Removing Veneer or Laminate from Antique Furniture Tutorial ...

FREE Doesn't always = EASY !!!

Last weekend ..while out galevanting around ..we spied this old cupboard outside a flea market on the roadside ..we Inquired as to it's price and were promptly told it was free for the taking ..and us Farm Girls couldn't resist free ...

However sometimes FREE comes with a price ...and that price is a 4 letter word we call " WORK " ..

The great thing is were not afraid of work ...but sometimes you run into a few issues you have to overcome ...LIKE ...

This is our Cupboard/Chest of Drawers ... we got ..and it's got lots of potential and great lines ...the One BIG issue was that it has a laminated top and doors ...the laminate on the top had lifted all around the edges about 1 to 3 inches in and was easy to rip off but from there in was this deep ridge of laminate that wasn't coming off ....So what were these farm girls to do ..but dig into our book of tricks and figure out the best solution to removing the laminate ...

If you have ever tried removing laminate before you may have run into alot of Frustrating issues ..if you tried sanding it off and spent endless hours with little results there's a good reason for that ..Laminate is a hard wood and adhered with hyde glue...Both near impossible to sand and if you do it's ALOT of work ..The Trick is Moist Heat !!

So Abbey and I thought we would give a tutorial this week while working on this piece on the easiest route to removing laminate that we know.

The tools you will need are ...

A good sturdy hammer


A sturdy 3 to 4 inch blade putty knife



a measuring cup for some water for your iron




a bowl with water and a wash rag or old cloth that can be ruined ..





And Most importantly the tool that is a MUST an old iron ... (we suggest picking one up for this ocassion at a yard sale , estate sale, or second hand store ..) It need not be the best iron just one that works ...

First ...Place your wash cloth or old rag in water ...get it good and wet not sopping but enough that it slightly drips ..

Lay it on top of the laminate areas only NOT on the bare wood if any is revealed .. Lay it folded in half.

Let it sit a minute or two so the water penetrates the top layer at least ..Prepare your iron by adding water for it to steam if it has a steam button setting make sure it's ON .... make sure the iron is set on the hottest setting ...and then apply your iron atop the wash rag/cloth ...
(PLEASE USE CAUTION HERE) Once the Iron contacts the cloth remove your hand immediately ..it will steam ALOT ..and you don't want to burn your hands or arms !!! Make sure your children are kept away as well as your animals ....this is a VERY HOT project and all caution needs to be considered ...BE RESPONSIBLE and THINK !!!

(TIP) Always place your cloth near the edge of the laminate ....it's easiest working from the edges in to lift the laminate.

After the iron has set there for at least a minute or more (use your own judgement and experiment a few times to see if you can add more time for a better result) ...then remove it CAREFULLY ..the rag will stick to the bottom so be careful taking it off you don't burn yourself ( grabe the rag on an end the iron wasn't touching as the iron isn't going to cover the entire cloth)..at this point we put the rag back in the bowl of water ...

Then Grab your Putty Knife and place it at the moistened edge ..and apply it at a slight angle so as not to dig into the wood but to get under the laminate..then use your hammer on the handle end ..driving the putty knife under the layers of laminate in a forward motion.

Here you have to use your own eye ..the laminate will lift where it's moistened ..but once you hit the dry area stop ....or the laminate will lift the wood with it and leave you with gouges which you probably don't want.

Also somtimes the top layer of lamintae will peel off only and you have to re-apply the steam ...to remove the deep layer to reveal the wood. It's just a matter of learning as you go ..once you have made a few passes ..you'll get the hang of it and you'll be a pro at it.

You can see here in the center where the laminate still is ....on the front edge the dark laminate top was removed the first pass with steam heat ..so now we re-applied the wet cloth and iron to get the next layer wettened so the glue starts to lift letting that lower layer loose from the wood base ... This also gives you an idea of what the wood should look like in comparison to the laminate layers.

We worked at the center for about an hour and a half before it was totally removed and we learned if we applied the wet cloth to the areas we weren't chipping away at... while we were chipping away at another section ... the other areas softened up and when we applied the iron to them ..they peeled much easier ..so the moister the better and the Heat from the iron is a must ..the combination is the trick to getting this laminate up easier !

Now an hour and a half is a bit long ..but we were learning as we went ..however it's actually pretty quick considering the horror stories I have heard other's tell about in removing laminate ...

Also if you are workin alone I suggest you have a place you can position your piece of furniture in... like agains a wall so when you are banging away at the laminate to lift it ..you have some resistance so your piece doesn't start sliding from the jostling it's getting ...

Once your finished you'll be happy with the end result ...




Here's our end result of the top ..and I think we did a great job ...We had one little problem which I'll touch on below ...

But first of all I want to show you how the iron looks at the end so you don't die of heart failure and so you realize you " SHOULD NOT " use your good clothes iron to do this !!!

Yep it's thick with glue ..even though we didn't touch it directly to the top and layed it on the wet cloth ..still this is the result ..Now I have some ideas for cleaning this up but as of this post haven't done it ..so as soon as I do ..I'll let you all know how to clean this mess up if possible ..

The one issue we had as I mentioned above is if you keep hitting away at the putty knife when you get into dry territory ..it causes the wood to lift with the laminate ..and you get these little gouges ..Now I can fill it with wood putty or sand it out which is fine ( we plan on sanding the top anyhow) ..but now we have a bit more work added on ..so to save yourself keep in mind when the wood gets dry stop and moisten it again with the wet cloth and hot iron ..Ultimately you may have this happen but I wouldn't worry too much ..your working with an old piece and it's bound to have some character and charm marks anyhow ..your just adding a few it didn't have to begin with ...

Once you finish you'll be left with this ..a great big pile of laminate shavings ...good and sticky from the heated glue ...and ready to head out to the trash ...

That's it for this tutorial ...I hope it helps you out in the future or even now on a piece your working on ..

We haven't started on the doors I'm actually going to see how they look sanded out as the laminate isn't coming off severely there anyhow and I like a little bit of age and charm around the doors anyhow ..

I I have not explained anything well enough OR If you have any questions ..feel free to leave them in your comment and I'll answer your questions in a special post next week giving time for everyone to get there questions in...

If you need your question answered sooner due to the fact you are working on it NOW ...leave that in your post and I'll try and comment right away with an answer for you.

Until Next Time ..Over an Out from these two Sweet Magnolias Farm Gals ...

The Finished Piece ....


Some Antique Glass pulls ...Old metal Address #'s ...a few Suitcases for drawers ...and A crackled paint process for that nice old look !!!