I use this stuff to remove old felts and any glue reside come off very easily (https://www.homedepot.com/p/ZEP-128-oz-Heavy-Duty-Citrus-Degreaser-ZUCIT128/100676344). Smaller sizes are available at the Home Depot as well. I put a small amount of this orange degreaser in a square tray and fill to just about the thickness of the felt, let it soak for about 3-5 minutes then remove the felt and glue with a metal putty knife. Comes off very cleanly and the minute reside if any can be wiped off with one of those small sponges with a plastic scrub side dampened not wet. Let dry and then apply your new glue and felts. Works on both plastic and wood chess sets.
Re-felting pieces?
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There are rolls of green felt (baize) you can buy that are identical to the chess piece bottoms that already have one side with super strong adhesive. I have used it for my sets and it works great. Usually crafts seller sites or ebay has it. Good Luck 
Thanks for the help. Got the citrus degreaser and the pieces are cleaned and ready for refelting tomorrow. Appreciate all the advice!
I did this to my two favorite sets last night. If the citrus degreaser doesn't work try a product called Goof Off. Worked like a charm for me. To get rid of the extra felt/gunk i lightly drag pieces over sand paper. Yes, on "ebonized" pieces this removes the black from the bottom a bit, but that doesn't bother me since it will be covered with felt. This ensures the bottom is truly flat and will sit will on the board during play.
DO NOT use felt from Michael's or AC Moore. Every felt they carry is too thick and throws off the balance of pieces, especially if they are unweighted. Also, it looks bad. You can order a strip of billiard cloth for very little money on ebay. That's the best.
the technique i use for this process works quite well. I use Elmer's wood glue. LIGHTLY coat the bottoms of the pieces with the glue, making sure you don't get any on the sides. It's important that there isn't a lot because you want to make sure it doesn't soak into felt, and, you may want to change these out again in the future. There's no reason for a forever bond here.
Stand pieces in a row on the cloth, and then when it's dry, cut each piece off onto an individual square. Now, use very sharp fabric scissors and cut around the base with the scissors angled out slightly. Be so careful not to cut the wood itself. Using this technique I get a nearly perfect circle every time. Others use a razor and a cutting board. Both work.
Good luck, take your time, and be ready to make mistakes. I've done about 5 sets now and I've only been 100% happy with the last 2.
Cheers,
Dan
I used a craft store sheet of black felt with adhesive backing to refelt an unweighted, Soviet set from the 1960s. I simply pulled/scraped off the old felts, ran the bases of the pieces across sand paper until they felt smooth, stuck them to the felt sheet, cut out each piece from the large sheet, and then trimmed around the bases with a pair of scissors. I'm happy with the results.
lighthouse wrote:
Here a video by The Man himself !
I've tried Mr. Dewey's method of removal which is fine in itself but there are times when the glue is so strongly adhered to the wood that part of the sealing compound comes off with the use of the box cutter or straight edge razor causing more steps to prepare the chess piece for refelting. With the citrus degreaser if the soak is approximately 2 minutes the piece comes off without any real effort, the putty sealing compound (on some sets) stays intact and all the residue of glue and any strips of felt are easily removed. You can soak the whole chess set as well making it a much quicker operation if you have a large enough tray to accommodate all the pieces to fit for the citrus soak. IMO
Ronbo710 wrote:
There are rolls of green felt (baize) you can buy that are identical to the chess piece bottoms that already have one side with super strong adhesive. I have used it for my sets and it works great. Usually crafts seller sites or ebay has it. Good Luck
That's great, Ron, but poking around Holly Lobby, Michaels, Rockler Woodworking and Amazon you find varying quality and thicknesses for these self-adhesive sheets. What thickness do you use, and where exactly do you purchase yours?
Felts removed using matte knife and citrus stripper:
Pieces wood glued to baize (ordered from England/95% wool/beautiful cloth!)
Trimming the baize
Cigar box lined with copper colored adhesive felt from Joann Fabrics (Kunin felt, made from recycled plastic bottles)
Finished. Pieces refelted, waxed, boxed. Thanks to everyone for their help!
Wow! You did that very Noice!
I see the citrus stripper worked like a charm. Great job on the refelting now you have a quick fix for any of your other sets that would need refelting. Great storage box idea although if I may suggest you should felt the interior of the box as well along with the corking that is already installed there to give you pieces extra protection. Just a suggestion...
Yeah I thought about that too.
What kind of glue did you use?
Elmer's wood glue. Applied a healthy drop and used my finger to spread it completely over the bottom of the piece and then placed the piece on the felt and pressed it firmly down. Let it sit for 24 hours before trimming the excess.
To those who have untaken this:
How clean (e.g. can there be minimal amounts of the old felt and glue remaining) does the bottom of the piece need to be before applying the glue and attaching the new felt?
Do you strip or sand the bottom of the piece before re-felting?
Thanks for the help.
-Mike