I have a wood paneled den that needs refinishing. It was probably last finished about 1960. The den consists of 3 paneled walls that have a judge's chamber look and the fourth wall is a bookcase with a built in desk. Most of the walls and bookcase are slightly faded. Not sure if the previous owner started to refinish it or not. Looks like I can see some stain on the bookcase.

My question is how should I go about refinishing? Do I sand, use a refinisher, or do I need a paint, stain, and polyurethane remover? I have some Formby's refinisher and tried it with a steel wool pad. After scrubbing a few of the squares I couldn't really notice a difference between the two squares I worked and the rest. I then tried a 220 grit sand paper on the same squares and that seemed to really smooth out the surface.

I also tried the cotton ball and nail polish remover test to see if I should use the refinsher or a remover. The cotton ball stuck to panel but I soaked it pretty good and pushed it up against the paneling. Not sure if I blew the test or not.

What should I do? I would like to apply a new stain.

Stain