Hello, I'm Ron Hack, Owner of QRB Industries. And I'm Lynn Hack-Gerhart, his daughter. We wish to thank you for your interest in our products. With the help of this tape, refinishing will become easier for you. Even if you're an experienced refinisher, it will still be of some help. Please listen to the entire tape (both sides) before beginning your project. It may save you a lot of work. For instance what is the easiest way to get that child resistant cap off the can, or why is it so important that I spot test each piece of furniture before I begin refinishing. Dad I think we should answer these two important questions before we continue with the tape. OK.
To remove the child resistant cap. Place the end of a screwdriver under the cap, catching just the plastic liner & pry up. A pair of pliers can be used to remove the metal cap if needed. Remove the inner seal by punching a hole in the center with a screwdriver, & prying it upward & twisting . Then to replace the child resistant plastic cap screw the metal cap on the can. Place the plastic liner on the cap & punch down until it snaps in place.
Spot testing in extremely important because it will show you how long each finish will take to soften. You will also learn how much of an area you should refinish at on time. Put a small amount of remover on each piece of furniture that you are going to refinish. It only needs to be about 2 inches in diameter. Apply more remover if it begins to dry or gets sticky. Once the finish is very liquid & softened to the bare wood it can easily be wipe off in most cases. The piece of furniture with the spot that cleans up the easiest should be refinished first. Begin the more difficult pieces of furniture after you’ve gained experience with the simpler projects.
Now we are ready to start. We will attempt to organize this material by explaining:
1. The
QRB System of Refinishing
Let's consider the remover first. QRB Remover evaporates slowly and will remove almost any finish including lacquers, enamels, shellacs, latex, all varnishes including polyurethane, and even buttermilk paint. It will not bleach the wood, soften the glue joints, lift the veneer or raise the grain of the wood. It will not harm the patina, which is the natural coloring from the aging of the wood. After the old finish is removed with QRB Remover, a new finish may be applied almost immediately.
QRB Instant Finish is a unique, hard, protective, clear, water repellent alkyd resin finish. It penetrates into the wood and actually hardens the wood fibers. It is not necessary to sand between coats and you may touch the finish anytime during the drying process. You will get a perfect finish every time. You can get dull, satin or gloss out of the same can. It is excellent for outside furniture and even boats.
Primarily, a paint remover is a solvent or a group of solvents united with a retardant or a group of retardants, to slow evaporation time. You want to keep the article being refinished wet as long as possible. You also want to do as little harm to the piece and to you as possible.
Most companies make their remover with a relatively inexpensive chemical called methanol, and methylene chloride. An acid activator is added. Other inexpensive chemicals are often added and in most cases even water. This makes a decent affordable paint remover. There's only one problem, the acid activator that had to be added causes many problems. It bleaches the wood, softens the glue joints, lifts the veneer, destroys the patina and burns your skin. Something I might point out at this time is that some refinishers might consider it a plus for a remover to bleach certain woods. Oak is one of these because they may prefer it quite light. However, few refinishers would like to see the beautiful patina of walnut or rosewood bleached. Methanol removers may contain varying amounts of acid activators. However, any amounts of acid can cause problems. Methanol removers are distinguishable by a skull and cross-bones on the can. They are poisonous and by law must be labeled as such. A thickening agent called methacell is added to many of these removers to prevent them from evaporating rapidly. However, it also prevents it from penetrating. You apply a thick layer of remover, wait until it softens the first coat of finish, scrape it off and apply another coat. This is hard enough on flat surfaces but becomes even more difficult on ornate areas of furniture. In most commercial dip tanks, a hot caustic solution is used, primarily sodium or potassium hydroxide which is basically lye. Once the finish (and wood) are softened, the furniture is 'hit' with high pressure water to remove the finish. This can cause all the problems caused by an acid activator and more. If most varnish removers bleach the wood, then why not just remove the top dirty, checked, discolored portion of the finish. By leaving a thin layer of finish, the acid activator in the remover doesn't contact the bare wood and therefore won't bleach the wood. One paint remover manufacturer decided to develop just that. They marketed a high priced methanol remover to be used as an amalgamator. Amalgamate means to bring together. The remover is applied to a lint free cloth and a small area is rubbed until