Hey all, I have a nice Viking table radio that was given to me. The problem is that some witless wonder painted the radio with heavy off white paint. I have stripped and stripped and scrubbed and have most of the paint off. Now how do I get the paint from the darn grain? I used the brass brush way and it helped a little, but the darn paint is still laughing at me! HELP

I had a townhouse once and the idiots sloshed paint on the woodwork
Used a toothbrush, soaked in Goof OFF to to scrub the paint off
Except the paint that went in the deep pores, could not remove
Duplicated the stain
Applied the stain, which wiped off the varnish
But the stain stained the paint residue so the paint became INVISIBLE
After a coat of varnish, the woodwork looked PERFECT

Although this probably doesn't apply in your situation
I coated the woodwork in DULL varnish which took the stain evenly
I kept doing that until I got the stain to match with the existing wood
Then I used a coat of satin varnish

I just dealt with this on a speaker cabinet that someone had stripped of lacquer BEFORE they painted!!! If you get it all out, kudos to you. You may not be able to, depending on the grain and type of paint. I was unlucky enough that the paint (maybe latex) was completely stain-proof, so there was nothing I coud do about the last of it. I did a lot of sanding as well....

Would filling the grain cover the paint in the pores?

Peter

IF the paint was originally an oil base
then use an oil base stain
not water base stain

Conversely, if latex or some other paint was used, there's likely nothing you can stain it with. You could fill the grain, as long as you don't use clear filler of course. I didn't use filler on my speaker because I didn't want to, for my own tastes.

I have no idea if it's oil or water based. I'm assuming oil since it's being a bugger to get off. This radio has naked wood, a light veneer and a dark veneer. Of course it's the dark that I'm having the problem with paint in the pores. I didn't want to sand too much and go through the veneer!

If you haven't sanded it yet, you should at least TRY a little bit. Even the cheapest veneers are slightly thicker than paper.

It turns out that somebody beat me to it. Before slopping on the white paint, they must've used a belt or palm sander on it. What little was left, still has a major amount of paint in the pores and no way of sanding it down. Time to learn to re-veneer!

Hi,
I've read a few posts about the same issue. Some had success by appling a coat of shellac , then stripping again. The theory is that the shellac will adhere to the paint, then it comes off in one piece. Supposed to sort of work like when a lady has her eyebrows (or other hair) waxed.

A long time ago I had the same problem, and I actually picked out the paint specks with a pin.

I doubt you could stain or grain fill/color the paint.

Good luck!

Thanks Gary, but when I sanded the haze off the veneer, I found deep scratches and spots where the veneer was sanded through. I guess that's why it was painted.

Hi,
If that's the case, then you may want to consider reveneering. I hate it when someone sands thru the veneer. The stuff is so thin. I think many think the wood is solid, and can get away with sanding deep.

I'd leave the old veneer on as a base, block sand level before applying a new layer.
Good luck, whatever you decide to do