How to Refinish Furniture: Part 2 Cleaning & Preparation

Cleaning & Preparation: How to Get Furniture Ready for Refinishing

Once you’ve decided a piece is worth refinishing, the next step is getting it properly cleaned and prepared.

This is one of those parts of furniture refinishing that doesn’t look very exciting, but it makes a huge difference in how the rest of the project goes.

A lot of refinishing problems actually start here.

Paint that doesn’t stick.

Primer that separates.

Sandpaper that gums up immediately.

Grease that somehow keeps coming back through the finish.

Those problems usually aren’t caused by the paint itself.

They’re often caused by what was left on the furniture before the finishing process even started.

At Brickhouse & Baron, we like to think of this stage as resetting the piece.

Before we repair it, sand it, strip it, or paint it, we want to get rid of years of dust, oils, wax, grime, old polish, drawer debris, and whatever else the furniture has picked up over its lifetime.

It’s not glamorous.

But it matters.

1. Remove the Hardware First

Before you start cleaning, take off anything that doesn’t need to stay attached.

That usually includes:

• Drawer pulls

• Knobs

• Handles

• Hinges

• Decorative plates

• Door catches

• Removable feet

• Removable shelves

• Other small hardware

There are two reasons for this.

First, it makes the furniture much easier to clean.

You can actually get underneath the hardware instead of just cleaning around it.

Second, it protects the hardware from cleaners, sanding, paint, and chemical products later.

If you plan to reuse the original hardware, this is especially important.

Old brass pulls or decorative hardware can sometimes be one of the best parts of the furniture.

Don’t ruin them accidentally.

Keep Everything Organized

This is the part people skip and then regret later.

When you remove hardware, keep it grouped by location.

You can use:

• Small plastic bags

• Cups

• Containers

• Painter’s tape

• Labels

If a dresser has three different sizes of screws, don’t assume you’ll remember where they go two days from now.

You probably won’t.

We usually recommend keeping hardware from each area together and labeling it.

Something simple like:

Top left drawer

Center door

Right cabinet hinge

is enough.

It takes a few seconds and makes reassembly much easier.

2. Remove the Drawers, Doors, and Shelves

If it comes out easily, take it out.

Pull the drawers.

Remove shelves.

Take doors off if they’ll be easier to work on separately.

This gives you much better access to the furniture itself.

It also makes the piece easier to inspect.

Once the drawers are out, you may notice things you couldn’t see before.

Loose rails.

Old repairs.

Broken drawer stops.

Dust buildup.

Missing screws.

Water damage.

At this stage, you're still learning about the piece.

Label the Drawers

This is worth repeating because it causes problems all the time.

Older furniture drawers are not always interchangeable.

A drawer may have been fitted to one specific opening.

If you put it back in a different location, it might suddenly bind, sit crooked, or refuse to close.

A small piece of tape on the back or underside of each drawer can save a lot of frustration.

For example:

L1 — Left top drawer

R2 — Right middle drawer

Nothing complicated.

Just enough to get everything back where it belongs.

3. Vacuum Before You Start Washing Anything

Before introducing water or cleaning products, get rid of the loose dirt.

Vacuum the whole piece.

Not just the outside.

Get inside:

• Drawer openings

• Cabinets

• Corners

• Crevices

• Under the furniture

• Behind trim

• Drawer boxes

• Decorative carvings

Old furniture can hold an impressive amount of dust.

And once that dust gets wet, it turns into grime.

It’s much easier to remove it dry first.

A shop vacuum with a brush attachment works really well here.

You can also use a soft brush to loosen dirt in carved areas before vacuuming it away.

4. Clean the Furniture Thoroughly

Now you can actually wash the piece.

Furniture that looks clean may still have years of:

• Body oils

• Cooking grease

• Cleaning sprays

• Furniture polish

• Smoke residue

• Wax

• Dirt

• Hand lotion

• General household grime

That invisible buildup can interfere with primer and paint.

This is especially common around drawer pulls, cabinet doors, table edges, and anywhere people regularly touch.

Start With a Degreasing Cleaner

You want something that removes grime without leaving a heavy residue behind.

Always follow the instructions for the cleaner you choose and test it in an inconspicuous area if you're unsure how the existing finish will react.

Work in sections.

Don't soak the furniture.

Use enough cleaner to loosen the dirt, then wipe it away.

If the piece is especially dirty, you may need to repeat the process.

You'll often be surprised by how much comes off.

Pay Attention to High-Touch Areas

These areas are usually dirtier than the rest of the furniture:

• Around drawer pulls

• Door edges

• Table edges

• Chair arms

• Cabinet handles

• The top front edge of dressers

• Areas near kitchen use

Sometimes you'll clean the whole piece and then notice these spots still feel slick.

Clean them again.

It's better to spend another five minutes now than deal with peeling paint later.

5. Remove Old Wax and Furniture Polish

This is a big one.

Furniture polish and wax can cause major adhesion problems.

A piece may look clean and still have silicone, wax, or polish sitting on the surface.

If you try to paint directly over it, you may see:

• Fish eyes

• Craters

• Separation

• Poor adhesion

• Uneven primer

If the furniture has been polished regularly over the years, assume there may be residue present.

Use a cleaner or solvent appropriate for removing that type of contamination and follow the product instructions carefully.

Don't just sand over wax.

Sanding can actually spread the contamination around.

