Hello all,
I’m looking for some advice. A couple years ago I built a simple bed out of maple, and since I was in a rush, I never got past the staining stage before putting it into use. Since then my wife has always wanted to darken it up, so as we’re getting ready to move and the bed is out of use momentarily, she decided, along with her mother, to stain it darker. I agreed, since I would be out of town and didn’t have any time to do it myself. To make a long story short, I came home to find a headboard, footboard, and side rails with (at least) 5 coats of dark mahogany stain, none of which had been wiped after applying, building up to…well you can probably guess what it looks like.
My question is: is there anything I can do short of sanding it all down? I’m definitely not a finishing expert (although I’m apparently more knowledgeable than certain people I know…), so I’m at a loss for an approach here.
By the way, I wouldn’t believe this story if I read it either, but it’s true.
Thanks,
Ben
Replies
Well, a fairly simple and fairly harmless first attempt to remove the stain would be a maroon nylon abrasive pad and some white (mineral) spirits. Wet the pad well and scour the the wood in the direction of the grain. See what you can remove and what remains. You should really try this on a fairly inconspicuous part.
Next on the list for my money would be a methylene chloride stripper to remove the film forming bits of the stain. Industrial corrosive chemical resistant rubber gloves, overalls, safety goggles, a paint kettle of the stripper and the same type of coarse (maroon) abrasive nylon pads are the main tools; also work outside on a bit of waste ground, or a bit of garden you don't care much about, and scour the surface as before. You could work inside with a load of newspaper on the floor, but you do need good ventilation.
Methylene chloride is rather nasty. It burns skin etc, hence the advice about goggles, overalls, gloves, etc. Slainte.
Richard Jones Furniture
If you can afford the alimony, you can have your wife and mother-in-law do the stripping. Chemical stripping will give you a better surface for staining or dying afterwards. Sanding tends to give a surface that takes dye and stain unevenly.
It does appear that when she wants dark she wants really dark. To get that without the build up of wood obscuring stain, you would want to be able to start with an aniline dye to get the darkness needed, and then perhaps use a bit of stain as a toner after sealing the dye to add some depth to the finish.
And, I absolutely agree that AMPLE ventilation is essential with methylene chloride stripper.
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