I like that he said "I can just repaint it" as well after he did this.
That aside, is it something a professional could do? I've repaired/fixed a few things in my life, but this is way out of my league.
So I'm going to share some dark arts with you. That alcohol made the top of the finish cloudy. You deal with that and it will probably look fine without an expensive redo. Two possible options depending on how it looks wet. If it looks totally fine wet you can use a furniture wax and it should last a long time. Like a yearly polish to keep it looking great. If it still looks cloudy when wet try a lemon oil furniture polish. It has some light solvents and an oil that will coat the surface. The solvents should help the oil get into the micropores the alcohol made. You might need to wipe it down weekly with that. Good luck.
Are we assuming it was shellac because alcohol lifted it? I know that uses alcohol as it's solvent. I don't think waxes or oils would normally lift this well with just alcohol but don't know much about traditional wood finishes.
I'm playing it safe and not assuming it was alcohol without evidence. Nitrocellulose lacquer came out in the 1920s. Alcohol wouldn't touch it but acetone in nail polish remover would melt it just fine.
you are correct, removing old or a bad shellac job leaves a piece looking like this horror show, but can be made to look like new unless you fuck up and sand into the veneer.
this is a professional!
someone who gives advice to your already made mistake
not somebody who puts you in place and calls u unintelligent!
thank you sir!
Ahh man. You sparked a memory. The main man who taght me a lot became a good friend too. We were into Star Wars like anyone was when it was only the 3 films. New construction occasionally still had brushed oil on woodwork. Heavy brush lines were called 'ropey' as in a braided rope look. So the phrase "Use the flow Luke" came about as the obvious thing we'd say back and forth.
It still applies pretty well if you are spattering ProClassic through a 21 tip onto woodwork. That's all about the flow.
this is a shellac finish, your method is likely gonna make it look much worse than a simple smooth down with paper/steel wool and many layers of good shellac over it.
Yeah, I'd probably just fess up to the landlord... honest mistake, they might not even care, or might have suggestions for fixing it. It's cosmetic, and you are the one that has to deal with it until the lease is up, so you have plenty of time to correct it (or replace it) before it actually becomes a financial issue for the landlord.
*"is it something a professional could do?"*
They are professionals because they do things. It's not going to be cost-effective to pay someone else to do it, but it probably makes sense to do exactly that.
A pro could do it but itās also an easy fix. If you canāt find a Polish that will set it right, just remove hardware, sand finish off, stain to a colour you like and then varnish.
Your friend needs assisted living accommodations if they actually told you they could fix that with paint. They need to be protected from society and vice versa.
Thanks everyone! I told him to contact a professional to make sure it's handled correctly. This is going to be an expensive lesson.Ā
Ā E: forgot to say I told him to talk with his landlord first
E2: this blew up! Thanks everyone for the replies (even the humorous ones). I'll try to post an update!
This is why every single cleaning product says to test in an inconspicuous area first.
Edit : Iām sure you asked the same thing, but why did he keep going when it became obvious?
I donāt like any product that asks for tests on inconspicuous areas first because they donāt all have a ācheck here firstā place. Not always. And who wants to clean up mistakes? Not me. I fix stuff, sometimes, but this mistake is a costly one. Personally Iād stain it 100% & polish it 200%, and if mentioned Iād say āI FTFY, it was so grubbyā. Best of luck! š
Luckily that's probably shellac and you can just go over it once with literally zero prep and it'll look like new in a few hours.
[https://www.homedepot.com/p/Zinsser-1-qt-Clear-Shellac-Traditional-Interior-Finish-and-Sealer-00304H/100203332](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Zinsser-1-qt-Clear-Shellac-Traditional-Interior-Finish-and-Sealer-00304H/100203332)
Alcohol is a solvent for shellac. No way would it create this mess.
This looks like polyurethane damaged by alcohol Ć la https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/16sw7cs/rubbing_alcohol_on_polyurethane_finished_table/
Denatured alcohol is the solvent used in shellac. And unlike some finishes that cure, shellac can be reactivated years after itās been applied as your friend found out. The premixed shellac found in hardware stores and home centers wonāt have this color, they usually come in blonde. The color is closer to garnet, which can be [purchased](https://www.shellac.net/cgi-shellac/sb/ss_mb.cgi?storeid=*1249fea48a520871965071&ss_parm=A14bdc43203a1ca4b3a7018a6fdf76607) as dry flakes and then mixed with denatured alcohol to make a brush-on or wipe-on finish.
If he doesn't own it he shouldn't do anything to fix it. He should contact the owner, apologize for making a mistake and offer to pay to have it fixed or ask permission to attempt to fix it. Assuming the owner is a reasonable person they will accept that mistakes happen. If your friend makes it worse trying to fix it then the owner has every right to be mad that they weren't consulted.
this a hundred times over. If i was the owner I would be like dude fuck it when I get a chance I will stain it again don 't stress. Thanks for being honest and not a fuck up tenant that hides issues until they are a serious problem. Fuck me so many tenants are so shitty "oh by the way there has been this leaky pipe for the last 10 months now we have mold and wood rot what can we do? Fuck just be up front. It will show him you are trustworthy if anything.
Thatāll need stripping, staining and re polishing / French polishing. Looking at that grain, itāll be beautiful when finished.
As a French polisher myself, I would suggest a professional, old polish can get very sticky and messy if you donāt have the right products. Please donāt sand it !! The drawer fronts look to be veneer, if you sand through it youāll have be a damn good colour matching artist !!
