Staining chest of drawers and night stands

Question

I just finished removing most of the old varnish and sanding a pine chest of drawers and two non-matching night stands. I got out most of the old stain but not all of it. What is recommended as a good stain for pine? The night stands are pine but much lighter. I want it to end up with a dark color with a reddish tint. The drawers will be painted.

Janet Pizaro · Answer

I would research MinWax gel stain.They have there own web site which will guide you on the know hows before ,during, and after.

Fred Kitto · Answer

^What he said. MinWax has pretty much every kind of finish you could want.

Valerie · Answer

It is really beautiful piece. There are a number of different finishes on this board, maybe one will inspire you: http://www.hometalk.com/b/7271715/wood-finishes

Art-Faux Designs and Painting Inc · Answer

I have been a pro for nearly 40 years and never have liked the Minwax 'Homeowner DIY Line of Gelstains as they can appear uneven and blotchy on Pine and Maple. Personally I prefer to use more of a 'toning' type of stain like Sikkens which is brushed on and you DO NOT need to 'wipe it' They have both oil and water base put I prefer the oil for less grain raising. As a final sanding use the Norton red paper at 180 to open that grain some. DO NOT use the cheap 'yellow' sand paper as it has more iron in it than an actual aggregate like the Norton and will scratch the wood on occasion. Don't make the mistake of thinking the wood needs to be 'baby skin smooth' before staining because this only closes the grain of the wood. The grain needs to be more open to accept the stain color. The baby smooth comes in between clear coats if your usinf a catalyst type of finishing system. Remember that Sikkens has a 'system' that includes everything you need and is a user friendly product with a much more professional finish. ZAR is also a line I would recommend

Country Design Home · Answer

I use General Finishes stains for this kind of work. They are water-based so clean up is easy and they are so simple to use. Just brush on, then wipe off the excess. When I want to darken a piece to match the others, I just add more coats until I achieve the right color.

Pamela Field · Answer

You cant stain it evenly unless you sand down to the raw wood, it won't absorb the stain. You can use a gell stain though. Check out General Finishes Gel stains and their online tutorials.

Beth H. Makemeprettyagain.blogspot · Answer

What Pamela said. Its going to look awful if you put stain on that. You have a veneered piece of cheap pine. Not the best candidate for what you want to do. You have to remove old varnish and stain by stripping, not sanding. the existing stain is in the pores of the wood, sanding just glides over it, doesn't remove it. You need a stripper. I use soy gel, but you are wasting your time on this piece. Get some chalk paint and paint it. Plus, pine is notorious for blotching. If you don't know how to finish wood, this will not come out how you want. All those grooves and fluting??? no way you are going to get the finish off of that without stripper. Trust me, paint this one.

Kathi Hattan · Answer

I stained some old pieces that belonged to my great grandmother. A dresser and a magazine stand, both made of pine. I used a beautiful deep mahogany stain because of the rich color and they turned out more beautiful than I imagined they would.

Somewhat Quirky · Answer

If you are stuck on the idea of staining, the only one that will work on 'most of the varnish and stain is gone' is a gel stain. I've had a lot of success using gel stains over iffy finishes. Old Masters makes a great gel stain, as well as General Finishes.

Kathi Hattan · Answer

She asked for an idea. I didn't know that I would be judged for my idea or I wouldn't have posted it.

Patti · Answer

Thank's everyone very much for all your help. With this help, I have decided to take all three pieces down to the bare wood and then stain them. Because of the pieces that would not allow smooth straight strokes with the gel, I feel this will be the best in the end. Thanks to everyone again.

Patti · Answer

With all the comments, the decision was made to go to the bare wood and stain all three pieces.

Fiona Herle · Answer

I painted an old chest I had.  I used a primer first then painted the shell with a white indoor acrylic latex.  The drawers were painted with homemade chalk paint and then I downloaded some vintage stencils from graphics fairy.  I think the end result was pretty good.

Patti · Answer

Beth, after hearing all the replies to my project, I decided to sand and remove all the old shellac and start over. I will post my results as soon as I am finished. Will be done in about 1 weel,hopefully.

Staining chest of drawers and night stands

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