How to stain this?
by
Christy
+4
I am refinishing this table. There was a gouge in the table that apparently was significant and they applie several layers of wood putty. It is on the top of the table. How do I stain this so it matches the rest or do a fake fix? I’m clueless.
That is a tough one. How large is the spot? Matching the stain is not the problem. Duplicating the wood grain is questionable. Even using gel stain and stain markers it may not look right. Uther option would be to paint the whole top.
Hi Christy, you say you are refinishing this table, you could paint it a solid color to cover this, or do a 2 layer color, which may show this mark less. So you could paint a light wood color then do a dark color to give it a faux grain using a sponge brush with sections cut out
One method I used to fix my daughter's table that had an old repair was to blend in shades of brown paint until I got it to "disappear ". What I wanted to try was to sand the whole thing down including the light spot so I I could do a new repair, mixing stain with wood putty to get the color I wanted, and stain it all to match. She didn't want the whole thing done over, so I used paint instead. I've redone molding that a cat had left deep scratches in, using the wood putty/stain method. Hope that helps.
Some wood putty doesn't take stain well if at all. Looks like it was also sanded against the grain of the table. You will have to basically just mess around with it to see what you can do. You might be able to do a fake fix. If you are refinishing it and it is a wood table top you can sand it all down, then stain the entire table top. This is a tough one.You may or may not be able to make it less noticeable. As long as you are refinishing this table top you might try wiping a bit of stain on this spot before you sand to see if the wood putty will take stain.
All I can say is to experiment. Wood putty doesn't take stain well like Gk says. Lightly sand in the direction of the grain to smooth it out. My personal choice would be stain markers. Get a few or a set of stain markers. Dab the stain markers on the wood putty and use your finger to blend. They do not work like regular markers. If it doesn't look good you can remove with nail polish remover. It will take a little experimentation.