More Dirt Than Finish

As I said in an earlier post, these doors were in a barn for who knows how long. They were stacked in the rafters with one door on top of the other and the one on top took the brunt of the abuse. Year after year dust settled and then got moist and then more settled, and so on. The top door was just caked in dirt, and what was left of the finish was about in as bad a shape as it gets. This is the door I decided to start with and then I will try and get the other to look like it.

This Is The Same Panel
Before & After





Stripping it was actually pretty easy because the shellac that was under the dirt was so dry and crumbly I got most of the dirt and shellac off with just #2 steel wool and no alcohol or strippers. After vacuuming I then went over it again with more steel wool and denatured alcohol.

Here Is The Whole Door
Before & After





One side down, three to go. I don’t think the others will go this quickly. Two of the sides are painted with a single coat of deep red paint. I don’t think there is shellac under it so I’m not sure if I will be able to get back to bare wood.