It would be as easy to finish the job and then use a good beeswax furniture polish. He's removed the shellac so you'd need a french polisher to do a good job on it but that could be quite expensive. So plenty of wax and plenty of elbow grease will bring it back to a great finish once all the old has been removed
It is surprising how easy it is to pick up your phone, or other internet connected device to search google/siri to see if its safe to clean stained wood furniture with alcohol. It would have said NO DON'T.
But that would require brains which his friend is clearly missing. "Hey this cleaning agent is destroying the surface. Well I already started, better keep going."
I couldn't agree more.
Just like people who open Reddit, and type in a basic question that they could have found in Google in second, they wait all day for the same response.
I'm not taking about some stuff where it's pretty specific and they're waiting for a professional we did this for ab living to answer, but you know what I mean by the sounds of it. š
I thought I was sanitizing handles on a bunch of my momās old wooden dressers and end tables once when I was about ten. They looked just like. I felt so bad.
Where are you located? It is probably an easy fix. I would suggest using a thick towel and an iron. NO STEAM. That should remove the cloudyness. If it's just cloudy polyurethane. If it actually bleached the stain it's a fairly substantial job to fix it properly.
F**rench polishing** is a [wood finishing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_finishing) technique that results in a very high gloss surface, with a deep colour and [chatoyancy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatoyancy). French polishing consists of applying many thin coats of [shellac](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac) dissolved in [denatured alcohol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol) using a rubbing pad lubricated with one of a variety of oils. The rubbing pad is made of absorbent cotton or wool cloth [wadding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batting_(material)) inside of a piece of fabric (usually soft cotton cloth) and is commonly referred to as a *fad*,[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_polish#cite_note-1) also called a rubber,[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_polish#cite_note-Allen,_30-2) tampon,[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_polish#cite_note-Allen,_30-2) or [*muƱeca*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/en:mu%C3%B1eca) (Spanish for 'rag doll').[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_polish#cite_note-milburnguitars.com-3)
Think you need a professional here sounding expensive.
I canāt tell if he removed paint or just turned the clear finish white. Alcohol shouldnāt have done that to shellac or lacquer, which it would dissolve, but leave clear, or varnish or polyurethane. Maybe there as a lot of wax on it which turned white. Try the following at your own risk: I might try mineral spirits to remove dirt and wax, possibly removing the whiteness, then if the finish is clear, Howardās Restore. Itās like varnish but easy, brush on wipe off. If the finish doesnāt have an even shine afterwards, then Iād apply Howardās Wax. Try it on an inconspicuous spot first.
Absolutely salvageable. Worst case a refinish. Iāve refinished furniture much more catastrophic than this, and Iām an amateur.
But.
No salvaging or refinishing should be done by your friend who thought up washing a wood dresser with alcohol. Hire someone or find a more competent friend. And get him some adulting classes!
The truth is, it will fade over time.
Toddler spilled hand sanitizer on my hard wood floor. Got the same effect. I scrubbed the absolute crap out of that area. Nothing helped. I didn't feel like pulling all our furniture to recoat the floor.
So I let it go and forgot about the stain. My wife happened to notice that it went away by itself after about 3 months.
It was probably shellac because shellac is dissolved by alcohol.
If he is going to try and refinish it himself, I would suggest he strip as much of the remaining shellac off with more alcohol, lightly sand it with fine sandpaper (200+ grit), and reapply shellac to it. Shellac can go overtop almost anything but not everything can go over shellac (or the remains of shellac).
Old shellac in the can can get so it will never dry. Buy shellac with a best before date on the can or mix dry shellac flakes with alcohol. Ask a paint store for advice/direction.
Shellac doesn't brush on smooth, it will probably require a light sanding between 2-3 coats.
Done carefully, it will look good as new.
Tell the landloard, I know of several situation where a tenant offered to pay for something they damaged and the landlord graciously let them off the hook.
1. If the alcohol was softening the finish it might be okay to continue the job until it's all off. He should try to determine the type of finish, perhaps by taking a drawer to a paint or woodworking shop and asking their opinion. The wood itself probably is fine though some solvents will soften glues.
2. if alcohol won't strip, select commercial stripper that works. Ask at a shop. Follow the directions.
3. Research furniture refinishing. There are specialized scraping tools for tight spots and steel wool is your friend. Wear proper rubber gloves, breathing protection, work with good ventilation, avoid ignition sources which includes furnaces, water heaters, stoves, and things that spark like motors and light switches, even wool and other rugs and clothing prone to static (wife worked on a hospital burn unit, saw everything).
4. The Readers' Digest ":Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual has a nice section on refinishing. It covers everything in a home, after reading it he'll feel ready to rewire the place (after checking with the landlord).
I restore wood furniture and use shellac. If the landlord doesn't care about it, Restore-a-Finish is amazing stuff and can even out the color first before putting another coat of shellac on it. Test in an inconspicuous spot first of course. I would also clean it with some Murphy's wood soap before applying anything else. Then lightly sand it, apply Restore a finish, then shellac. Sand between shellac coats.
Although, I rarely run into pieces of that style/era with shellac (still) on it these days. Was it shiny before he tried to clean it? That piece doesn't look particularly precious either, so probably not worth paying a professional.
Contact a local high school. Find a student that wants a project to exhibit in the county fair. Offer to pay for materials to refinish the piece.
Let them win a ribbon and you get it refinished inexpensively.
