Painting details

[Moses Yoder]

I am working on a dinette this summer for my mother-in-law and it is taking some time. I am stripping the table because of the amount of paint on it. Four chairs to paint, I do not plan on stripping the chairs. 3 of the chairs are stained and finished, probably laquer, and one is painted. I saw some deglosser and thought that would make the chairs fairly simple to do; simply apply the deglosser with steel wool then prime and paint. I have never used deglosser, actually have not done much painting, so was wondering if the deglosser would do a good quality job or is it better to sand the gloss off? I have a good quality oil based primer and a water based paint, the best quality Menards paint. Here is a pic of the project before I started.

Chairs before.jpgTable & Chairs Before.jpg

[Rich Engelhardt]

Deglossers are simply a blend of solvents that slightly soften the old finish temporarily. If you read the directions, they have a time window you have to work within, otherwise the old finish will resort back to its original hardness.
Sanding provides a mechanical bonding surface by breaking the slick gloss of the old paint/clear coat film.

It's six of one, half dozen of another.

The deglosser doesn't provide a good mechanical bond - but - sanding won't remove old wax, oil or grease.

Best bet?
Do both. The sanding only has to be enough to break the finish - it doesn't have to be extensive.
#1 steel wool works fine.

I'd probably use BIN for a primer since it's got the best adhesion of anything out there over an old surface where there could be years of wax, oil and/or grease.