[fotzepolitic]

I bought a LACK shelf from someone who painted it a kind of monkey vomit purple colour. I don't know what finish it had originally. I know they're not solid wood, but what's directly underneath the top finish? What I'm hoping to do is sand the paint and whatever the original finish was underneath that, then stain the woodgrain, (if that's what I can expect to find under all that).

[kelly]

Well, LACK is veneer, so you'd have to be really careful with the sandpaper, and staining is kind of tough when you have to choose between too much sanding and too little sanding...

A new one costs $15US for 43"....

[IkeaJim]

The veneer is extremely thin. Don't sand it. I agree, start with a new one. If you wanted to remove the urethane (or whatever the finish is), I would use denatured alcohol. It will remove the urethane, but not the stain, if any.

[fotzepolitic]

Thanks. I went ahead and answered my own question before waiting for the replies... I sanded a portion of the underside of the shelf with an 80 grit ( the only thing that would remove the paint). What I saw was grey paint under the purple, and a white color under that. So I presume the LACK was originally white, and the previous owner used a primer below the purple paint. There is no woodgrain under the white coat (which is very thin, as thin as the primer). It is particle board color and looks horrible stained, not to mention it stains unevenly despite using a conditioner. Conclusion: It only makes sense to paint LACK, if anything (and I wouldn't even paint a LACK, because it'll never look as good as the original polyurethane finishes).

[KalseboKate]

You could try a light fine-grain paper sanding for deglossing, then priming, and repainting. That way, you don't sand through the paint - just the paint surface. There are chemical deglossers as well, but I wouldn't know how well those might work.