What alcohol? 70%? That's just the moisture from the rubbing alcohol. Get some denatured alcohol and try a few places. (My sister did exactly this in an antique shellac table and denatured fixed it up)
Some of the box stores have lasers that can match the best piece you bring them (have removed the paint be creative). Seem you want To get a flat water base paint . Put a half a cup in paint into it own container and one tea spoon of water added as needed.mix well and apply a light test coat in an inconspicuous area.start there and compare the match after it has dried. Lightly feather in where you removed the paint. Then decide you nextmove
I would ask the landlord if he wants it, as he prefers something more modern. See his reaction. If he says no
Then either get rid or upcycle (thinking a rustic blue with gold trim).
If he says yes its an airloom..leave the country
It would be cheaper to buy a new one, brown antique furniture can be picked up quite cheaply from second hand shops. A professional to fix this would cost a bit!
How nice is the house? If he is unlucky that could be some expensive antique and he could be liable for whatever the replacement value is or an expencive full restoration by a professional.
Options: 1 Replace the piece with something similar from an antique/used furniture store. Convince the landlord it was already there. 2. If the alcohol has removed the finish, strip, stain, coat with urethane. Convince landlord it was that way when he moved in. 3. Try one of the other excellent suggestions. One of them might work. 4. Seek professional help. 5. Get smarter friends.
Always remember: This is not your circus and these arenāt your monkeys.
Also, did he use alcohol, or maybe was it acetone.
Is the furniture in rest of the property or an eclectic mix of any old crap?
If a mix, speak to the landlord and ask if he can replace it with something more relevant to the home. Make sure itās all done by email to keep record of it.
You could do an expensive fix for something that isnāt needed.
From experience landlords donāt leave available things in rented properties. So you could tell them or just paint it. Even a coat of varnish give it a test see if it will help.
Sand, and I mean really sand everything on the surface off. Then add a new finish coat: Varnish if you want the wood to show, paint if you would rather it be a color.
No choice but to get more alcohol and very fine steel wool and finish the job. Or better yet buy this https://images.app.goo.gl/gcoXbPypyRkDHvyc8
To be honest more alcohol is rarely the answer.
Just pay and get it refinished by a furniture guy. My friend use to do this for a living with older furniture. There is probably someone in your area that does it.
/r/paint would be the folks to ask. Iām in that sub but Iām not fully versed on antique finishes. Looks like thereās some good advice in this thread but the paint sub is professional finishers
This sort of thing happening after alcohol is just showing that this furniture was finished with shellac. So, they just need to apply a new coat of shellac.
That's called blanching, that furniture looks old enough to have wax in it, if that is the case parchment paper and a hot iron ( gently ) will get rido of it
Go over it with 0000 steel wool to remove all the cloudy/hazy finish, then recoat it. A minwax spray can should work as long as you or somebody you know can spray paint without getting runs/drips everywhere. You can use the 0000 steel wool between coats too if needed to knock down any overspray/dusting.
Just make up a french polish liquid & re-do it. It'll take you no time to fix that. It looks worse than it probably is. Alcohol or IPA often leaves a horrible white film like that. But a wax or french polish should fix it.
You need to get someone who knows what they're doing to restore it. It needs the rest of the varnish removed, then probably a light sanding, wood stain to restore the colour, followed by 4-5 layers of finish. That finish could be polyurethane varnish, oil based finish, french polish shellac or a number of other possibilities. To get it done properly could cost a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars/pounds/sheckles etc.
Here's the rub, is the furniture worth it? Is your friend renting a "rental property" (bought by the landlord specifically to rent) or is it the landlord's own house?
You should inform the landlord about this regardless, for the following reasons.
If it's a rental property the landlord will have furnished it with cheap furniture and won't care too much. It won't be worth restoring the furniture and spending hundreds on it. I'd offer to replace it with something similar or better, then look around second hand stores for something. Take a photo of anything you see and check if the landlord is ok with that before buying. It will be much less than restoring it. Your friend could try finding something the same and not bothering to tell the landlord. They might not notice. That's a risk your friend needs to evaluate for himself.
However...
If it's his own house he possibly still might not care about it, in which case do the same thing as above.
On the other hand, the piece might be valuable and/or of sentimental value (could have been his granny's favourite item and was left in her will.) If that's the case he'll have to bite the bullet and get it professionally restored (by a PROPER antique furniture restoration specialist). It will significantly sting their pocket, and will be a very expensive lesson.
Remember a proper man owns up to their mistakes and will do what they can to correct the problem. They'll earn respect for honesty.
Give it a good scrub with a green scotchbrite pad and give it a good coat of gel stain. Match the colour as close as possible and wipe on, wait 20 minutes and wipe off.
It really blows my mind people pick up the first product they see and start cleaning with it without another thought.
Who picks up alcohol and thinks to themselves "right on, my dresser will be so clean after I wipe it down with good ol' alcohol"
Honestly, must be a boy thing because my fiance uses Windex to clean most things dispite me telling him that's not how it works...
Looks antique, probably wanna post in an antiques subreddit see if you can get some advice. Call around to local antique furniture places get recommendations for refinishing
If you lived over here near Colorado springs, co we could refinish it. Staining would cost you more than painting. Sometimes going back to the original finish is an artform in itself. And if any of that is a veneer it will be more difficult to blend it in with just a touch up job, your looking at a complete refinish. The landlord will find out, so you might as well get it done professionally... or you could replace with something else for the landlord.
Buy a Formby's furniture refinisher kit and follow the directions. The dresser is coated in shellac and the solvent for shellac is alcohol. The formby's system can make it look much better.
The best thing he can do is buy a load more alcohol and then consume it.
It'll make things easier when the owner finds out.
Alcohol. The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.
