Have you experienced this? You find a table at the thrift store that looks perfect for rehabbing, except there is this one little problem...it's covered in veneer. You don't like stripping veneer off of furniture because it involves lots of fumes, and heat, and masks, and all kinds of nasty stuff. Do you have to pass on that fabulous table? Do you have to leave the shop without that credenza? No way; not anymore.

Furniture rehabber Gypsy Barn, from Canada, posted her secret to stripping veneer on Hometalk, and people got really excited. Here are her step-by-step instructions for stripping veneer from furniture without toxic fumes, heat, or power tools:

1. Soak a towel, so that it is "dripping wet," in vinegar.

2. Cover the veneer with the wet towel.

3. Go out for the night so that you don't have to smell the vinegar.

4. Come home and make sure that the towel is still dripping wet.

5. In the morning, use a putty knife or chisel to scrape off the veneer.

The furniture rehabber who generated this technique says that the veneer comes off "like a hot knife through butter," which is a pretty great endorsement. So now you can have your awesome thrifted furniture, and refinish it too. Sometimes you can have it all.

Bonus tips: A Boston-area remodeling contractor shares tips for how to fix up and renew backyard chairs and how to choose and use spray paint ...indispensable advice for DIY furniture rehabbers. 

Chaya Kurtz writes for Networx.com.

Updated October 25, 2018.