the top layer and only the top layer is removed. The remaining finish will dry evenly. This works o.k. if you have a varnished, straight lined, small piece of furniture. This procedure doesn't work as well on ornate furniture because it's difficult to remove the finish evenly. Invariably you will soften some portion of the carving to the bare wood and bleach it. Amalgamating is time consuming and is not recommended for large jobs such as refinishing a piano or bedroom set. Occasionally I will use amalgamating to spot remove a defect in a finish. That is the only time I will use it. Incidentally, most liquid removers will amalgamate including QRB. Some companies add methylene chloride to their flammable removers to reduce the flammability. They then call them nonflammable removers. This is a misnomer. In the event of a fire, as the methylene chloride bubbles off, you have a flammable liquid. If you are using such a remover, keep this in mind. Methylene chloride is also hard on the cardiovascular system. There is no such thing as a perfect paint remover and that includes QRB. QRB is flammable. When we try to render it nonflammable, it changes the composition enough that it doesn't work as well. QRB does not burn your skin but it is a petroleum distillate and therefore is absorbed through the skin like lacquer thinner or mineral spirits. We do recommend that you wear gloves when using it. However, QRB Remover is such a good solvent that it dissolves most of the gloves we have tried. The best and most durable thing to use on your hands is a plastic freezer bag. QRB Remover doesn't dissolve the polyethylene plastic that freezer bags are made from. There is one thing I wish to point out at this time. The remover and water, when mixed together, will irritate your skin. Your hands will sweat inside the plastic bag. If the bag gets a rip in it, the remover will burn your skin. The best way to stop the irritation is to dry your hands. All removers should be used in a well ventilated area. QRB and all other paint removers are hazardous chemicals. Treat them as such. Even though QRB isn't a perfect remover, I feel that it is still far superior to other removers on the market. We are not trying to make an inexpensive remover. We make a good quality remover at a reasonable price. QRB is non-caustic and has no acid activators, methanol, benzene, or methylene chloride. This means that you get a better and easier refinishing job with minimal harm to yourself and your furniture. QRB Remover can be used in a dip tank without harming the furniture. In our experiments we have left older, veneered furniture in a dip tank for over a week without any harm. Our remover is excellent for hardwood floors. Do one square yard at a time. Many people use it on boats, cars and airplanes also. It won't harm metal like other removers with acid activators. It will not harm formica, but will dissolve linoleum, asphalt and rubber tile. In fact, it can make tile removal very easy. Now, let's take a look at finishes. There are basically three types of clear finishes used today; oil, lacquer, and varnish (polyurethane or spar varnish). Oil penetrates into the wood to preserve it which is necessary. However, with oil you don't obtain a hard protective coating to prevent scratching the bare wood. Also, most oils never dry. Oil finished furniture closed up in a hot, humid room may even become mildewed. Tung oil is the only oil that dries hard. It is also the best wood preservative known. But there is a drawback, when tung oil gets hot and humid, it becomes tacky. Tung oil will also water spot. Lacquer finishes are usually sprayed but some companies make a brush on type of lacquer. The advantage of a lacquer is that it dries fast. It is excellent for industry's purpose because it gets the job finished in a hurry. However, lacquer isn't as protective as an oil or as hard as polyurethane. Polyurethane is a very hard protective finish. But, it has drawbacks also. It is hard to work with and in most cases doesn't penetrate the wood deep enough for a long lasting bond. It often cracks, allowing water to penetrate the wood. In applying polyurethane, you brush on a thick coat of finish, wait until it dries and then sand it smooth. It is usually so thick that it can't penetrate the wood at all. It dries slowly while collecting dust and it is so hard that it's difficult to sand smooth.QRB Instant Finish is a hybrid of an oil and a resin finish. It is modified tol oil that forms a hard, protective finish. It penetrates deep into the wood like an oil. It actually hardens the fibers while at the same time produces a hard protective top coat. This top coat is not as hard as polyurethane, but it has better adhesion and it is also very easy to work with, as will be evident in our next section.
3. How
To Use QRB Remover and Instant Finish
The tools I recommend for removing a finish are:
I recommend that you do a test to decide which project to started first. Apply remover to a small area (about 2" in diameter). Keep that area wet with remover until it softens to the bare wood before removing the finish. Do this test on each of your projects. Refinish the easiest one first and the hardest one last. This will save you a lot of work.
