A woman has gone viral on Instagram with over 25,000 views after revealing a hack for removing stubborn orange staining from wooden furniture.
Jill Oliver, 50, a student support worker from Durham, has been upcycling her existing furniture and cheap finds for years as a way to spruce up her home.
However, she’s found that wooden pieces often come with a stubborn orange hue as a result of sunlight exposure.
At first, she tried sanding the pieces – only for the colour to return once the product is varnished.
Scouring the internet, Jill came across a product called Isoguard, which has helped turn her ‘worn’ looking furniture into new, fresh pieces.
“I was really chuffed that I had finally found a product that gave me the finish and protection I was looking for,” Jill told Jam Press.
“I have sanded many pieces before, which once oiled or varnished, the orange wood look came straight back.
“Pine is especially bad for this, but this even happened with some oak I had tried to varnish.
“I tried this on my shabby, chunky pine coffee table the first time around, which I was given for free and had owned for about three years.
“I loved the final look, so tried this out on other pieces of furniture.
“I decided I wanted my [kitchen] sideboard the same colour as my cupboard doors, so I repeated the process.”
Jill purchased Neptune Chalked Isoguard for £22 and painted the unit using a tub of Valspar paint in the shade ‘eggshell’ which she bought for £28.
She luckily had a range of sandpaper and primer, as well as a paint brush and sponge roller on hand to complete the process.
She said: “I cleaned the body of the unit with sugar soap, before sanding the top down with a mouse sander from Black & Decker.
“I started with 80 grit sandpaper, working my way up to 120 grit, before finishing with 240 grit to leave a nice finish.
“I gave the rest of the sideboard a quick sand down to key the surface and wiped this down, before priming the body.
“While that was drying, I poured Isoguard over the top and used a sponge to wipe this across using circular movements so that this didn’t dry out.”
After 10 minutes, Jill applies the product to a cloth and wipes the unit in the direction of the grain to remove any excess, before leaving it on for 24 hours.
The following day. she gives the top a good buff, applies two coats of paint with a sponge roller and uses a smaller paint brush for tricky areas.
As a final step, she replaces the handles.
The wood project was completed in just four days and the sideboard now looks unrecognisable from its once grubby state.
Once finished, Jill decided to share before and after photos, as well as the process on social media and Instagram users love the simple hack, with the clip racking up 25,600 views and hundreds of likes.
In the video, she begins with a photo of her sideboard before which looked drab and lacked any character, before showing the process and then the finished piece – decorated with candles, vases and flowers in a farmhouse design.
“Oh wow love this want to try this on my kitchen table,” one viewer commented.
Another person added: “That’s really impressive Jill!”
“Fabulous,” someone else wrote, followed by a heart emoji.
One viewer said: “It looks beautiful.”
“This looks amazing. Such a difference,” another person added.
Jill has also used this hack to transform her kitchen table, the aforementioned coffee table and a toy box – all with no sign of the orange tone returning.
She believes that people want to update their existing wooden furniture, but don’t know where to start and are scared to try something new in case it doesn’t work out.
Her top tip? Just try it, we all have to start somewhere.
Jill added: “If you don’t like a piece of furniture and are going to get rid of it or buy something new – then what do you have to lose by giving it a go?
“This is an easy transformation and it makes quite a significant change to old furniture.
“I love how my followers respond to all my upcycles, but this one in particular made me happy as I knew how easy it was to do.
“It also allows the natural beauty of wood to come through.
“I think you have to bite the bullet and go for it sometimes.”
BUDGET BREAKDOWN
Neptune Chalked Isoguard – Neptune, £22
Valspar ‘eggshell’ paint – B&Q, £28
