Paint and finish stripping chemicals are highly toxic, so it's essential to set up a well-ventilated work area. Choose your garage, a work shed, or a spot outdoors.


Avoid setting up your work area in one of the main rooms of your house. Basements are not well-ventilated enough, either.
Unfold the drop cloth over a large surface area and lay out the paint stripper, brushes for applying the stripper, and the scraping tools you need to remove it.
Put on your ventilator (if indoors), gloves, apron and goggles.
 Dip the brush into the paint stripper and begin applying it to the furniture. If the piece you are refinishing is large, plan to strip the paint in sections, rather than all at once. The stripper bonds with the paint as you apply it, separating it from the wood.
 Use the steel wool and other scraping tools to scrape off the paint with the stripper. It should come off in large sheets.


Give the same amount of care to each part of the furniture. The stripping process affects the look of the wood underneath, so you want to make sure each part gets the same treatment to avoid an uneven finish.
If the furniture has multiple coats of paint, you may need to repeat the paint-stripping process more than once.
 Once the paint is gone, the finish underneath also needs to be removed. Use a paintbrush to apply the thinner finish-stripping solution, then sand it away using a clean piece of steel wool. All the furniture to dry completely.


Now that the wood has been revealed, be sure to scrub along the grain, rather than against it, so the wood doesn't get damaged.
If most of the old finish seems to have come off with the paint stripper, you still need to give the furniture a stripper rinse to make sure all traces of the old finish are gone. Rinse the furniture with denatured alcohol or mineral spirits, then let it dry.
 Use a sanding machine or 100-grit sandpaper to thoroughly sand the furniture. Work in even strokes and spend the same amount of time on each part of the furniture to ensure an even finish. Use a finishing sander to go over the surface again and create a completely smooth surface. Wipe the piece with a cloth to remove the dust, and your piece is now ready for its new finish.
Set up a work area.
Apply the paint stripper.
Scrub away the paint.
Strip the old finish.
Sand the piece.
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