Removing Tolex

[rugby1970]

I have an old 1 x 12 cab and the tweed Tolex has seen much better days. So I started to remove it but it's coming off in plies; the outer finish and the backing. The backing is stuck to the cabinet. Does anyone know of a spray-on solution that will loosen the backing from the wood?

Thanks

[Steve Haynie]

A heat gun might help.

[JGale]

Somewhere there is a video of this process. I thought I read about it here. Cajunboy maybe?

[serial]

Heat gun always worked for me

[RobB]

Heat gun always worked for me

Me, too. A cabinet-builder friend showed me an easy method:

Heat gun on med-high (you don't want to MELT the tolex), keep the gun moving and point it toward the end of the wide spatula, essentially heating the tolex and putty knife together. Worked like a charm.

[rugby1970]

guys, guys:

The tolex comes off fine but it's the backing and residual glue that sticks to the wood that I'm trying to remove. I tried a heat gun and found it unsatisfactory, most probably due to operator error!

Tried the denatured alcohol but it takes too much material and too many steps (it would probably work better if I wasn't drinking the stuff).

BUT.......... I found THE solution - a small steamer melts the glue for easy removal. Follow this with a moderate scrubbing with the denatured alcohol and voila...... a naked cabinet ready for refinishing!

Okay, gotta go. The guys at Stew Mac are calling me to make a video of this procedure. Peace out, Cub Scouts.

[RobB]

I was fooled by the "Removing Tolex" thread title. Oops.

[Toadroller]

Ooh, great idea. I'll stick that in the back of the old brain and hope it comes up again when I need it. Which could be next week or in 2033.