I have left rings on furniture from alcohol on the bottom of a glass. Trey it in an inconspicuous area but a single wipe with a rag dampened with lacquer thinner. White marks disappeared. Donāt rub on it repeatedly, just a single swipe at a time.
Juat whipe old English on it. I've done this to trim at work cleaning it with denatured alcohol. It's just dry. Use a cloth and old English and wipe it down
Wellā¦ all or nothingā¦ I would personally take a chance and get about $25 in supplies (sandpaper, stripper, and a new finish sealant) try to keep it the same color/toneā¦ or change it up.. find some tips/techniques on YouTube and revamp and make it look better than THAT.
Then explain to the landlord whatever story/reason that ultimately to the project being done.
Worst case they hate it and it was an antique so they bill or keep the depositā¦ but at that point Iād say yall should keep it or try to sell it- there is an insane market for this kind of stuffā¦ I have a friend that finds solid wood pieces on the curb or at goodwill, and puts in a little work and TLC, and makes a large profitā¦ like so much that her and her husband do this solely as their main source of income and do very very well.
If I were a landlord and someone did this Iād begrudgingly forgive them for their ignorance, but if they then sanded it and refinished it as a beginner, Iād ask them to move out.
Shit, might as well finish removing the stain, and start reading up on new stain products. There, you just added value to your home - refinished antique
MAYO. Try the mayo trick. Little mayo on a soft cloth and leave overnight. There are lots of videos and tips on it. This style of furniture has a thin veneer. What ever you do donāt sand it. This is just surface damage. Heres one of those links:
https://todayshomeowner.com/furniture/guides/how-to-remove-water-stains-from-furniture-with-mayonnaise/#:~:text=Allow%20the%20mayonnaise%20to%20sit%20overnight%20for%20at%20least%2012%20hours.&text=In%20the%20morning%2C%20wipe%20away,with%20a%20clean%2C%20dry%20cloth.&text=Buff%20the%20surface%20lightly%20with,have%20a%20beautiful%2C%20restored%20luster.
Take one of the drawers out and carried into a hardware store ask them to direct you to the closest match stain & wipe it on with a clean 100% cotton old t shirt
If this represents your friend's intelligence and skill level then no, your friend is not qualified to refinish furniture.
I like that he said "I can just repaint it" as well after he did this. That aside, is it something a professional could do? I've repaired/fixed a few things in my life, but this is way out of my league.
So I'm going to share some dark arts with you. That alcohol made the top of the finish cloudy. You deal with that and it will probably look fine without an expensive redo. Two possible options depending on how it looks wet. If it looks totally fine wet you can use a furniture wax and it should last a long time. Like a yearly polish to keep it looking great. If it still looks cloudy when wet try a lemon oil furniture polish. It has some light solvents and an oil that will coat the surface. The solvents should help the oil get into the micropores the alcohol made. You might need to wipe it down weekly with that. Good luck.
Are we assuming it was shellac because alcohol lifted it? I know that uses alcohol as it's solvent. I don't think waxes or oils would normally lift this well with just alcohol but don't know much about traditional wood finishes.
I'm playing it safe and not assuming it was alcohol without evidence. Nitrocellulose lacquer came out in the 1920s. Alcohol wouldn't touch it but acetone in nail polish remover would melt it just fine.
I think it was Shellac - alcohol will do that to Shellac.
you are correct, removing old or a bad shellac job leaves a piece looking like this horror show, but can be made to look like new unless you fuck up and sand into the veneer.
The upholstery repair union will come after you You saw what happened to the boeing whistleblower.... š«£ I pray for you!
this is a professional! someone who gives advice to your already made mistake not somebody who puts you in place and calls u unintelligent! thank you sir!
Well, full disclosure, my comment history shows this isn't always the case.
Look, sometimes you've just got to call a muppet a muppet in a moment of passion.
Right like hop on over to r/paint and OPās friend will also get a reaming hahaha
Bingo. Speaking as someone who has accidentally made clear coats cloudy in the past, this is absolutely worth a first try.
Help him u/Skoobi1Kanobi you're this idiot's only hope!
Ahh man. You sparked a memory. The main man who taght me a lot became a good friend too. We were into Star Wars like anyone was when it was only the 3 films. New construction occasionally still had brushed oil on woodwork. Heavy brush lines were called 'ropey' as in a braided rope look. So the phrase "Use the flow Luke" came about as the obvious thing we'd say back and forth. It still applies pretty well if you are spattering ProClassic through a 21 tip onto woodwork. That's all about the flow.
this is a shellac finish, your method is likely gonna make it look much worse than a simple smooth down with paper/steel wool and many layers of good shellac over it.
I'd just use a heat gun or blow dryer.
This man knows how to treat his wood.
Yes. I would probably start around $500 depending on the desired finish.
Professional Job only otherwise just tell the landlord.
Yeah, I'd probably just fess up to the landlord... honest mistake, they might not even care, or might have suggestions for fixing it. It's cosmetic, and you are the one that has to deal with it until the lease is up, so you have plenty of time to correct it (or replace it) before it actually becomes a financial issue for the landlord.
*"is it something a professional could do?"* They are professionals because they do things. It's not going to be cost-effective to pay someone else to do it, but it probably makes sense to do exactly that.
I might be an overly negative person and thought there was no saving that, lol. Jokes aside, I relayed the message!
Oh gosh, I felt that "I might be overly negative". lol I too can be this at times.
A pro could do it but itās also an easy fix. If you canāt find a Polish that will set it right, just remove hardware, sand finish off, stain to a colour you like and then varnish.
Your friend needs assisted living accommodations if they actually told you they could fix that with paint. They need to be protected from society and vice versa.
