How to remove old wax and stain
by
Lisa
+6
Our friend, Murphy, had been telling me about this drop leaf coffee table for two years. One day, out of the blue, he just gave it to me, and told me to make it beautiful. He has complete faith in my refinishing skills. My husband wants me to strip and refinish this piece, rather than paint it, and I agreed. I have done this hundreds of times. I can not, for the life of me, remove all of the very old stain and topcoat. I have tried every trick I know, yet some stain remains, making the wood look "dirty". I have sanded, used stripper, begged and prayed, to no avail. Any suggestions?
Adorable drop leaf coffee table that I agreed to strip and refinish.
Taken after sanding and chemical strip. The wood is blotchy.
Taken after begging and praying. Please help!
9 answers
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Well, lucky you to have a friend like Murphy! I hope he doesn't want it back after you've mad it beautiful! Pine is pretty soft and the stain was pretty old so it is being stubborn. Other than prayer, I am thinking you are going to have to keep sanding, or you can stain it as is because its pretty darn awesome. Natural wood is full of imperfections-that is the beauty of it- which you can correct to a point with a good stain. General Finishes makes water-based stains that you can manipulate to even out uneven color tones. Just wipe it on, then with a damp rag, wipe off as needed. I've evened out many an old finish with it. Good luck!
Country Design Home
on May 22, 2015
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As a retired "always tired" builder and still woodworker. if it was mine I would just put several coats of water based gloss poly and not stain it, That's just my thinking. I like to natural look of wood. Stain will blend in depending on color and type of stain. then several coats of clear finish.. I like water based for a couple of reasons. 1 it dries in minutes and 2 almost no odor.
Ray Phillips
on May 22, 2015
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Yeah, what Ray said! If it were mine I'd be happy with it. I like the natural properties of the wood (what you call blotchy) and see no need to try to alter them further. Stain it, finish it, and love it! It will be beautiful.
Dawn Mudore
on May 22, 2015
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As per the comments above...if all else fails and you are not happy with your staining job, jobs...chalk paint it and distress it. Looks to me like a piece you could easily do that with. I actually have lots of those projects that I can't get all the stain off. Some I leave and restain and some I just end up painting and this is all depending on the piece. Good Luck and let us know what you do with it : )
Mcgypsy9
on May 22, 2015
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Thanks everyone! I've decided to go with Ray's suggestion and try the poly first. That was also suggested by my husband. Will post pics upon completion.
Lisa
on May 22, 2015
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I read all the posts and I have to ask you what style of decorating do you like? That would determine the "look" you would probably be most happy with. For example, I have two end tables that are traditional. When my style changed to soft contemporary, I had a problem. A tight budget! Reading through many decorating websites, I found my answer. To make any piece of furniture look more contemporary, paint it a "soft" black. I did this and added silver pulls. The tables turned out so nice and boy was I surprised!
861650
on May 22, 2015
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Have you tried a mild bleach solution? I believe I've seen wood bleach att he local hardware store. Either way, have fun & enjoy!
Eileen
on May 22, 2015
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There is a conditioner that helps stain take more consistently. I would select a stain matching the darkest colour and work around the dark area. Sometimes I work with 2 or 3 different colours to get it to look the same. I always use oil-based stain because it gives a longer working time, and oil-based poly even if there is an odour.
Marion Nesbitt
on May 23, 2015
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It is a veneer a thick veneer. I can see the band on the side, and it is white spotted. It isn't the stain it is because you sanded to much. It has happened to me before more times then I can count. When I am doing a piece like this I either use a furnisher stripper and then a finishing sand paper. Or I use a finishing sand paper and take it off slowly. It doesn't grasp and take it off to fast and to much. They have stain\sealers which might cover it up, The one that seems to work is general finishes.
Sherrie
on May 24, 2015
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