Staining Problem


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Old 08-06-17, 05:48 PM
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Staining Problem

Hello,

Taking on my first staining project and while applying my stain to my kitchen table, I am getting this unevenness with the stain. The stain is not taking to certain areas and it seems to be over saturated in others! Is there any way to fix this or do I have to start all over again on that one area and redo it from scratch?

Thanks in advance,
RJ
 
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Old 08-06-17, 08:28 PM
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Was this originally bare unstained wood? Oil based or water based stain? Do the instructions say it is a wiping stain? (To wipe off the excess)

Or are you trying to apply stain over a surface that already had a previous finish on it? Stain has to be applied on bare wood.
 
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Old 08-07-17, 02:14 AM
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Welcome to the forums!

As X said, the wood needs to be raw to accept stain. Often just sanding off the old finish won't completely remove it. It's best to use a chemical stripper and then finish up with sanding. Tell us more about how you got to this point.
 
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Old 08-07-17, 05:53 AM
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Thanks for the responses!

Yes the table was previously finished. I sanded it down using an orbital sander (80-120-220 grit).

In my attempt to create a barnwood look (following a video I found), I used a minwax water based toffee and winter moss combination. I went with water based as only their colors offered the green I liked).

I first used a minwax water based pre-stain wood conditioner, 30+minutes later, lightly hand sanded 220, and wiped down with a tack cloth. I applied the stains, with a brush, in random small areas and then with a rag and/or staining sponge, blended them together.

RJ
 
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Old 08-07-17, 06:18 AM
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My guess is that mark is right on target...the table should have been chemically stripped first. Sanding a prior finish oftentimes leaves a lot of finish on the surface, so the wood is still sealed... it's like sanding pushes the finish down into the wood pores.

Its also highly possible that the wood is some variety (asian tropical) that does not accept stain well at all. Also possible is uneven sanding.

When staining a large surface it's best to just flood the area as quickly as possible with a sponge or rag, giving it all the same amount of time to absorb the stain.

My advice would be to chemically strip the entire top, and resand it, doing so evenly. I would not use 80 at all... only 120, possibly up to 150. It is super important that you sand everything VERY well, and very consistently. Sanding to higher grits affects the amount of stain the wood absorbs... the higher the grit, the lighter the surface will become because the sanding closes the pores. So, for instance if you sanded all of the table with 120 and only part of the table with 220, it might look a lot like your photo.

The same would apply to your wood conditioner... you have to flood a large surface fast with a sponge or rag. Some woods don't need the conditioner, but it's hard to know until you have experience. While you probably should not have sanded anything after the conditioner, i doubt that caused the problem, but we dont know if that light spot was treated differently at any point in this entire process. Consistency is the key when prepping and finishing wood... (consistency of time and technique) you will likely have poor results if, for example, you spend 10 minutes sanding on one area then get tired of sanding and only spend a few minutes on the rest. Or you sand in one direction on one part and another direction on another part. That sort of stuff will show up when you apply the stain. Sanding is usually everyone's least favorite part and it's usually not done well because it's hard to perceive what you are accomplishing.
 
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Old 08-07-17, 08:41 AM
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I've restained a lot of items that had all kinds of unknown finishes on them and never used any chemical but you have to get enough material off that you are down to the virgin wood.

If the sanded wood is not spotless and void of any prior finish you have to just keep going.
 
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Old 08-07-17, 08:49 AM
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Nobody is saying that the existing finish can't be completely removed by sanding [after all that is how floors are redone] BUT many will stop short of removing all the old finish because they think they've gotten to down to bare wood while in reality, they haven't. A chemical stripper is usually quicker and makes it easier to know that the wood is bare/raw.
 
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Old 08-07-17, 06:26 PM
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Gentleman,

Thanks for your help! I must admit, when your suggestion was to chemically strip down the table, I felt a bit overwhelmed, but I bit the bullet and did so! Followed by a few rounds of more sanding and reapplying the stain as you suggested with moving quickly and spreading all the stain out and blending it all together, I was quite happy with the results!!

Now onto the final applications . . . So I might as well ask you for your advice, I am looking to apply a sealing coat, but I do not want ANY sheen at all, what do you suggest and how many coats should I apply. I assume I am to lightly sand in between coats?

Thanks again!

RJ
 
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Old 08-08-17, 02:01 AM
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Masters products are one of the best, stay away from minwax products, especially for furniture.

Masters Armorâ„¢ - Old Masters
 
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Old 08-08-17, 03:47 AM
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Generally it takes 3 coats of poly to achieve a nice even finish. Always sand and remove the dust between coats of poly. Oil base polys dry harder than most water based polys although they will deepen the color of the stain. I mostly use MinWax as it's readily available most anywhere. Their oil base poly wears well .... rarely use any waterbased poly.
 
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Old 08-08-17, 06:15 AM
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If you do not want sheen, you will need to apply several coats of finish, then rough it up by wet sanding it. For instance, you could apply multiple coats of a matte polyurethane, then dull the finish by wet sanding (by hand) with a block and a green Scotch Brite pad. Just use a little dish soap and water as a lubricant and rub with the grain.

Otherwise you could experiment with wax, but that will give you some shine, but it will be a natural finish that you can reapply as much or as often as needed. It obviously will not provide as much protection from stains or water rings and such.
 
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Old 08-13-17, 07:51 AM
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I've had some good results with orange/citric based strippers. Is this table made of pine? If so, there is a pre-stain treatment that is needed to apply the stain evenly. Pine tends to take a stain splotchy.
 
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Old 08-13-17, 09:25 AM
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Often pine that has had a previous finish stripped off doesn't need a wood conditioner like it would if it was raw virgin pine.
 
 

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