind of finish do I need for RATTAN?

When cooking-oil or fat dries on my wooden kitchen cupboards around the stove it makes hard gluey spots that are impossible to clean without ruining the varnish on the wood or causing the wood to buckle. Scrubbing or commercial chemical sprays seem to make it worse. What can I do?

I have a wicker/bamboo balcony table and chairs. It’s in poor shape. I want to sand off the varnish that is currently on it. I would like to stain it and put on an exterior varnish to protect it from the sun and rain. I’m not sure what the process is for doing this, or even if it’s possible?
Also, one of the table legs is completely cracked down the length of the side. It’s obviously impossible to nail together, does anyone know of another way to repair it?

I desparately need advice on how to treat a sun deck and my wooden garage doors and patio furniture which is exposed to the elements. The front door was merely varnished when it was installed and now, 5 months later, the varnish has become brittle and is flaking. It has also faded and has ‘burnt’ to an opaque white colour. Obviously, this has to be removed thoroughly. I was told to put 4 coats of varnish thinned with turps at the ratio of 75:25%. This should dry thoroughly between coats. Only thereafter do I apply two coats of varnish. This was not done initially. I am not certain whether this really works and obviously I don’t want to spend more time and money on this task if it is not the correct treatment.

PLEASE, is there some kind person who can tell me what the real proper treatment is. I know there must be a way. After all, how do people protect their yachts and sundecks at the sea?

Thank you in advance for everybody’s input, it is going to be much appreciated.

Many opinions seem to exist. What are the pros and cons of:
1. just teak oil only every 6 months
2. going for marine grade teak oil (is this better?)
3. using a natural decking oil in steak of teak oil for a longer lasting result
3. using a combination stain and varnish

Due to allergy issues, we had to pull up carpets in our 80 year old house. Like many older houses, the hardwood is only stained around the perimeter, the center is bare (where an area rug would be) We need to avoid large area rugs, and the bare area is fairly large. We like the rustic look, and don’t really want to sand. There are some varnish marks on the stained areas that will need to be cleaned. We also have an infant that crawls- parts of the floor are sort of rough. We have a limited budget, so can’t call in the professionals.

Now what?

I have gotten all the varnish off and sanded an old kitchen table. The look I’m wanting is that rustic black look and I’m not sure what to do now. Do I use a spray paint or a paint brush? What do you put on the table after it’s painted so it won’t chip and so I can clean it?

Not sure of exactly what type of wood it is. Should we use Teak Oil? Or Thompson’s Water Seal? Or a simple varnish?

I,m going to strip varnish off my kitchen cabnets.–Any one hear of a good product for the job ? I know some are better than others and I was hoping someone here could lead me to the best, user friendly method ???

I have just laid plastic tiles in my kitchen and bathroom. What should I use to cover them – varnish? furniture polish? Is there any specific product I can buy?

I need to install a small drop leaf breakfast bar, I only have basic hand tools and electric drills, sanders etc. I am hoping to find a simple plan I can use (or adapt a plan from a bench/table). Not fussed about fancy routed joints.
I was going to drill a wooden strip into the wall with some nice stainless brackets and then attach the drop leaf to that. Then varnish to match the kitchen benchtop.
Anyone know of anywhere I could find a free plan/DIY guide to doing this?
Also are there some special drop leaf hinges that i can use on the underside that would save making special joints etc? I think I have seen something on a caravan hardware website that may be useful but don’t know where to find these retail. I am in Melbourne Australia so local knowledge most appreciated. Cheers, Cal.

My kitchen table use to be stained with a coat of some type of varnish on it. I was able to sand that off by hand with no problem and I then painted my table black using a latex-enamel paint. Now I’ve decided to remove the paint by using a small hand-held electric sander, but I keep sanding and sanding and the paint is it extremely difficult to remove. I have to sand the same spot for about 10 minutes to remove the paint, which is ridiculous. What could be causing this? Is this type of paint usually that difficult to remove? I’m new to all of this. Thanks.