Hello to the know...: The pink goo from Ghostbusters

A few months ago, Tanner decided he'd like to continue the use of his blue painted dresser but that it needed a bit of a clean-up first. I thought, ok, we can scrub out the insides and re-line the drawers so that they lose their musty smell. But then I got to thinking a bit harder and I decided I'd like a new project to work on.

Voila, enter the pink goo from Ghostbusters, aka paint stripper that smelled like oranges. Really, totally like the fake orange smell they bottle and sell. Mind you, this one was mildly toxic, should be used in a well ventilated area and you should immediately rinse it off if it gets on you. But I digress...it's just like the stuff in the store for good-smell'ums.

I went to Home Depot with my dad and Tanner in tow and invested in the pink goo, a new sander (RIP from the last project, 1970's era sander) and some sandpaper. With my new toys in hand, I set about stripping off the dark blue paint from the 4' tall, 2' deep, 3' wide, 4 drawer dresser. Where's my 1? Ok, 1 container of pink goo. Oh, and for 5, let's go with pieces of sandpaper used.

Tools of the trade. The gloves are stained from the previous staining project. Note color of goo.

Round 1, part A: Slather on the paint stripper. What began as orange quickly dried to white. It was a sight to behold.

You can see pink, blue and white happening here. It was active.

Round 1, part B: Take a putty knife about 2" wide and scrape the dickens out of the blue, now white, which was pink, goo.

No passing judgment on the work outfit.

Round 1, part B, subpart 1: Curse the invention of paint and its insistence on not being removed from the dresser.

How rude.

After this round of fighting, I was able to see the grain shine through while letting my fingers, hands and wrists quit their yelling at me. ***RIP forefinger of the right hand neoprene glove***

Who doesn't set up an emergency surgery room on the back of a bike with a stapler?

Two weeks passed before I could return to finish this stage of the work and I was anxious to do so. I need to backtrack momentarily to talk about my supervisor for the job, my dad. He signed on to this with the stated intention of "managing" and letting me use his garage and tools. So when I showed up after two weeks, I was quick to note the very clean, blue-paint free side of the dresser. Not to mention the gleaming top. He admitted to "wanting to see if the method would work". It did. Thanks for the labor, dad!

What a difference.

4 hours of steel wool soaked in mineral spirits later, my baby looked like this:

So bright, I'm blinded!

And I was thoroughly sore and exhausted. See you in a week, Blue Steel (get it? Cause it was blue and then I used steel wool on it? I know, I'm really clever.).

Before we could move on to the next stage, staining, some general repair and final cleaning was required. We added a 1"x2" strip of wood to the upper-mid back of the dresser for additional lifting support and repaired all nails that were in need by using a finishing nail to embed them in the wood, nailing down the loose pieces and using wood glue to secure the tracks that the drawers moved on. The piece was finally coming together!

Cue my least favorite part to date when it comes to these projects: staining.

1) I always get nervous and 2) I always spill it.

To be fair, I was much better this time than I was on the desk, but it was still nerve-wracking and I spent a good few minutes pacing and shifting from foot to foot in terror of failing miserably.

But I pushed through and started to see the final piece take form. After 45 minutes of high anxiety heart palpitations I stood back to admire my work...and took note of the graying patches of blue shining through. Where did that come from???? I sanded you to oblivion, did I not? I went into every knot and crevice that I could! How dare you!

Not too shabby considering where it started, right?

Alas, the blue was fighting back and I would need to return in two weeks to stain again.

You can really see the greying here. #sadpanda

I wasn't about to let my effort be in vain so I spent about 30 minutes adding additional stain to the piece where it needed it the most. I am happy to tell you that it worked! I took some time on Christmas Eve and Day to add two layers of sealant.

With a little more TLC and an attaching of the drawer handles, the new (old) dresser was ready and complete!