Now, place the four boards on the floor to form a rectangle large enough to put your furniture in. Place your plastic over it, and put your furniture in the tray. The remover that drips from the furniture into this plastic tray may be wiped up with your rag and used over and over. The only part you lose is that portion that evaporates into the air.
You're ready to start but first read all the instructions on the container. Of special importance is the warming instructions. If the remover is cloudy at all, it is too cold. It should be clear like water. After reading all the instructions, pour some remover into your open container and warm it with hot tap water if necessary. Never put the remover near an open flame. As I stated earlier, it is flammable. Now, with your piece of cloth, apply remover liberally to the entire piece of furniture. *Remember, whatever drips on the plastic, you can wipe up and use over again. By using 1/3 more remover, you will cut your time in half. Let me repeat that. By using 1/3 more remover, you will cut your time in half. Don't be in a hurry to take off the old finish. QRB evaporates slowly. The more you bother the remover, the faster it will evaporate. Let the remover do the work. That's what you bought it for.
The biggest problem beginning refinishers
have is they are in too much of a hurry. Some finishes will soften in minutes
while others may take as long as an hour or two. After the remover is applied,
go do something else. Come back about every ten minutes and check it. As the
remover soaks in, add more, and finally, when it is ready it should wipe right
off.
Most varnishes, lacquers, and latex paint will usually soften quickly. Polyurethane varnish, enamels and buttermilk paint will take longer. If you're removing paint that has varnish underneath, it will come off easily. Paint on bare wood is not so easy because it has been brushed into the grain. Even once the paint is softened, you still have a problem getting it out of the grain. A brass brush is best for this. But, even then, it can be a tough job. It is possible to stain the paint a wood color and than it does not matter if a little is left in the grain. Listen to the section Staining Using the Match-A-Color Staining System. It is also possible to fill the grain of the wood to cover paint less deep in the grain.
The piece of cardboard, or better yet a piece of rubber, is used to remove the bulk of the painted surface. It really works well without the danger of gouging the wood. Final clean-up can be done with steel wool, or Scotch Brite. They can also be used to help varnish come off faster. The steel wool or Scotch Brite can be kept clean by rinsing it in the remover.
Spindles can be cleaned by using your cloth like a shoe-shine rag. The nylon parts brush is good for this and excellent for removing finish from ornate crevices. Use plenty of remover when using this brush.
After most of the finish is removed, rinse the furniture with clean remover and dry it with paper towels or rags. Ornate carving may be easily dried by placing a paper towel over them and brushing it into the carving with your parts brush. Once the carvings are dry, brush again without using the paper towel. This will remove any softened finish that might have been missed in the carving. The final step is to use dry scotch bright or steel wool over the entire piece of furniture. This will hopefully remove any other residue that you might have missed. One word of caution, don't rub too hard in one spot or you will rub through the patina. You're just trying to remove the finish, not the color. Beginning refinishers often become too zealous and try to remove more than necessary. Remove only the finish at this time. If you wish to remove the stain, it should be accomplished by bleaching.
A good remover should not remove the color of the wood. It should remove only the old dark, discolored varnish, leaving you the option to bleach or stain.
I think that the three most important things to emphasize about using QRB Remover are: 1) Be sure it is being used at the proper temperature. 2) By using plenty of remover and reclaiming it, you will use less. 3) Allow plenty of time for it to soften, especially for heavily painted surfaces.
Once the old finish is removed, you are ready for a new finish. QRB Remover does have a little wax in it to act as one of the retardants. If you are using a finish other than QRB Instant Finish, your furniture should be wiped down with mineral spirits, naphtha or lacquer thinner. If you're using Instant Finish, it's not necessary. Just wait ten or fifteen minutes for the remover to evaporate from the wood and then you may apply the new finish.
The tools we recommend for applying Instant Finish are:
It's possible to obtain flat, satin or high gloss all from the same container. We add a heavy dulling agent to Instant Finish. This settles to the bottom of the container. To obtain a gloss finish, just apply it without mixing the dulling agent from the bottom of the container. Apply coats of finish until the wood has soaked up enough to be even and smooth without dull sections, usually about three to five coats. Soft wood requires more finish than hard wood. To obtain a dull finish, shake the container very well to mix the dulling agent from the bottom. Stirring the dulling agent with a stick or screw driver will make the job easier. The first coat will soak into the wood, harden the wood fibers, and dry dull. After about three to five coats, you will obtain a nice satin finish.
