How do you make an old dresser wooden look new again?

Depending on what shape the actual finish is in you may be able to give it a good cleaning with Murphy's Oil soap, you can use a soft scrub brush to work it into any carved areas it may have. Wipe it dry, and afterwards you can apply either paste wax or oil the piece. There is also another product made by Howard called 'Restore a finish' which is basically an oil with some mild solvents in it that would clean up an older piece also. You can get the 'Restore a finish' with different colored stain in it to help hide scratches and blemishes as well.... All these items can usually be find at Home Depot or Lowes....

This is a nice poem and it is about life as many of us who are a little older have either experienced it or have known others who have experienced it. Death touched my life the first time when I was eight years old, now almost 60 years ago. One of my grandfathers passed away. It's hard for an 8-year-old to really understand death. When I told my friends in school about it most of them asked "did you see the body?" They were curious and as mystified by the phenomenon of death as I was. When I was about 10 years old one of my friends, who was 8, died of a heart defect. This was the first time that I lost someone around my age, and it was a little harder hitting and more painful than losing a grandfather I didn't know all that well. Now, 57 years later I have outlived so many of my family members and friends that I have actually lost count. Your poem speaks to the flow of life. Lives may not go on, but life does, and we move from one generation to another with painful reliability. For a little child, death is hard to explain--but so is life. Every person, of every age, needs to understand just what death is, but also to know what life is all about and how to value it and get the most from it. And we get the most when we give the most back. We cannot hope to be loved if we don't care enough to love. My parents taught me a little about love, but I learned even more from my children. Until a man has heard a small voice say "Daddy, I love you," he cannot truly comprehend what love is. Others say the words as lightly as they might order a cheeseburger without onions. When a child says it it means something. Very nice write. And thanks for making me think a little about just how blessed I have been.

Restaining it or painting it is the easiest way. If it's really faded badly, then paint is probably the best option. I've used a primer from Benjamin Moore called "Fresh Start". You just slap it on, you don't have to be neat about it, then paint whatever you like on top of it and it sticks. I've repainted over stained furniture and an old milk can using this product and I liked the results.

I would say that you should sand the dresser first. Then you can use a restoring paint of some sort.