Why are there gray patches on my old walnut dresser after staining?

Lisa M
by Lisa M

It’s stained but has large gray patches, did I oversand? I didn’t strip I used orbital sander 80 grit wondering how to fix, any ideas?

  4 answers
  • Kelli L. Milligan Kelli L. Milligan on Jun 12, 2019

    You probably did by using wrong grit. Please send picture so we can help. May have to get a new top made. Never use 80 grit on furniture, it's too harsh.

  • Sharon Sharon on Jun 12, 2019

    Agree with Keli, I would buy a sheet of veneer to glue over old top.

  • William William on Jun 12, 2019

    80 grit was a good start. Very aggressive to get down to raw wood. Then should have sanded with 100-120 grit to start smoothing out the surface. Finally 220 grit to get all the sanding marks out. From there you can stain and seal. The patches more likely were from where more stain got absorbed than in other areas. May need to start from scratch. Progressive sanding from coarse grit to fine grit at all times. You want the smoothest surface for the stain to lay evenly. A wide grain absorbs more stain and tight close grain absorbs less.

    • Shirley Hearn Shirley Hearn on Jun 15, 2019

      Would using a wood conditioner prior to the stain help to get an even stain on the wood?

  • William William on Jun 15, 2019

    Yes, a wood conditioner would help even out the stain. I use it on pine and fir before stain or any wood that has an uneven grain pattern. It gets absorbed more into wide grain and less in tight grain. A lot of wood dresser, table, desk tops are constructed of glued up boards with different grain patterns. Just brush it on liberally, let sit for several minutes, wipe off the excess and let it dry. Use only on raw wood.