Most finishes are applied with a brush or spray gun. You wait until they dry and then sand them smooth. You don't lay concrete, wait until it dries and sand it smooth. You trowel it while it's still wet. This is similar to what you do with the Instant Finish. Apply Instant Finish sparingly with a paper towel to a small area (about 1 foot square to start). You will need to buff it with notebook paper before it becomes tacky. This will smooth out the finish so you don't have to sand between coats. Wait two hours between coats of finish or until it is no longer tacky. Most paper will work for buffing. Don't use newspaper however, because it will leave lint. Print, writing, and lines on your paper will not harm your finish or discolor it.
The automobile parts brush is used to brush the excess new finish from the ornate carving. As this is being done, keep wiping your brush with a paper towel to keep it dry. The brush will leave the necessary finish but pick up the excess to prevent puddling or runs. Do not apply the finish in the cold or extreme dampness as it may retard the drying time.
Instant Finish may also be used as a grain filler for open grain wood such as oak, cherry, mahogany and walnut. This process will not harm the patina and it is very easy to do. Just apply a coat of finish as usual than immediately sand it lightly with 280-320 grit wet/dry sandpaper. The sanding dust will mix with the finish to form its own grain filler. Now, with a piece of notebook paper, buff the finish, sawdust combination into the pores of the wood. This will fill the grain without changing the color of your furniture like other fillers. It is also good for covering paint that you can not get out of the grain with a brush.
This same process will make plain rough wood smooth as a piece of glass. Wait two hours before applying your next coat of finish. Additional coats of finish may be applied two hours apart or when dry to the touch. Total drying time is overnight.
Instant Finish is good on hardwood floors but it does dry slowly. Allow several days drying time. It is easy to upkeep. Never wax Instant Finish. If an area begins to look bad, you may apply more finish to just that area if you wish. It will not show over lapping. It works very well on brass fixtures to prevent them from retarnishing.
1. Using QRB Instant Finish Apply a small amount of Instant Finish to the water spot. Sand lightly in any direction with a piece of 280 grit wet dry sand paper (available from hardware or auto parts stores). Continue sanding the spot, keeping it well lubricated with finish until the spot disappears. You may now apply the first coat of Instant Finish to your furniture. 2. Using Oxalic Acid Add one teaspoonful of the oxalic acid (available from drug stores) to one cup of hot water. "Oxalic acid is very poisonous. Keep it away from children" Oxalic acid is a mild bleach and a grain lightener that will gradually lighten the water spot until it vanishes. Once the water spot has disappeared, neutralize the oxalic acid with one teaspoonful of baking soda in one quart of water. Let the article dry over night before applying the finish. Option (A) would be much easier to use then option (B). However, occasionally it is necessary to use option (b) on a deep water spot.B. Eliminating White Marks In a Finish
White marks are usually caused from heat ( hot pan etc.) being placed on a finish. The finish separates from the wood, causing an air pocket that appears as a white mark. The white mark can be masked by using QRB Scratch Remover. Q.R.B. Paint Remover can be used as an amalgamator. This process will soften the finish allowing it to unite with the wood again. The best and most permanent way is to remove the old finish and apply a new finish. 1. Bubbled up veneer can be repaired by cutting the bubble (using a razor blade) with the grain of the wood. Place Elmer's or other white glue into the bubble. Use your vacuum sweeper on blow to force the glue under the veneer. Place wax paper or any wrap over the bubble and weight it with a heavy object until the glue dries. On large bubbles it may be necessary to remove the finish and apply water to the bubble to soften it before gluing and weighting. 2. Remove the finish. Apply water to the bubble to soften it. Apply a damp cloth over the bubble and iron it with a hot iron. The hot water will soften the hide glue under the veneer. As the water evaporates the glue will cure. When you have places where the veneer is missing on the edges, you can cut a small piece of veneer from a place where it is not very visible. Or buy some new veneer and cut out a section and simply replace that missing section of veneer. You can use wood putty and things like that, but they don't hold as well. For coloring the veneer to match the rest of the patina, you can use QRB Match-A-Color Staining system. The patina is the natural coloring of the aging of the wood. If the veneer on the edge is just lifted, you can reach underneath with a knife or razor blade and scrape away as much glue as you can scrape. Squirt some Elmer's glue and take your vacuum sweeper, put it on blow, and blow the glue as far back as possible. Then weight it down until the glue dries. Veneer