The week I had to strip three layers of old paint from a 1920s dresser

It started Monday when a client brought in this huge oak dresser from their grandma's attic in Portland. The first layer was modern latex, the second was some kind of lead-based enamel, and under that was the original dark shellac. I went through two whole gallons of stripper and a pack of 60 steel wool pads just to get down to bare wood. Has anyone else run into a piece with that many stubborn finishes stacked up?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_william5d ago

That dresser had more layers than a wedding cake. Sounds like your client's grandma was really into redecorating. Did you find any secret messages under all that paint?

lunaf674d agoMost Upvoted

Secret messages? I wish. Unless you count the three separate layers of beige paint as a cry for help. The only hidden thing I found was my own will to live after the fifth round of chemical stripper. That dresser fought me harder than my last plumbing estimate.

nancycooper4d ago

Got to be honest, that was my own dresser. A personal project, not a client job. Sometimes you just need to fix your own stuff, you know? The plumbing estimate thing was just a joke about how tough it was. Stripping that thing down was a total nightmare.