The Framers Forum

I've got a customer who likes the style and colour of a lacquered moulding but doesn't like the sheen. Is it possible to successfully remove the lacquer, or even reduce the intensity of the sheen?

Removing lacquer is risky. You don't know the chemical composition of the laquer, therefore you don't know the best solvent to remove it. Also if the moulding includes lacquer and colouring and that is removed when removing the lacquer this can be a problem. Best if you can avoid getting into too much work! A lot will depend on the actual moulding and the composition of the lacquer, rubbing over with fine steel wool and wax may, or may not produce usable results, but I have not always found it easy to get uniform results. I would not recommend only using steel wool with out the wax, as this often produces a rather scratching result.

Just use 0000 wire wool to dull back the sheen.
Go gently at first and then a bit more vigour if you like the result.

Thank you for the replies. I must admit I'm not keen to remove the lacquer as it does seem risky, and using 0000 wire wool sounds like the way to go, thanks!

A word of caution.
Getting into the the corners of a finished frame might give you poor results. It is best to modify it while it is still in stick form before it is chopped.

That's a good point, thank you.