Linda in Tennessee wants to lighten the knotty pine paneling in her 1960s home. This is because the varnish, over the years, has caused it to turn orange.
She doesn’t want to paint her paneling, but she does want to freshen it up a little bit. There’s just one problem: It looks like the shellac, or varnish, has stained the knotty pine over the years. Linda’s just not sure what to do about it.
Knotty pine paneling has so many grooves, so the orange / yellowish varnish has certainly penetrated deep into the wood. In fact, if you take one of the pictures off the wall, it probably looks much different underneath, compared to the uncovered paneling.
Applying a chemical stripper to all of Linda’s knotty pine paneling, and sanding the surfaces, would help, but it would still be very hard to remove the orange / yellowish varnish from all of the grooves.
A great solution would be to try an environmentally safe, non-toxic citrus stripper called CitriStrip before staining the wood to brighten up the room.
The only other option — that would preserve the knotty pine — is to sand everything down, get down to the bare wood, and bleach the walls.
A popular alternative is to paint the wood. However, that’s only an option for homeowners who want a simple fix, and don’t mind covering up the paneling’s character.
But if you like the look of unfinished knotty pine, there’s just one thing to do: start stripping and sanding!
Listen to the embedded audio clip above for the full answer!
Read the blog from the Feb. 1 show and listen to the full broadcast here.
Further Reading:
What about taking panels off the wall and flipping them to the Bach which is usually not coated?
Hi, Catherine,
The backside of the paneling may not have the same profile (it’s usually flat with no molded details) and the chances of removing heart pine that’s that old without damaging it (due to splits, cracks and tool marks) are slim and none.
Thanks for your question!
Why not put a polystain over top of it. You’d have to go with a darker color