How to Remove Varnish From Knotty Pine Paneling

Move furniture and area rugs away from the first wall you're going to strip. Clear enough space to give yourself room to work comfortably.

Protect the flooring along the wall with drop cloths. Tape the edges of the drop cloths to the floor with painter's tape to avoid tripping hazards.

Pour the gel stripper into a tray.

Apply a layer of stripper to the wall with a paintbrush per the manufacturer's instructions. Start in a top corner and work your way across and down in 3-foot sections. Working in sections staggers the drying time of the stripper so that you have enough time to work.

Watch for the varnish to bubble. This is the sign that the stripper has loosened the varnish enough that you can begin to remove it. Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for stripping times.

Use a paint scraper to scrape off strips of loosened varnish from the first section of paneling. Use moderate pressure but avoid gouging the wood. Continue scraping the first section until you've removed as much varnish as possible.

Scrub any remaining varnish, especially varnish that remains in the grooved knots, with steel wool.

Move to the next section to scrape then scour off the varnish. Continue with each section until you've stripped the wall.

Reapply the stripper to areas that still have more varnish than you can sand down easily. Scrape or scrub until as much of the varnish as possible has been removed.

Wipe the wall down with a cleaning cloth dipped in mineral spirits to remove the stripper residue from the wood. Let the wall dry completely before continuing.

Sand the wall to remove any remaining bits of varnish and create a smooth, even surface. Use fine-grit sandpaper if the knotty pine is in good condition. Start with a coarser-grit sandpaper if the paneling is damaged then sand it again with increasingly finer sandpaper.

Clean the wall of sawdust with a tack cloth. The paneling is now ready for you to refinish.