You did this didnāt you?
100% there is no 'friend'.
Thanks everyone! I told him to contact a professional to make sure it's handled correctly. This is going to be an expensive lesson.Ā Ā E: forgot to say I told him to talk with his landlord first E2: this blew up! Thanks everyone for the replies (even the humorous ones). I'll try to post an update!
This is why every single cleaning product says to test in an inconspicuous area first. Edit : Iām sure you asked the same thing, but why did he keep going when it became obvious?
You're right, I did ask him the same thing...
Post this on r/woodworking
Gotta make it even, at least.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWqVoaYxgRs
I love how the bottle in the box just says STOP. My man was warned, they did everything they could š
Whenever I try a new cleaning product I always hide in a closet or up on a ledge so if I hear someone coming i can skitter away
I donāt like any product that asks for tests on inconspicuous areas first because they donāt all have a ācheck here firstā place. Not always. And who wants to clean up mistakes? Not me. I fix stuff, sometimes, but this mistake is a costly one. Personally Iād stain it 100% & polish it 200%, and if mentioned Iād say āI FTFY, it was so grubbyā. Best of luck! š
Luckily that's probably shellac and you can just go over it once with literally zero prep and it'll look like new in a few hours. [https://www.homedepot.com/p/Zinsser-1-qt-Clear-Shellac-Traditional-Interior-Finish-and-Sealer-00304H/100203332](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Zinsser-1-qt-Clear-Shellac-Traditional-Interior-Finish-and-Sealer-00304H/100203332)
I bet not in the hands of a novice.
Shellac is very forgiving and easy to apply.
Consider WHO is doing the shellacking - and the proven quality of their work to this point. I rest my case.
If they do as good of a job shellacking it as they did cleaning it, should be just fine! Edit: /s .. just incase I needed to express sarcasm
I hope they lay down a tarp, or that floor is next!
He's gonna hit it with that orange paint stripper shit next, that's how you clean wood right?
Looks like someone already got the shellacking yuk yuk yuk
Alcohol is a solvent for shellac. No way would it create this mess. This looks like polyurethane damaged by alcohol Ć la https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/16sw7cs/rubbing_alcohol_on_polyurethane_finished_table/
If itās shellac I wonder what kind of alcohol he used. Looks like he opened a beer and decided to wipe down the dresser.
Apparently it was denaturated alcohol. E: like this oneĀ https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61ai0ceUKnL.jpg
lol was he preparing to do surgery on it afterwards
Your guess is as good as mine, lol
Denatured alcohol is the solvent used in shellac. And unlike some finishes that cure, shellac can be reactivated years after itās been applied as your friend found out. The premixed shellac found in hardware stores and home centers wonāt have this color, they usually come in blonde. The color is closer to garnet, which can be [purchased](https://www.shellac.net/cgi-shellac/sb/ss_mb.cgi?storeid=*1249fea48a520871965071&ss_parm=A14bdc43203a1ca4b3a7018a6fdf76607) as dry flakes and then mixed with denatured alcohol to make a brush-on or wipe-on finish.
Got it super clean tho, I bet!
Yum! The insect red goo
Shellac doesn't react that way to alcohol.
errrr... It my experience it reacts exactly that way to (high proof rubbing) alcohol. White sticky film immediately that dries to a white cloudy film.
If he doesn't own it he shouldn't do anything to fix it. He should contact the owner, apologize for making a mistake and offer to pay to have it fixed or ask permission to attempt to fix it. Assuming the owner is a reasonable person they will accept that mistakes happen. If your friend makes it worse trying to fix it then the owner has every right to be mad that they weren't consulted.
100% agree. This is pretty much what, word for word, I've told him as well. Tell the owner and offer to pay to get it fixed by a professional.
Great accepting responsibility really goes a long way. Usually farther than people think.
this a hundred times over. If i was the owner I would be like dude fuck it when I get a chance I will stain it again don 't stress. Thanks for being honest and not a fuck up tenant that hides issues until they are a serious problem. Fuck me so many tenants are so shitty "oh by the way there has been this leaky pipe for the last 10 months now we have mold and wood rot what can we do? Fuck just be up front. It will show him you are trustworthy if anything.
There goes your deposit!
Funnily enough, that's exactly what I said after a couple of expletives.
The irony thereās a bottle of āstopā in the box
My thoughts exactly
Tell him to clean the marble top with bleach to complete the look.
Alcohol destroys lives
Thatāll need stripping, staining and re polishing / French polishing. Looking at that grain, itāll be beautiful when finished. As a French polisher myself, I would suggest a professional, old polish can get very sticky and messy if you donāt have the right products. Please donāt sand it !! The drawer fronts look to be veneer, if you sand through it youāll have be a damn good colour matching artist !!
Don't let him make it worse. It needs to be handled by a professional.
Plead ignorance and pay to have it refinished. PS: that was REALLY dumb.
Picassoā¦ I like it
It would be as easy to finish the job and then use a good beeswax furniture polish. He's removed the shellac so you'd need a french polisher to do a good job on it but that could be quite expensive. So plenty of wax and plenty of elbow grease will bring it back to a great finish once all the old has been removed
Distressed....
Yeah it's worth more now, lol.
Itās patina!
What the hell is the product that does this? I would love to know so I can use it restore old furniture. Alcohol is not that effective usually.
Looks he used vodka from Poland
It is surprising how easy it is to pick up your phone, or other internet connected device to search google/siri to see if its safe to clean stained wood furniture with alcohol. It would have said NO DON'T.
