Refinishing a wooden dining table

Over the years, a wooden dining table can start to look tired and worn, especially if it is used most days.

Often, it’s just the layer of varnish that has deteriorated and the wood itself may be in tip-top condition. Rather than spending your hard-earned cash on a new dining table and matching chairs, you can instead give your dining set a fresh lease of life, at the fraction of the cost.

Prepare the surface

For a long-lasting finish that’s going to be able to withstand all those family meals in the years to come, it’s essential to take that extra bit of time to properly prep the surface, before applying any new coats of varnish.

If your dining table and chairs are really run down, and the old varnish is cracking or flaking, you may need to remove the old varnish or stain to get back to the bare wood. You can do this by either sanding or stripping.

It’s largely down to personal preference which method you choose, but some prefer to use a stripper, such as Owatrol’s DSP 800, as there is much less dust involved!

Are your dining table and chairs covered in old, undamaged varnish? No need to sand right the way back to the bare wood. Ensure that you remove any flaky parts and then roughen the entire surface to enable the varnish to ‘stick’ better.

If your dining table has an old coating of wood stain, you may be able to apply a varnish without removing the existing wood stain, as long as it’s in good condition.

However, you will need to sand the entire surface (grit 180).

Apply your varnish

You can either opt for a solvent-based or water-based varnish. Again, this is largely down to personal preference, as both of have their advantages and disadvantages.

Solvent-based varnish, for example, takes longer to dry but because of this, some people say that it’s easier to apply.

On the other hand, cleaning your tools is a much simpler process when you use a water-based varnish. You will only need to use warm water and soap. Whereas, tools covered in solvent-based varnishes will need to be cleaned with white spirit.

Applying Linitop Vernis (solvent-based)

 

After preparing your old table and chairs for the varnish, apply 2 coats of Linitop Vernis with a short mohair roller, in the direction of the wood grain.

If you need to strip your wood first, please get in touch with us for advice.

For full instructions, please refer to the full product information.

Applying Acryl Vernis (water-based)

 

As with Linitop Vernis, prepare your surface and then apply 1 to 2 coats of Acryl Vernis with a micro-fibre roller.

Again, if you need to strip your wood first, you should get in touch with us for advice.

For full instructions and more hints and tips, please refer to the full product information.

 

Once you’ve restored your table and chairs to their former glory, ensure that you look after them, by wiping them regularly with a dry, lint-free cloth.

Have you used varnish to spruce-up your dining table and chairs? Send us through some photos – we’d love to take a look.

---

We hope you found this post helpful and got some ideas on refinishing a wooden dining table. If you have any other tips, tricks or advice, please feel free to leave them in the comments below. We love hearing from you!

Want to keep up with all things Owatrol? Why not follow us on social media? You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest at @owatroluk or at the hashtag #owatroluk