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? RE Stripping paint/pine knot holes covered with Zinsser BIN

8 years ago

Paint forum is all sleepy so I'm cross posting here.

I have a night stand that is pine. It was originally unfinished except the drawer fronts were painted and there were a few hand painted flowers on the piece. I decided to paint it a solid color so I sanded and primed with (tinted) Zinsser's BIN since I didn't want to chance the knot hole bleeding through later. It's time for a change and I'd like to strip and stain. How hard will it be to remove all the primer from the knot holes? Will this be a challenging issue? Any tips before I start?

Thank you!

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Comments (13)

Errant_gw
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I'd start with a soft bristled brush, then maybe work your way up with various wire brushes. Like you would with a carved piece.
User
Original Author
8 years ago
Ah, good idea. Not sure why I didn't think of that. Thank you!
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tibbrix
8 years ago
Use a paint stripper, obviously. Paint store can tell you a good one to use on the BIN. For remnant paint in the crevices of a knot, I would not use a wire brush because you'll scratch the wood. Rather, try to get your hands on some dental tools. They work great!
tim45z10
8 years ago
Use a gel stain. It requires a primer.
tim45z10
8 years ago
You tube has videos on how to do.
User
Original Author
8 years ago
Tibb - I have a few different paint strippers here already I'd like to try first. I will look into the dental tool idea.

Tim - I've used General Finishes gel stain in the past with much success over stained wood. I'm sure I could gel stain over the existing paint, but it's not going to give me the color or look I'm after.

Thanks everyone!
bbstx
8 years ago
Dental tools can be purchased at a large drug store (think Walgreens). I bought some to work on grout the tile layers got into crevices in the tile. They were not expensive.
graywings123
8 years ago
Are you sure you want to invest this much time in a pine piece? I do a lot of paint stripping on a 100+ year house, but it would have to be a really special piece of furniture before I would put that much work into it.
gsciencechick
8 years ago
Shee, pardon me if I am thinking of the wrong person, but is it safe for you be around these type of fumes?
Michael
8 years ago
Gel stain over primer is the easiest method.
User
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Bbstx - Good to know, thanks!

Graywings - I don't think it's going to really be that bad. I can't find another inexpensive night stand that I like and I really dislike it painted and want something else stained in the room. I'm also in the mood for projects. I'll also add that there aren't thin legs or any details that will be a pain minus a few knot holes. The piece has three long rectangular drawers and two smaller drawers. The whole thing is basically wide, flat pieces.

Gsciencechick - I'll use my respirator and chemical gloves.

Brushworks - I'm not trying to be dense here I'm not grasping why I would want to do it that way at all. The piece was primed and then painted. If I were to use gel stain over what's there I would have to go extremely dark and most likely opaque and that's not the look I'm going after.
Michael
8 years ago
What color or look are you hoping for?
User
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
A medium brown. I'm very pleased with my kitchen cabinets, but I felt they had a streaky DIY look until I hit three coats. They're over golden oak and are not opaque. I still wanted to see the grain since I wasn't trying to tricky anyone into thinking they were a different wood species. I suppose I could always test it, but I wasn't sure I was going to go with gel stain for this project. As for testing - same with stripping the piece - I'll start with the top and if I decide I'm really not in the mood for this like I thought, I'll repaint for now until something pops up that's better.

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