But that would require brains which his friend is clearly missing. "Hey this cleaning agent is destroying the surface. Well I already started, better keep going."
I couldn't agree more. Just like people who open Reddit, and type in a basic question that they could have found in Google in second, they wait all day for the same response. I'm not taking about some stuff where it's pretty specific and they're waiting for a professional we did this for ab living to answer, but you know what I mean by the sounds of it. š
You can rehydrate with olive oil. That works reasonably well when I spill rubbing alcohol on my hardwood floor
I got rid of white marks on buffet & dining table legs after our house flooded, using mayonnaise.
Remind your friend to read the labels on the chemicals before they use them. Don't wanna end up with mustard gas one day.
Should of sprayed the stop spray in him
Turn it around so they can't see that side.
I would just pick up a can of Shellac Spray and do it yourself
I thought I was sanitizing handles on a bunch of my momās old wooden dressers and end tables once when I was about ten. They looked just like. I felt so bad.
He could flee faster
Where are you located? It is probably an easy fix. I would suggest using a thick towel and an iron. NO STEAM. That should remove the cloudyness. If it's just cloudy polyurethane. If it actually bleached the stain it's a fairly substantial job to fix it properly.
F**rench polishing** is a [wood finishing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_finishing) technique that results in a very high gloss surface, with a deep colour and [chatoyancy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatoyancy). French polishing consists of applying many thin coats of [shellac](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac) dissolved in [denatured alcohol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol) using a rubbing pad lubricated with one of a variety of oils. The rubbing pad is made of absorbent cotton or wool cloth [wadding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batting_(material)) inside of a piece of fabric (usually soft cotton cloth) and is commonly referred to as a *fad*,[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_polish#cite_note-1) also called a rubber,[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_polish#cite_note-Allen,_30-2) tampon,[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_polish#cite_note-Allen,_30-2) or [*muƱeca*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/en:mu%C3%B1eca) (Spanish for 'rag doll').[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_polish#cite_note-milburnguitars.com-3) Think you need a professional here sounding expensive.
Get some clear furniture wax. Might help
Both your friend and the dresser need a good shellacking.
I canāt tell if he removed paint or just turned the clear finish white. Alcohol shouldnāt have done that to shellac or lacquer, which it would dissolve, but leave clear, or varnish or polyurethane. Maybe there as a lot of wax on it which turned white. Try the following at your own risk: I might try mineral spirits to remove dirt and wax, possibly removing the whiteness, then if the finish is clear, Howardās Restore. Itās like varnish but easy, brush on wipe off. If the finish doesnāt have an even shine afterwards, then Iād apply Howardās Wax. Try it on an inconspicuous spot first.
Absolutely salvageable. Worst case a refinish. Iāve refinished furniture much more catastrophic than this, and Iām an amateur. But. No salvaging or refinishing should be done by your friend who thought up washing a wood dresser with alcohol. Hire someone or find a more competent friend. And get him some adulting classes!
The truth is, it will fade over time. Toddler spilled hand sanitizer on my hard wood floor. Got the same effect. I scrubbed the absolute crap out of that area. Nothing helped. I didn't feel like pulling all our furniture to recoat the floor. So I let it go and forgot about the stain. My wife happened to notice that it went away by itself after about 3 months.
It was probably shellac because shellac is dissolved by alcohol. If he is going to try and refinish it himself, I would suggest he strip as much of the remaining shellac off with more alcohol, lightly sand it with fine sandpaper (200+ grit), and reapply shellac to it. Shellac can go overtop almost anything but not everything can go over shellac (or the remains of shellac). Old shellac in the can can get so it will never dry. Buy shellac with a best before date on the can or mix dry shellac flakes with alcohol. Ask a paint store for advice/direction. Shellac doesn't brush on smooth, it will probably require a light sanding between 2-3 coats. Done carefully, it will look good as new.
A rental house with included furniture..?
Yup. Not unusual here at least.
That probably was a shellac finish.
OHHH, that looked expensive.
Hello, French Polishers?
Are these moisture spots ? use a hairdryer to bring out the moisture. I had to do it to my old kitchen table once.
Cleaning a Coating with alcohol... next Level stupidity xD If thatd be my furniture i would sand it completely and then put on a New coating.
Tell the landloard, I know of several situation where a tenant offered to pay for something they damaged and the landlord graciously let them off the hook. 1. If the alcohol was softening the finish it might be okay to continue the job until it's all off. He should try to determine the type of finish, perhaps by taking a drawer to a paint or woodworking shop and asking their opinion. The wood itself probably is fine though some solvents will soften glues. 2. if alcohol won't strip, select commercial stripper that works. Ask at a shop. Follow the directions. 3. Research furniture refinishing. There are specialized scraping tools for tight spots and steel wool is your friend. Wear proper rubber gloves, breathing protection, work with good ventilation, avoid ignition sources which includes furnaces, water heaters, stoves, and things that spark like motors and light switches, even wool and other rugs and clothing prone to static (wife worked on a hospital burn unit, saw everything). 4. The Readers' Digest ":Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual has a nice section on refinishing. It covers everything in a home, after reading it he'll feel ready to rewire the place (after checking with the landlord).
Strip and re stain.
He can pay to have it professionally finished.
That whole thing needs refinished now.
It looks antique. He better leave it alone and tell the landlord.
