Easy Off Oven Cleaner: Antique Hutch Flip

Jun 14

From rough shape to perfectly rustic

From the day we moved in I had been on the hunt for the perfect hutch that wasn’t too large or too ornate for this big blank wall in our kitchen.

I truly knew exactly what I wanted which is never a good thing when you are antique hunting because until you see THE PERFECT PIECE you could be hunting for years. But luck was on my side and 3 months after we moved in I found this perfect beauty at Bloomfield Antiques in Hampton NB.

After another month or so of it being to cold to work on this piece outside, the early spring sun started to peak through and I got to work refinishing this piece.

I had seen a bunch of viral tiktoks of people using easy off over cleaner to strip stain from older pieces to avoid sanding them down and I figured I’d give it a go with this piece( I know this method makes some people cringe so to each their own lol).

Let me be clear that this was a WILDLY messy project but the results were pretty cool.

To Strip A Stained Wood Piece You Will Need:

3 cans of easy off fume free max
A stiff dish scrub brush
Dawn dish soap
A mop bucket
A hose
Rubber gloves

Steps To Strip Your Piece Of Funiture:

Spray down the entire piece with your easy off spray so that all the wood is coated
Leave it out in a shady spot to sit for 15 minutes
Fill up your mop bucket with a bit of dawn dish soap and warm water. Use your stiff plastic scrub brush and the water mixture to scrub down the entire piece lifting up the loosened stain
Hose down the entire piece until water runs clear and leave it out in the sun to dry.
Once dry if it has not reached you desired lightness repeat the entire process.

This Was My Hutch After 2 Rounds

Now I’ll be honest after doing this piece and seeing just how messy it was to complete I’d be much more inclined to have just sanded it down. But the additional bleaching of the wood and character the easy off method can give to a piece might make it worth it to you depending on the size of the piece and darkness off the wood you are working with. I would for sure be tempted to do this method again on very ornate pieces which are harder to sand as well as small pieces where the mess could be more easily contained.

All that said it turned out absolutely beautiful and is the rustic piece I had hoped for to really anchor our kitchen with some history and warmth.