Beginner's Perspective on Unicorn Spit: Sewing Table Project Part 1

Leana
by Leana
2 Materials
10 days ago I came across a beautiful project on pintrest; a bright blue writers desk. Following the links brought me to Hometalk and of course an introduction to Unicorn Spit. A couple hours down the rabbit hole and I was intrigued. I am a colorful person, even though I am required to wear black from head to toe at work, my patients know I'm tie-dye at heart. So not surprising my home studio sewing table was the first thing that I wanted to try the Unicorn Spit on. This table was found on the side of the road by my parents when they were living in Connecticut, 10+ years ago. They used it for a temporary kitchen table, then after I moved to Florida they brought it down on a visit and it became my studio sewing table. It has since gone through 3 sewing machines, a rotary mat, and a toddler. The top and sides were covered with knife cuts, rotary blade mishaps, crayon, chew marks, and needle picks. Not to mention the finish that had started to crack and flake after being left out in the elements. Not the most inspirational of pieces! But the bones were still solid. So this is an in-progress running commentary of a beginners experience with; reclaiming an old piece of furniture, striping it, sanding it, and of course: applying the Unicorn Spit. Good or bad here we go!
I knew I had a package of Unicorn Spit on the way, tracking number happily saved on my computer. So I filled my time with tutorials, videos, and getting a head start on removing the finish on this table. This is day 1.
Duck tape residue, gouges, knife marks, scratches, and crayon. Not to mention the honey brown finish that was cracking and faded. Up close Day 1.
Day 2: the majority of the existing finish is off the table, but when washed with soap and water you can see where there is still finish left on the wood. (it slicks over instead of being absorbed by the wood). I also noted that 2-3 boards are still secreting a oil stain. Interesting! This is when my husband brought me the BIG hand held sander. We only used 80 grit, I did not go up in grain for this project.
Day 2: The table top is getting closer to having the old finish removed. If you think this process is fast, think again! It would have been quicker to dismantle it and put it through a plainer, but it was cathartic to spend a couple hours watching the virgin wood grain appear.
Day 3: yes it took 3 sessions to get the old stain off, looks good in this picture right? Just put some soapy water on it and you can see where there is still stain on the boards. The water was not uniformly being soaked up by the wood. Another round of sanding.
Day 3: you can see the oil I was talking about on the lower right side... and some of the gouges were very deep and large so they just were feathered out with the sander. The end pieces have some tiger eye showing through.
Day 3: finally!!! after washing with warm soapy water, letting dry and then using a tack cloth to remove the minute dust the table is ready. At this point my husband has done some refurbishing of the drawer, and it is also ready to go.
Day 3: yes- I ran out to the mail lady when she arrived, I was so excited. The Unicorn Spit arrived packages well to prevent any possible leaks. Each bottle came with a flat screw lid (no barrier under lid to have to deal with, thank you!) and a twist top squirt lid. It also came with one syringe. I ordered the Christmas pack (red/green/white/blue glitter sample) and then supplemented with the thunder blue, teal, and purple. FYI the glitter is AMAZING- but even used sparingly causes everything to have glitter in it. EVERYTHING. So try it out on a couple small projects before going to town... Could possibly be really cool if only used with water to help spread it, not blending. Then it would be like veins of pyrite.
Day 3: I got the entire surface of the table wet, and then used 1:1 water to Blue Thunder. Wow, it really went on like water color. I used a brush, then tried with my hands, and then went back to the brush. I just think I am a brush kind of girl. Now in a lot of the tutorials and videos they always exclaimed about the Jasmine smell. Well if you do the project inside don't worry about a chemical smell, but to me it did not smell like Jasmine. My daughter even asked what that smell was. It has a slight sweet floral perfume but it is under the smell of Gesso. For artists, not unpleasant, but don't think it's like working with body lotion.
Day 3: This is the surface with the 1:1 ratio Blue Thunder to water. I let it dry just until it was not runny. Honestly, my heart fell a little. This is not what I had envisioned happening.
Day 3: So I played.... some full strength Dragons Belly Green, and the Blue Sparkle went on with some full strength Blue thunder. The convenient squirt nozzle tops were wonderful for this! Got the garden hose out (I was not getting adequate water coverage with my water bottle) set on mist and then added a spray of water to the surface. Using the brush again I started to blend. Blend. Blend. This is where I started seeing the fun and potential of the Unicorn Spit. I also found out that the Sparkle Spit made EVERYTHING sparkle. Luckily my husband likes to say I fart glitter... so it's perfect for me!
Day 3: see the Sparkle?
Day 3: so onto covering entire thing. The table top is Blue Sparkle fading into Green, the two colors blended so wonderfully to make areas of teal and aqua. The Sparkle Spit adding a bit of reflection. You can easily see the Spit as it is absorbed into the wood and starts to dry. It's easy to tell where the Spit is still wet, so there is no question on when you can start the sealing process.
Day 3: On the legs I decided to add some Purple Haze blending up through Dragons Belly Green and the Blue Thunder. I did not add any more of the Sparkle... I did not have to, the sparkle spit still was with the brush on the last leg! The full strength Spit was easy to apply on vertical surfaces with the convenient squeeze bottle tops, so easy in fact my daughter (6 years old) was in charge of this duty. I kept blending and adding, always going in the directing of the grain. Now it is drying over night (luckily we are in warm Florida this time of year and can stay outside). Once the table and drawer are all the way dry I will start the finishing process. Stay tuned for segment two!
Suggested materials:
  • 80 grit sand paper   (Grandfathers old stash)
  • Unicorn Spit   (Unicorn Spit)
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