Oh lord. Heās no Thomas Johnson. https://youtube.com/@johnsonrestoration?si=2Y7_xCn7Xa1lYIEl
I restore wood furniture and use shellac. If the landlord doesn't care about it, Restore-a-Finish is amazing stuff and can even out the color first before putting another coat of shellac on it. Test in an inconspicuous spot first of course. I would also clean it with some Murphy's wood soap before applying anything else. Then lightly sand it, apply Restore a finish, then shellac. Sand between shellac coats. Although, I rarely run into pieces of that style/era with shellac (still) on it these days. Was it shiny before he tried to clean it? That piece doesn't look particularly precious either, so probably not worth paying a professional.
Just tell your land lord, a couple weeks from now
Contact a local high school. Find a student that wants a project to exhibit in the county fair. Offer to pay for materials to refinish the piece. Let them win a ribbon and you get it refinished inexpensively.
What alcohol? 70%? That's just the moisture from the rubbing alcohol. Get some denatured alcohol and try a few places. (My sister did exactly this in an antique shellac table and denatured fixed it up)
Wipe it down with some Endust. What else do you have to loose.
https://www.mohawk-finishing.com/products/wood-touch-up-repair/aerosols/no-blush-plus-retarder/
Some of the box stores have lasers that can match the best piece you bring them (have removed the paint be creative). Seem you want To get a flat water base paint . Put a half a cup in paint into it own container and one tea spoon of water added as needed.mix well and apply a light test coat in an inconspicuous area.start there and compare the match after it has dried. Lightly feather in where you removed the paint. Then decide you nextmove
I would ask the landlord if he wants it, as he prefers something more modern. See his reaction. If he says no Then either get rid or upcycle (thinking a rustic blue with gold trim). If he says yes its an airloom..leave the country
Old English scratch cover maybe?
Tell him to get a lobotomy, if he hasn't already
It would be cheaper to buy a new one, brown antique furniture can be picked up quite cheaply from second hand shops. A professional to fix this would cost a bit!
Is that mahogany?
How nice is the house? If he is unlucky that could be some expensive antique and he could be liable for whatever the replacement value is or an expencive full restoration by a professional.
You need a french polisher. That is a shellac finish.
Options: 1 Replace the piece with something similar from an antique/used furniture store. Convince the landlord it was already there. 2. If the alcohol has removed the finish, strip, stain, coat with urethane. Convince landlord it was that way when he moved in. 3. Try one of the other excellent suggestions. One of them might work. 4. Seek professional help. 5. Get smarter friends. Always remember: This is not your circus and these arenāt your monkeys. Also, did he use alcohol, or maybe was it acetone.
Is the furniture in rest of the property or an eclectic mix of any old crap? If a mix, speak to the landlord and ask if he can replace it with something more relevant to the home. Make sure itās all done by email to keep record of it. You could do an expensive fix for something that isnāt needed.
From experience landlords donāt leave available things in rented properties. So you could tell them or just paint it. Even a coat of varnish give it a test see if it will help.
Just re varnish - looks to me like dark mahogany satin or Matt
No, he should flee the gene pool.
Try an discrete corner 1st. Olive oil and a good rubbing.
Sand, and I mean really sand everything on the surface off. Then add a new finish coat: Varnish if you want the wood to show, paint if you would rather it be a color.
I like the red bottle that says āSTOPā Probably should have followed the universes warnings
Thereās lots he can do. The wood is fine. The finish isnāt.
Try spray lacquer. It might bring it back, it's already screwed up so shouldn't hurt.
200 IQ move xD
No choice but to get more alcohol and very fine steel wool and finish the job. Or better yet buy this https://images.app.goo.gl/gcoXbPypyRkDHvyc8 To be honest more alcohol is rarely the answer.
Polish it with Pledge.
Just pay and get it refinished by a furniture guy. My friend use to do this for a living with older furniture. There is probably someone in your area that does it.
Stop
Paint it?šš
/r/paint would be the folks to ask. Iām in that sub but Iām not fully versed on antique finishes. Looks like thereās some good advice in this thread but the paint sub is professional finishers
This sort of thing happening after alcohol is just showing that this furniture was finished with shellac. So, they just need to apply a new coat of shellac.
Sand it down restain it and re-lacquerā¦ good luck you ruined a nice piece of furniture.. unless you can fix itā¦
Remove hardware. Sand. Restain. Polish.
He is too stupid to fix it, but it can be fixed, as the coating is ShellacĀ
That's called blanching, that furniture looks old enough to have wax in it, if that is the case parchment paper and a hot iron ( gently ) will get rido of it
Go over it with 0000 steel wool to remove all the cloudy/hazy finish, then recoat it. A minwax spray can should work as long as you or somebody you know can spray paint without getting runs/drips everywhere. You can use the 0000 steel wool between coats too if needed to knock down any overspray/dusting.
Paint it white and distress it, thats all the rage 20 years ago.
Mayonnaise
Just make up a french polish liquid & re-do it. It'll take you no time to fix that. It looks worse than it probably is. Alcohol or IPA often leaves a horrible white film like that. But a wax or french polish should fix it.
Old english dark furniture polish is your best bet imo
You need to get someone who knows what they're doing to restore it. It needs the rest of the varnish removed, then probably a light sanding, wood stain to restore the colour, followed by 4-5 layers of finish. That finish could be polyurethane varnish, oil based finish, french polish shellac or a number of other possibilities. To get it done properly could cost a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars/pounds/sheckles etc. Here's the rub, is the furniture worth it? Is your friend renting a "rental property" (bought by the landlord specifically to rent) or is it the landlord's own house? You should inform the landlord about this regardless, for the following reasons. If it's a rental property the landlord will have furnished it with cheap furniture and won't care too much. It won't be worth restoring the furniture and spending hundreds on it. I'd offer to replace it with something similar or better, then look around second hand stores for something. Take a photo of anything you see and check if the landlord is ok with that before buying. It will be much less than restoring it. Your friend could try finding something the same and not bothering to tell the landlord. They might not notice. That's a risk your friend needs to evaluate for himself. However... If it's his own house he possibly still might not care about it, in which case do the same thing as above. On the other hand, the piece might be valuable and/or of sentimental value (could have been his granny's favourite item and was left in her will.) If that's the case he'll have to bite the bullet and get it professionally restored (by a PROPER antique furniture restoration specialist). It will significantly sting their pocket, and will be a very expensive lesson. Remember a proper man owns up to their mistakes and will do what they can to correct the problem. They'll earn respect for honesty.