is damaged if it is totally shot and can no longer be used. What you would do is make a mixture of vinegar and hot water. This can be done anywhere from 1/4 vinegar to 3/4 water to half and half. Put this on the veneer after the finish has been taken off. This becomes a glue softener that will soften the high glue that the veneer was put on with and it will be much easier to remove. If you keep it wet long enough, it will just peel right off of there. Then you would purchase some veneer and where ever you purchase the veneer, they will give you instructions on how to apply. It's a common thing that people put cigarettes on a table and they will burn through and you will have a cigarette burn. If just the finish is burned, when you take off the old finish the burn will be gone. Sometimes, however, it is burned completely through into the wood and then you would sand that burn section out. Blow the sanding dust off and sand a little bit of the surrounding area with the sand paper. Take this dust and mix it with Elmer's glue. This is tricky, if you have too much glue it won't stain and it will always be shiny. If you don't have enough glue it won't stay in the creator and will pop out. It's a good idea to experiment with this on a piece of scrap wood until you get an idea of what you are working with. Then you can go to your piece of furniture once you learn it. It's a matter of mixing the dust that you get from the surrounding area and mixing it with the Elmer's glue. If it has been a fire damage and it has been burned quite badly, all you can really do is sand up the area that was burned. You might consider veneering that particular part of it. Often times a child will take a toy or something and bang on a piece of furniture. Or perhaps you have used the piece a lot and it gets dents in it. To remove a dent, you would remove the finish. After you have removed the finish, wet the dent with water. Also wet a cloth, like a T-shirt or diaper. Place a section of this wet cloth over the dent, take a hot iron and put it on the piece of cloth. What this will do will turn the water in the dent to steam and cause the crushed cells in the dent to expand, forcing the dent out. You let this dry, give it a light sanding, and within 8 hours you could then finish your piece of furniture. If it is more than dented, if there has been a gouge out of the wood that has to be filled, I recommend that you use wood dough. It can be obtained from the hardware store. It's a good idea to pre-color this the color that you want it. Because so often the stain really soaks into the filler and you end up with a dark spot. It's better to pre- color it first, then fill it in. It is really hard unless you are a professional to make it unnoticeable. There is a process called color match which you fill with a plastic stick that you melt in, it is actually hot melt. After that you take a powdered stain and color it to the back ground color and then you grain it to match the color of the grain. This a little bit more technical, information on this can be obtained from Star Chemical in Hinsdale, IL or Mowhark in Grand Rapids, MI. A broken leg or a broken rung can be repaired by drilling a hole in each side of the piece of the wood. Usually, I will drill a 3/8 inch hole about 1 inch to each side of the piece of wood and then I take a 1/4 inch bolt and cut it 2 inches long. Coat this bolt with fiberglass putty, like you use for repairing an automobile. (The one I like best is called Fibergel) You have two types, one is a jelly and the other is a made from pumice. The gel is much easier to work with and can be obtained by using the brand name Fibergel or Bondo. Put some in the hole and each side of the bolt you cut, press the two pieces together, and hold for a five minutes and it will harden. Once it hardens, then let it sit over night and after that it just doesn't break. It really works great for trying to put broken pieces together. This is not meant to put a table top or a board that is broken. It is meant for legs or rungs, or something similar. When the piece is put together, some of the fiberglass putty will ooze out of the sides, let this sit for a while until it is like jelly. As it hardens, it will be like jelly and then you can take a knife and cut off the excess very easily. If you try and do it before it gets like jelly, it will smear and be hard to work with. If you try and do it when it hardens completely, you will have a job of using a file and file it down. It's best to remove it when it becomes like jelly which is usually about 2 or 3 minutes. This is a great way to repair broken pieces and it will break someplace else before it breaks there because of the metal pin. The reason you make the hole bigger is you can adjust the piece of wood so that it seats properly. Again, it is a great way to repair a piece of furniture and it won't come apart in that area again. The reason a chair will loosen, is because the glue absorbs water. In the spring and summer when you have a lot of moisture, it builds up a lot of pressure and compresses the surrounding cells in the wood. When winter comes, you heat your home and you dry that glue that takes on a lot of moisture and