# Stripping varnish off teak

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripping-varnish-off-teak/426848>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 17, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripping-varnish-off-teak/426848 "2007-11-17T18:17:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripping-varnish-off-teak/426848/1 "2007-11-17T18:17:31Z")

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I just bought a gorgeous table at a ridiculous price. It’s a great piece. However, the dad of the original owner varnished the table top. It doesn’t seem that he knew much about teak or its natural oil, so the varnish didn’t adhere properly and it looks like crap. For the most part anyway, I prefer the natural teak finish just oiled, no crap varnish.

So what is the best way to remove the crap varnish before I start sanding? (The table top is solid, not veneer, so I can sand out the most egregious cosmetic dings.) Anyone have any experience with this?

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**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripping-varnish-off-teak/426848/2 "2007-11-17T18:26:25Z")

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Ah, of course. After Googling like crazy and coming up with nothing, I post a GQ and then find a step-by-step “how to.”

So… um… never mind. I’ll see if I can get a mod to close this.