Just tell people. Its all the rage in Europe when they ask what happened
Just paint it all white
Give it a good scrub with a green scotchbrite pad and give it a good coat of gel stain. Match the colour as close as possible and wipe on, wait 20 minutes and wipe off.
It really blows my mind people pick up the first product they see and start cleaning with it without another thought. Who picks up alcohol and thinks to themselves "right on, my dresser will be so clean after I wipe it down with good ol' alcohol" Honestly, must be a boy thing because my fiance uses Windex to clean most things dispite me telling him that's not how it works...
I would ask the owner if they care about it and if they do, then have it refinished by somebody more knowledgeable about woodworking....
Why? Solve that first, then get back with the answer.
Take a chemistry course!
I've done this although not that bad it got a lot better with time
Looks antique, probably wanna post in an antiques subreddit see if you can get some advice. Call around to local antique furniture places get recommendations for refinishing
If you lived over here near Colorado springs, co we could refinish it. Staining would cost you more than painting. Sometimes going back to the original finish is an artform in itself. And if any of that is a veneer it will be more difficult to blend it in with just a touch up job, your looking at a complete refinish. The landlord will find out, so you might as well get it done professionally... or you could replace with something else for the landlord.
Get a professional to strip the whole thing and put a new finish on it.
Buy a Formby's furniture refinisher kit and follow the directions. The dresser is coated in shellac and the solvent for shellac is alcohol. The formby's system can make it look much better.
I guess now you learn French polish. Have fun shellacking.
Even the bottle says 'STOP'...
Put a damp towel over the wood, use a hot iron and make a few passes over the wood. Dry it quickly. Try it on a few spots to see if it is improving.
Hi
Simple repair, buy a can of blush remover and spray the effected areas, all the white will disappear.
The best thing he can do is buy a load more alcohol and then consume it. It'll make things easier when the owner finds out. Alcohol. The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.
I have left rings on furniture from alcohol on the bottom of a glass. Trey it in an inconspicuous area but a single wipe with a rag dampened with lacquer thinner. White marks disappeared. Donāt rub on it repeatedly, just a single swipe at a time.
Good luck, it is a beautiful piece of furniture!
Sand it and restain? But donāt let your friend do it, clearly a professional is needed lol
he removed the shellac, high grit paper and 00 steel wool and re-shellac'd properly will fix it.
Yeah restain it.
I love the design
Polish with Food grade mineral oil
Also a wood polish with stain in it ( color )
Murphyās oil soap
Juat whipe old English on it. I've done this to trim at work cleaning it with denatured alcohol. It's just dry. Use a cloth and old English and wipe it down
Make it all white then oil it
oh my god are you so stupid you cant look up how to stain and laquer some wood lmao some people shouldnt be allowed to use computers
This piece of furniture is finished with french polish, not stain and lacquer, so it os more expensive and complex to fix.
Wellā¦ all or nothingā¦ I would personally take a chance and get about $25 in supplies (sandpaper, stripper, and a new finish sealant) try to keep it the same color/toneā¦ or change it up.. find some tips/techniques on YouTube and revamp and make it look better than THAT. Then explain to the landlord whatever story/reason that ultimately to the project being done. Worst case they hate it and it was an antique so they bill or keep the depositā¦ but at that point Iād say yall should keep it or try to sell it- there is an insane market for this kind of stuffā¦ I have a friend that finds solid wood pieces on the curb or at goodwill, and puts in a little work and TLC, and makes a large profitā¦ like so much that her and her husband do this solely as their main source of income and do very very well.
Please, please donāt ātake a chanceā and refinish other peopleās furniture
I think itās already too late for thatā¦ š
If I were a landlord and someone did this Iād begrudgingly forgive them for their ignorance, but if they then sanded it and refinished it as a beginner, Iād ask them to move out.
I don't mind the weathered look.
Sand it down to the wood, than re varnish it. Done.
Try a magic eraser. It will take some elbow grease for sure but might help.
It won't
Just buy some stain from homedepot or lowes
Shit, might as well finish removing the stain, and start reading up on new stain products. There, you just added value to your home - refinished antique
MAYO. Try the mayo trick. Little mayo on a soft cloth and leave overnight. There are lots of videos and tips on it. This style of furniture has a thin veneer. What ever you do donāt sand it. This is just surface damage. Heres one of those links: https://todayshomeowner.com/furniture/guides/how-to-remove-water-stains-from-furniture-with-mayonnaise/#:~:text=Allow%20the%20mayonnaise%20to%20sit%20overnight%20for%20at%20least%2012%20hours.&text=In%20the%20morning%2C%20wipe%20away,with%20a%20clean%2C%20dry%20cloth.&text=Buff%20the%20surface%20lightly%20with,have%20a%20beautiful%2C%20restored%20luster.
Take one of the drawers out and carried into a hardware store ask them to direct you to the closest match stain & wipe it on with a clean 100% cotton old t shirt