you have a loose joint. Often times the joint is loose and the whole chair is loose, but not loose enough so that you can take it apart. If you try and take it apart, you end up breaking parts. Make a mixture of vinegar and water, again you can use 1/4 vinegar or 1/2 vinegar. Hot water works the best. Put it in the rungs of the chair where it is loose and the vinegar will soak in there. Keep it wet until it softens the high glue, once it softens the high glue you can take it right apart very easily. Take a piece of Scotch Brite like you use on your dishes, a little green pad. Clean off the excess glue and then let it dry. Again, using the fiberglass putty; you would mix some up, put it in the hole, put some around the rungs, put your pieces together and clamp it tight. You can use a rope clamp, this can be made with a rope or a nylon stocking. You just wrap it around the area you wish to clamp, tie it off, take a screwdriver or a piece of wood, twist it until it tightens it up together. This will act as a clamp and do very nicely for keeping it clamped together. You would not want to add too much hardener, because you want to allow plenty of time to get the chair back together before it hardens up. You might do some test runs with a little bit of fibergel to see how long it takes to dry. You only need a small spot of it to find this out. Once you have the chair all coated with fibergel and back together put it on the floor and seat it. Just push it down so that it will be against the floor and totally level. That way you won't find later that it is dry and one leg is longer than the other. Let it sit over night and once it sits over night, your chair will last a long time and it is a lot better than gluing. The fiberglass putty will only have about 2% shrinkage and water will not affect it and it will stay good for a long time. So remember, whatever oozes out, wait until it is rubbery and take a knife and peel it off.H. Removing Stains From Furniture
One way to solve a problem with stains; water spots or chemical spots, is to make the piece a little bit darker, if you don't mind. If you are stained to the darkest stain, then all the wood would be the same color and you won't have a problem with the stain. That is one way to get rid of stains. There are two other stains that you can't do that way. One is an ink stain and the other is an oil stain. On the ink stain, the ink is made from a resin, just like varnish, with a coloring agent in it. Your job is to soften the resin so that you can get rid of the coloring agent. The way to do this is to use methyl alcohol and oxalic acid. Take 1 cup of hot water per one teaspoon of oxalic acid and dissolve. Mix 50-50 methyl alcohol with the oxalic acid/water mixture. The methyl alcohol softens the varnish and the oxalic acid bleaches out the dye, eliminating the problem. You may need to repeat this a couple of times. Another way of doing it is using the QRB Paint Remover to dissolve any varnish that might be in the resin and then treat it with the oxalic acid to get rid of the dye. The other problem with staining is oil. Sometimes you get oil on a piece of furniture and the main thing you can do is dilute that oil with a solvent to get rid of as much oil as possible. This can be done by using the QRB Paint and Varnish Remover and saturate that so you are getting as much of the oil diluted as possible. Wipe it up and put some corn starch on the oil spot, and that will have a tendency to act like a wick and pull the oil out of the wood. This may be necessary to do this several times so that you can pull as much oil out as you begin to dilute it with QRB Paint Remover.I. Removing Mildew and Odors From Furniture
Mildew is caused in most cases from furniture being in a damp area with no sun and mildew can grow. Mildew can be killed two different ways. You can kill mildew with bleach or with an acid. To kill the mildew with bleach, put the bleach on and you will see the black mildew disappear immediately. It's a very fast mildew killer. However, if you don't wish to have the piece of wood bleached, then you wouldn't want to put bleach on to remove the mildew. Instead you would use a mild acid, acidic acid, which is the same thing as vinegar. So you can put vinegar on it and it will kill the mildew. The mildew is what gives you the musty smell and when it is killed, you don't normally have a smell from the wood. If you still have a smell from the wood, you can consult your local hardware store for some type of scent to add to it. But, in most cases, in getting rid of the mildew, you will get rid of the smell. Wood warps because heat is applied to one side and not the other, water and heat is applied to one side and not the other, or pressure is applied to one side and not the other. One side of the wood has been treated in such a way that the cells are crushed, that would be the concaved side of the piece of wood. Examples: A bookshelf with a lot of books sitting on it after a period of time will warp. A guitar with the strings kept strung, especially if exposed to heat, will have a tendency to crush the cells on the side where the strings are. Dolls will often warp, a doll or a piece of small wood can be