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Wood furniture is beautiful but it tends to dry up and crack after some time. Wooden desks often develop dark splodges and rings, giving the surface a dull and soiled look. This ruins the beauty of your furniture, and spoils the neat appearance of your office or den. If you learn how to refinish your wooden desks you can preserve the original look and restore the shine to the wood. Refinishing protects the wood as much as it enhances the appearance of the wood. Moreover, refinishing can bring back the grain contrasts that exist in desks made from cherry, walnut, and mahogany. The first thing that needs to be done in any desk-refinishing venture is to strip the old finish. Use a remover that is safe for use on wood furniture. It is possible to find these products at home improvement stores and specialty shops that sell fine furniture. Use a friendly solvent to clean up the residue left by the remover (do not use a water-based solvent for this, however). And never clean desks or other fine wood furniture with water. You will need to sand the surface of the desks if it is rough. You can sand the entire desk down but only after you have cleaned everything off, removing the old finish and paint, if any. You can use an electric sander to make this process easier. Next, it is time to decide on a color and sheen for your desk. You can refinish the desk close to its original color, or you can make a color change, depending on the stain that you use. Before you do the entire desk, make sure you test the color of the stain on an out-of-the way portion of the desk, or on a similar piece of wood. You want to make sure that when the stain dries, it is the color that you prefer. You could settle for a shiny high gloss sheen or matte finish for your desk, depending on your choice and preference. While some people like the shiny appeal of the high gloss finish others prefer the more natural look of the matte finish. You can get a variety of sprays for furniture finish from home improvement or furniture specialty shops. You can choose between the varieties of glossy levels depending upon the kind of finish you prefer. If you want to add a coat of paint, then you can paint the desk also. However, most wood desks look very beautiful without paint. In fact, it spoils the look of the desk. It is important to make sure that you have a good finish on the wood before you apply the paint. This will protect the wood. If you change your mind down the road, having the finish will make it easier to revert back to natural wood from paint. It is a good idea to clear-coat your desk's paint job after the final coat of paint dries.
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