New pine doors - waxed (EDIT - No they're not they're stained)...but not very well.

Wizwoo

Hello,

We've moved house and now we're in we've noticed that the new pine doos have been waxed (mostly only on one side!) pretty unevenly.

What's the best way of evening this out? (I've got a feeling it'll involve a load elbow grease :sad:). Or, since we're really not that fussed about them being waxed is there an easy way of stripping the wax off / painting the doors?

Plus some of the wax has gone all over the place - on skirting boards and painted (emulsion) walls. What's the best way to clean / tidy this up? (It really looks quite grubby).

Plus the paint in the kitchen has clear cracks in it (in the paint, not the plaster). Is this due to the qualilty of the paint? The type of paint used? Or something to do with how the wall was prepared before painting?

Lots and lots of tasks to do in the new house...guess what I'm doing at Easter :rolleyes:

Thanks,
Ww

mary43

Try your local hardware shop for some wax remover if you want to paint the pine doors or you could tidy them up a bit by rubbing them over with some wire wool (fine grade not too coarse) it might even it out a bit so you could put another coat on to your liking. Do the same with the skirting boards -you might find it brings the wax off altogether.
Can't help you with the plastering I'm afraid

Dunstan_2

Not sure if this will work with waxed doors, but when we moved in to our house, the doors had loads of layers of paint on them (we thought they were orignal doors so would look good as bare wood. Anyway, we found a company that "stripped and dipped" them. It cost about £16 per door if memory serves, and took them a weekend to do. We had to take the doors off and rehang them ourselves, though, but well worth it as they look so much better now.

Dunstan_2

Not sure if this will work with waxed doors, but when we moved in to our house, the doors had loads of layers of paint on them (we thought they were orignal doors so would look good as bare wood. Anyway, we found a company that "stripped and dipped" them. It cost about £16 per door if memory serves, and took them a weekend to do. We had to take the doors off and rehang them ourselves, though, but well worth it as they look so much better now. I

liegerm

Hmmm... doesn't sound like 'proper' wax if it's splashed everywhere and uneven. Can you find out what they used?

I used to (many years ago) do up old bits of furniture and can say that waxing can be hard work if you want it to look good (and it really can look beautiful) but it's relatively straight forward.

Stripping a door in preparation for a different finish such as paint can be hard word, too. A commercial dip n strip company may be the way to go before re-finishing. If you're going to strip them yourself, beware if you are going to use emulsion on top of wood that used to be waxed -- it may not stick to the wood properly unless the wax is absolutely and completely removed first! I used to use Nitromors and a paint scrapper to removed any coating such as varnish and paint (should also work with wax, I think). This may take a couple of coats of Nitromors. Then wire wool to clean the wood up. After all the coating has been removed, I'd neutralise the paint stripper with white spirit and allow to dry. Then sand, etc, as needed before applying your chosen finish (the grain will probably be raised after all this so at least a light sanding with a fine grade paper is recommended).

If you're going to use gloss, strip as above, then wipe over the wood lightly with some emulsion watered down 50% and let dry before glossing. This helps to seal the grain and give a smooth gloss finish.

If you think you'd like to try re-waxing, commercial waxes contain a solvent that softens the wax to allow you to apply it evenly. This solvent can soften existing wax allowing you to smooth it out. But, this can't be guaranteed unless you know which wax product(s) have been used. Also, you need to match the colour if it's not a natural/neutral wax. Maybe try re-waxing a door that is hidden away somewhere first and see how it goes?


Whichever method you go for, please do it in an extremely well ventilated area as these chemicals will make you feel very unwell if you breath them in too much!

Wizwoo

Thanks for those replies...but I seem to have more questions now than I started with .

We've dipped doors and stripped with Nitromors in the past...not nice!

After what you said liegerm I'm beginning to wonder if it is wax...

Anybody got any ideas about the paint?

nickj_2

wax is usually solid , it sounds more like varnish

adandem

We have a bookcase which we bought when waxed but found it hard to clean without it looking patchy and the wax coming off.

I literally scrubbed all the wax off with green scourers and cif. It was really hard work but it did the trick. I have since oiled (clear) the bookcase which is far harder wearing and easy to look after. I doesn't come off when you touch it either and any scuffs can be rubbed with fine wire wool and then re-oiled if necessary.

Wizwoo

Had another look at he doors at the weekend (I'm working away from home at the mo.) and now I think theu are stained. It seems to have gone all over the place (splatters on door froms and skirting) and it's pretty uneven and done just on one side.

What's the best way to clean the dried up stain off the glossed door frame etc?
How do we even up the colour (wounldn't mind if they were a bit lighter).

Thanks,
Ww

Wizwoo

Anyone got any ideas about how to even a stain on a wooden door (or the best way of removing)?

Plus how to remove splattered stain marks from painted walls and glossed door frames???

Poppycat

I think your going to have to paint over walls and frames. You could try fine sandpaper or that wet n dry sandpaper that you soak in water