rewarped by heating it and bending it. Keep the tension on while the doll is cooling. To rewarp larger pieces of wood, take off the old finish, wet both sides of the piece of wood if it is possible, and apply heat to the concaved side of the piece of wood, but not to the other side. As the moisture in the piece of wood turns to steam, just like the dent, it will expand the pores, forcing wood the opposite direction. The reason you wet both sides of the piece of wood is so that the pores on the convexed side of the piece of wood are soft and that way it makes it easier to bend. You will have to do a slight amount of crushing on that side to be able to open up the pores on the concaved side. Once the wood has straightened out, let it dry over night, get the moisture out of it, give it a light sanding, and then you would be ready for staining or finishing.QRB Instant Finish can be cleaned using just plain water. Take a damp cloth, wipe it off, buff it with a terry cloth towel for polishing. It is not necessary to ever use wax on QRB Instant Finish. In my opinion, wax is an abomination to furniture. Furniture wax is made usually from cannoba and beeswax. They melt it and add mineral spirits to it so that it will always remain soft. Basically, what you end up with is a low-grade paint remover. The solvent never dries and eventually will attack the finish. Also, the fact that it never dries, it will collect dust and dirt in the finish. It will break down the finish and wreck it. You can see this happening with a lot pieces of furniture that are waxed quite a bit. Also, often times placing your hands on a chair will break down a finish as well. Kitchen cabinets where you put your hands around the handles will break down. The grease splattering will also break down the finish. Cleaning all of the furniture, which would be removing wax build up, removing the old broken down finish from wood, without damaging the good finish. Let me explain this, to exaggerate, if you had one foot of finish and 2 inches of that finish had gone bad from the oils in or hand or wax breaking down the finish, it may not be necessary to remove the entire finish, but rather just remove the old broken down part of the finish.
We recently have developed a product that will do this. It's called QRB The Ultimate Cleaner. It's a new concept in cleaning, it is a water soluble petroleum solvent that will attach a non-cured finish, but it will not attack a cured finish. What QRB The Ultimate Cleaner will do is remove that portion of the finish that is broken down and soft, but it will not touch the finish that is still hard and good. You could use QRB The Ultimate Cleaner to take off the old finish down to the good finish. Then you could simply clean it up and apply a coat of Instant Finish to cover up the finish you had there and protect it. This is an excellent way for cleaning kitchen cabinets or furniture where the finish has been damaged from wax or oil build up. It is necessary that this be used only on a finish that is a clear finish. If the coloring is refinished, then each time you take off more finish, you will also be lightening your piece of furniture, because it is removing coloring at the same time.
If your piece has been stained and then a clear finish put over it, this is an excellent way for doing that. The QRB Ultimate Cleaner can also be used for furniture that is very dirty because you have an oil furnace in your home or because you have a fireplace where the soot collects on the furniture. The all purpose cleaner at full strength does a very good job for this. It is also excellent to use for fire damage. What happens in fire damage is that plastic in the home burns and this plastic residue deposits all over your furniture and it is very difficult to get clean. You would use the all purpose cleaner with tetra ought steel wool which is very fine steel wool. It will not scratch your piece of furniture. After you have gone over it with that, use a clean terry cloth towel to dry and buff it, and your furniture will be back to new again. The QRB Ultimate Cleaner will clean and polish your furniture.
I do not usually bleach unless I have to. Bleaching can be a long drawn out job. If your piece is a little dark, but it doesn't really bother you, consider leaving it that color.The bleach I like best is one made with Oxalic acid. A mild bleach can be made by mixing 1 teaspoon of oxalic acid (available at most drugstores) in one cup of hot water. This bleach gives the wood a new and lighter look without bleaching out all the grain. Laundry bleach is stronger than oxalic acid and will bleach almost white. If this is not strong enough, a two part wood bleach is available commercially. With a cloth, apply the bleach to the entire surface. This may be repeated several times one hour apart. When the desired shade is reached, dry the furniture and neutralize by applying a weak baking soda solution (one teaspoon in two quarts of water). Rinse it with water and towel dry. Let it completely dry for at least twelve hours. Be especially careful when doing veneered pieces. Bleaching can soften glue and it raises the grain of the wood. Therefore, it will have to be sanded afterwards.