You want to remove it first.

6. Clean the Inside Too

This is easy to overlook.

People usually focus on the outside because that’s what will be painted.

But the inside matters too.

Pull out the drawers and vacuum them.

Wipe them down.

Clean cabinet interiors.

Check the corners.

If the piece has an old smell, cleaning the interior is usually the first step toward fixing it.

You may find:

• Dust

• Old paper

• Hair

• Sticky residue

• Drawer liner adhesive

• Spilled cosmetics

• Old food residue

• Random mystery debris

Older furniture has lived a life.

Sometimes you learn more about that life than you wanted to.

What About Old Drawer Liners?

If the furniture has old liner paper, inspect it before deciding whether to keep it.

If it's:

• Peeling

• Dirty

• Stained

• Smelly

• Damaged

remove it.

Adhesive residue may need additional cleaning afterward.

If the liner is original, decorative, and in good condition, you may decide to preserve it.

That comes down to the piece and the look you're trying to create.

7. Look for Odors

Some furniture smells perfectly fine.

Some does not.

Common odors include:

• Smoke

• Mustiness

• Perfume

• Pet odors

• Mildew

• Old drawer smells

Cleaning may solve the problem.

Sometimes it takes more work.

If a smell is strong, figure out where it's coming from before moving on.

Is it in the drawer boxes?

The cabinet interior?

The unfinished back?

Raw wood can absorb smells over time.

In some cases, odor-blocking primers or sealers may eventually be needed.

But start by cleaning thoroughly.

Don't try to cover a dirty surface with paint and hope the smell disappears.

8. Remove Stickers, Tape, and Adhesive

This is another surprisingly common problem.

Price stickers.

Moving labels.

Old tape.

Childproofing adhesive.

Drawer liner glue.

Decorative decals.

Try to remove these before sanding.

If you sand adhesive, it tends to heat up and smear.

Then it clogs your sandpaper and spreads across the surface.

Remove as much as possible first.

Work slowly.

Depending on the adhesive, gentle heat, scraping, or an appropriate adhesive remover may help.

Be especially careful on veneer.

You don't want to damage the surface while trying to remove a sticker.

9. Do a Second Inspection After Cleaning

This is one of the reasons cleaning comes before repairs.

Dirt hides damage.

Once the furniture is clean, take another look at everything.

You may suddenly notice:

• Hairline cracks

• Loose veneer

• Small chips

• Water stains

• Old filler

• Previous repairs

• Deep scratches

• Separation at joints

Now you're seeing the actual furniture instead of years of dirt sitting on top of it.

This is the point where we start building a repair list.

10. Decide What Needs to Come Apart

You don't always need to completely dismantle furniture.

In fact, unnecessary disassembly can create more work.

But sometimes removing certain pieces makes the refinishing process much easier.

You might remove:

• Cabinet doors

• Drawer fronts

• Feet

• Decorative trim

• Removable tops

• Shelves

• Back panels

Only take something apart if there’s a reason.

If the piece is solid and easy to work on as-is, leave it alone.

If removing a door gives you much cleaner paint lines and easier access, take the door off.

The goal is efficiency.

Not disassembling furniture just because you can.

11. Take Photos Before You Go Too Far

This is a simple habit that helps more than you'd expect.

Take a few pictures before removing complicated hardware or parts.

Photograph:

• Hinge placement

• Drawer arrangement

• Hardware locations

• Decorative trim

• Back panel orientation

• Any unusual construction

If you forget how something went together later, you've got a reference.

It's basically free insurance.

12. Let the Furniture Dry Completely

Once you've cleaned everything, give it time to dry.

Don't immediately start sanding or priming a piece that's still damp.

Pay special attention to:

• Raw wood

• MDF

• Drawer interiors

• Corners

• Joints

• Veneer edges

Moisture can sit in small areas longer than you think.

The surface may feel dry while moisture is still trapped deeper inside.

If you cleaned heavily, give the furniture enough time to fully dry before continuing.

13. Set Up a Clean Work Area for the Next Step

Once the furniture is clean, don't put it right back into a dirty environment.

Vacuum the floor.

Clear away the cleaning supplies.

Organize the hardware.

Set aside the drawers.

Get your sanding tools ready.

This creates a clean transition into the next phase.

The last thing you want is to spend an hour cleaning a dresser and then immediately cover it in shop dust before you even start sanding.

What You're Trying to Accomplish Here

Cleaning and preparation isn't just about making furniture look clean.

You're trying to create a known starting point.

By the time you're finished with this stage, you should have:

• Hardware removed

• Drawers and doors organized

• Loose dust removed

• Grease and grime cleaned away

• Wax and polish residue addressed

• Interiors cleaned

• Adhesive removed

• Odors identified

• Damage documented

• Loose parts identified

• The piece fully dry

Now you're actually ready to start working on the surface.

And this is where the refinishing process really starts to move.

One Last Tip: Don't Rush This Part

It can be tempting to treat cleaning as the boring step you need to get through before sanding.

Don't.

A clean piece is easier to inspect, easier to repair, easier to sand, and much easier to finish properly.

We've found that a little extra work here usually saves much more time later.

If something doesn't feel clean, clean it again.

If you're not sure whether a surface still has polish on it, don't ignore it.

If a drawer smells strange, deal with it before reassembly.

The finish is only as good as the surface underneath it.