Help me figure out how to fix this table finish or another solution?
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Help!!! I started refinishing this oak table by stripping the finish with Natura Safe Stripper...it wasn't working so great so I started sanding on the other half of table. That worked great so I sanded the other side, the stripper had darkened the wood so I thought I better apply more stripper and I sanded some more...it looked pretty good until I stained it...the difference in the color of the wood was a lot more noticeable. I re-stripped with a different product, I have bleached the wood several times as well as used a wood restore product and sanded some more. This is the result..what can I do to fix it. There is just stain no finish on it yet...if I stained it a dark stain would you still see the difference in the color?
The right side in the foreground is the problem area...I have since re-stained.
This is after second staining. Should I stain really dark or paint it?
7 answers
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Hi Cindy- Unfortunately, if you try to stain over two different color surfaces, that will show through. You need to keep sanding it til you get to an even color on both sides and remove any trace of the stripper. Or, you could distress paint it and finish it, but I am thinking that is a great oak table so if you can salvage it, I would.
Country Design Home
on Mar 30, 2015
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Sand it again. It must be porous enought to accept a wood conditioner product. You need to use a product called wood conditioner before you stain. It really helps the wood accept the stain evenly. I have refinished at least 50 pieces of furniture. I also learned the hard way. A professional woodworker passed this tip on to me. Wood conditioner is available wherever staining products are sold. Tip-after you sand, wet the furniture with water in an inconspicous edge of the table-just a small spot. Choose a stain that is just a bit darker than the appearance of this spot of wet wood. If you go to a dark stain and don't use wood conditioner, you will still have mismatched wood. I hope this helps. Be patient, don't rush through the steps; sand, wipe down, wood conditioner, stain, wax or poly finish. I encountered mismatched woods many times. They turned out very well. Good luck.
Nancy
on Mar 30, 2015
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Thanks Nancy...I did have the finish completely removed before I used the wood conditioner and it did lighten the wood a bit...the bleaching I did gave me the biggest results...I did a lot of sanding and was hesitant to sand any further and it looked pretty good until I stained...I will sand it all down again. Thank you for your advice!
Cindy Rottacker
on Mar 30, 2015
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It may be that even after all your work the two sides now will never be exactly the same in stain color. Wood takes stain very differently from piece to piece. I painted a table and loved how it came out...but that may not be your "like".
CK
on Mar 30, 2015
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You poor thing! So much work! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV74s1zo4a0 This is a great YouTube Tutorial explaining about stripping a piece... if all else fails, a striped, stained table top is a great conversation piece :)
Tana, Little Red Bag Productions
on Mar 30, 2015
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I feel for you, all that work!! I didn't make the same booboo, but did a round pine table, sanded it all down then as Sue@countrydesigns suggested, distressed it, bashed it up with whatever I could find (sort of fun) then stained and varathaned it....painted the legs off white and everyone who saw it thought it was a new table! lots of compliments! food for thought is all
Bananas!
on Mar 31, 2015
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Thanks for all the comments & suggestions!
Cindy Rottacker
on Mar 31, 2015
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