Cleaning old varnished woodwork

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All_at_Sea

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My 1975 boat has wooodwork that was once varnished or polished, but now looks very tired. Before sanding is there anything l can put on the wood to clean all the old grime off? l intend to re-varnish once sanded back, what do you recommend to put on - varnish/polish/wax.....it looks like a mahogany type wood, mainly solid but some veneers.
 
Is this outside or internal? I'm currently renovating the woodwork on my 70's boat. I've had to use paint stripper on some of the cockpit lockers and hatch cover as a previous owner had put on some awful brown stain/varnish. If the wood is internal, make sure that you don't sand off a thin veneer of, say mahogany. Colron make a gentle cleaner - I forget what it's called - which you apply with steel wool to clean off old polish. I would finish off with varnish to protect from damp, but not if the wood is a quality internal finish, when something like linseed oil might be better. I would suggest that you re-finish in whatever finish was originally applied. Good luck - the difference can be amazing!
N
 
You can clean grease, grime etc of existing varnished wood with white spirit or possibly acetone, but try the latter somewhere where it won't notice to check it does not lift the existing finish.

For refurbishment, if you want it back to a good finish there is little alternative to stripping back to bare wood and starting again. This is very time consuming on interior woodwork because of all the fiddly bits on the one hand and the large areas such as veneered bulkheads which can require different techniques. The three main methods of stripping are chemicals, such as Nitromors, hot air gun and dry scraping/sanding. All can be effective, depending on what the coating is and your skill and patience. Be wary of sanding though, particularly on veneered plywood as this can be very thin.

As for re-finishing there is lots of choice depending on your preference for finish and particularly the level of skill you have and time you are prepared to put into it. Personally I prefer Ronseal satin polyurethane varnish, but the traditional way is to use yacht varnish - several coats, perhaps finished with final coats of "rubbed finish" if you don't like high gloss. Epifanes is popular for this application, and it does give a better finish than Ronseal types, but is far more work.
 
If the wood has gone black then bleach applied by brush and left for 24 hours will get rid of it. Clean off afterwards with a 50:50 mix of water and vinegar.

Yoda
 
I refurbished my internal woodwork with stuff called Patina from Marinemegastore and other sources.
Just rub it on over the old varnish once you have cleaned it properly. It worked very well for me.
I can email you photos of the finished work if you would like to let you see it.
Saved an awfull lot of time compared to varnishing.
 
Wood

Outside or inside???

I have just done all the wood (teak) on Shady outside & I used a combination of sanding, Marine 16 teak cleaner, then a teak oil - just great results.
however if its inside then all you can do is sand it down (wood only not veneer) again no reason not to use the teak cleaner but diluted, wash off using a sponge then a good varnish, personally I am not keen on varnish finishes & much prefer a good quality woodstain like Ronseal (it really does exactly what it say's etc.) its also water proof.

Veneers are totally different & really all you can do is lightly clean & polish with a good quality bee’s wax.

Enjoy. :)
 
Sugar soap to get the crud off, then light sand and re-varnish if the varnish is good under the crud. I used rubbed effect epifanes indoors.
 
Oxalic acid.........this will clean the wood. Surf the net about it there are many bits of information.

Tom

PS. Just found the other thread and Searush mentioned Oxalic Acid, he also mentioned oiling the wood...........NEVER!
 
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