Deep red mahogany stain is one of the few stains difficult to bleach. This problem can be altered by staining with a green stain. When red and green are combined they make brown.
Dark brown rings found on furniture are usually water spots, and can be quite easily removed by applying QRB Instant Finish to the ring and lightly sanding the line with 280 grit wet dry sand paper. The spot will disappear like magic in most cases. If this method does not remove it, use oxalic acid.
Ink spots can be removed by using a mixture of 1 teaspoon of oxalic acid dissolved in 1/4 cup of hot water to which 3/4 cup of methyl alcohol is added. The alcohol will soften the resin in the ink and allow the bleach to work.
6. Staining
Using the QRB Math-A-Color Staining System
Translucent stain does not mask the wood and therefore is excellent for general staining. It colors the wood without covering the grain. A translucent stain can even duplicate patina. This is especially important when you must make a new part for an antique.
The directions on an opaque stain will tell you to wipe it on, wait five or ten minutes and wipe it off. You do not know what you're getting until you wipe it off. With a translucent stain, what you see is what you get.
QRB MATCH-A-COLOR STAIN is a multi-color, translucent, non-grain raising, fast drying staining system. It is possible to obtain most of the desired wood stain colors from the contents of one can.
All colors are made from the three primary colors - blue, red, and yellow. Dark green, red, and yellow were selected for the QRB MATCH-A-COLOR STAINING SYSTEM as the most suitable colors for obtaining various wood tones. These colors are contained in soluble plastic capsules to be added to the basic solvent to obtain the desired wood color.
Select your choice of color from the color chart. Add the required number of capsules to the solvent as indicated beneath your color choice. DO NOT OPEN CAPSULES. They will dissolve in the solvent. Replace the lid on the can and shake it well. Wait five minutes or more for capsules to dissolve and shake again. Test the color obtained in an inconspicuous area or on a piece of scrap from the wood being stained. Apply a little Instant Finish to see the true color. Better than 90% of the stain can be removed with QRB Paint Remover if you do not like what you selected. The color may be altered by adding additional capsules. If the piece is too red add green, too green add red, too yellow add red and green. The addition of yellow will lighten and mellow a dark color. The finish may be applied almost immediately after staining. Wait about ten to fifteen minutes. Even though your wood may have a good natural patina, it may be preferable to stain. The natural color can be enhanced with proper staining. In some cases the change should be drastic. But it is usually only a matter of slight toning to enhance the grain. Now the question is: "How much stain should be used? Or: What mixture of stain will give the desired tone or color?"
Most beginning refinishers over stain. Start with a light color. It is easier to add color than take it away. Soft woods, are more absorbent and require less stain than hard woods. Once you have decided on a color, check it in the area that the furniture will be used. The lighting may be darker there. It is easy to determine that a reddish piece of wood, if toned with a green stain, will then be stained walnut as red and green create brown. If blue paint is deep in an oak grain and you want brown, removing the blue paint will take hours. Stain with orange stain, because blue plus orange makes brown. By staining, you eliminate bleaching problems and the task of digging out paints that are practically impossible to completely remove from the grain. After the final toning is completed, remember to stain with the final color to blend everything well before applying the finish.
7. Care
and Upkeep of Your Furniture
Many people wax their furniture with the belief that they are preserving it. The fact is wax does more harm than it does good. Most furniture waxes are made by mixing a wax into a solvent, usually mineral spirits. This solvent wax combination never dries and becomes a slow working varnish remover. After several years of use the varnish will become tacky. Wax will also collect dust. To care for Instant Finish, I recommend cleaning it with a soft cloth. A little pure lemon oil may be used if desired.
Scratches can be made less noticeable with QRB Scratch Remover. It is a modified quality finish with a coloring added to cover scratches. It is a water repellent, protective coating. It gives old finishes new life on furniture, wood work, masonite, suede plastic, and finished leather. It cleans, covers scratches and protects the finish, all in one application. Just wipe on, and buff. It is available in both light and dark.
Always work in a well ventilated area. It is best to wear gloves even though QRB does not burn your skin. QRB is flammable, so use caution by not refinishing around electrical outlets, sparks or open flames. Refinishing is safe and very rewarding when proper precautions are taken. In conclusion, I wish to say that we as a company try to work closely with our customers. We try not only to offer you a good product line, but a service to help you obtain professional quality. I hope you have enjoyed this tape.