Stripping wooden furniture

[Proofraider]

I've got an old chest of drawers which has been (badly) stripped of layers of emulsion, then coated with what seems to be coloured varnish. It looks very patchy with bits of paint still under the varnish and I want to strip it back to the wood. I have a sander, but should I just sand it straight away or should I treat it with some kind of stripping solution first? I have visions of the sandpaper sheets just being rubbed off by the existing coating and the whole thing taking ages. The chest isn't valuable or made of any particularly special wood. Advice, please - thanks!

[barb1314]

I stripped the windowsills in my old house of about 6 layers of gloss.I used Nitromors....lethal but fine if you follow the instructions on the tin.Then I used a sander,then sandpaper.Long job but very satisfying!