01/07/2026
HOW TO STRIP VARNISH AND STAIN WITH ACETONE: A Workshop Wednesday,"Hey-how'd-you-do-that?"
Its Workshop Wednesday, everybody! The part of the week where I take time to show off my chaotic (yet ever evolving) workshop, my favorite tools and products, or answer any questions I receive about how I do any particular part of my process.
Recently I began working on a project I'm really excited about for a mid-century traditional kneehole desk that was generously donated to Never Interiors, for me to do with whatever I wished.
I had a vision (the end goal is a surprise!) and decided the first step was to remove all the varnish and stain. Now, I have removed varnish and stain before, but I have never seen anything quite like THIS.
Using acetone and soft tools only I stripped the piece, which was originally stained a dark walnut or muddy mahogany color and then varnished. I took all the varnish and pigment out, all the way down to the veneer and when I saw what lie beneath, I was BESIDE myself, I could not believe how warm this piece was naked. I've never seen raw veneer so warm before! The wood beneath was a glowing ambered mahogany.
Seeking explanations while still in shock, and to kind of maybe show off a little, I posted my results in some furniture flipper groups, knowing that my cohorts would definitely need "to get a load of this", to put it eloquently.
I was not disappointed. It seems as though I had indeed stumbled upon some combination of the perfect process with the perfect products on a perfectly preserved piece. Pleased I had received plenty of praise, as well as the repeated curious "hey how'd you do that?!" I figured my process would make a great topic to cover for today's workshop Wednesday!
Okay! Let's begin!
As for my process, I will be honest, I can't take all the credit here, I did a fairly standard acetone removal. I didn't do anything particularly out of the ordinary, so the bulk of this beauty's credit goes to the piece herself, she was just born this way!
What I did do:
First, as I do with nearly every piece, I cleaned with LAs Totally Awesome degreaser. No need to get too crazy with this step when you're going to acetone a piece, but it's always the best first step in my opinion, to remove oils from people's fingertips and to just generally get the dust or ni****ne off. The main thing to remember is not to clean so much that the piece gets too wet. You will want to keep things as dry as possible (this is what makes acetone so great, it evaporates immediately.)
Next, I apply acetone with a paint brush in up and down, criss (and!) cross directions, and within 30-50 seconds I wipe with an acetone saturated wash rag in a plastic bin of acetone. I repeat this over and over. Some people use scrapers or steel wool, but for this kind of perfection, I do not, I want the wood nearly chemically polished by the time I am done with it.
I used about 4 different rags, 1 of which was fairly threadbare after use. For the threadbare one I air it out and toss when its dry. For the others I rinse them clear with more acetone, air out to dry and then rinse again with water. They are my workshop rags. you definitely gotta air them out or they could spontaneously combust!
The brush I used was a 3-inch cheapo Project Source polyester brush, I think I paid like 2 bucks for it.
For gloves the biggest issue for me is how COLD my fingertips get while wiping the acetone. Oh yeah, and that the acetone will eat away the gloves, but I mean I guess I just go into it expecting that, ('tis acetone after all), but what I can't handle is that frost bite down-to-the-bone-cold, seriously, freezing temps its insane.
I use two gloves at once, and it's a little shabby but its RESOURCEFUL so don't judge me. (Yeah, I know they make gloves for that, but the least amount of trips I make to Lowes the happier my wallet is.)
First, I put on rubber coated palmed gardening gloves, these gloves were mainly for warmth, they were more so water resistant than waterproof. Over top of these I put black nitrile gloves, they last me a while, but I think I went through probably 8 pairs on this piece. The acetone will eat them away (as acetone is wont to do!), with my right hand (rag hand) obviously getting eaten through faster than my left (acetone brush hand).
After acetoning until I stopped seeing a change in color on the piece, I grabbed a fresh rag and checked to see it was coming up clear, then I let it dry overnight. The next day I made a light paste of oxalic acid with Barkeepers Friend and water. I used this very lightly and washed in streaking motions with a toothbrush. After only a few minutes, I wiped clean with a damp rag, let dry, and wiped clean again anywhere it looked chalky.
Let dry again overnight. Next morning I did a mineral spirits wipe down with a sock. Before bed I did a second mineral spirits wipe down, also with a sock. The end!
There you have it! That is my whole process and look how stunning she turned out! So what is on the piece now? NOTHING. You read that right. Nada. The last pictures are the before.
Something to know, this process is MESSY, it is drippy, it is runny. Even though it evaporates quickly, I would not use this method as a spot fix for say, just finishing the top of a piece for example. Once you start the acetone will run down the sides and colors are gonna start to change!
Please don't hesitate to comment if you have any questions, and keep your eyes peeled because you haven't seen the last of this acetone desk, I still have big plans for her!
