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| Leave it to the pro. Michael Dresdner, a nationally known wood finishing and woodworking expert, has answered hundreds of common wood finishing questions in Varathane’s Q&A library to help you successfully complete your project. Click on a link to the left for help and solid advice. |
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| Q: I have read conflicting information when it comes to preparing cedar for stain. Some say use 80 grit before applying the first coat then sand with something like 120 grit before adding second coat. I have always sanded my projects just as smooth as I could get them before staining, and then go over the wood with super fine steel wool #0000 in between coats.
A: I generally sand through the grits (80, 120, 180) in aluminum oxide, then sand again with 180 garnet, by hand and with the grain. That combination, which works on just about any wood, gives a smooth surface that takes all sorts of stain very well. One wood is stained I do not touch it with any abrasive or steel wool, but instead add at least one coat of finish prior to smoothing, and then do it with 400 grit or finer. Avoid steel wool between coats as it can leave bits of metal in the finish. |  | |
| Q: I am in the process of staining a new bed made of birch and have chosen Varathane Gel Stain. In a finishing book I have the author states that a gel stain should not be mixed as stirring reduces the gel to liquid and I would have to wait until it returns to gel again. My can of Varathane Gel Stain says to mix. Can you suggest which directions I should follow?
A: Follow the directions on the can. | | |
| Q: What can be done to veneer wood which has been sanded to remove improper color of stain so that a new application of stain will be absorbed?
A: Scrub the surface with lacquer thinner on nylon abrasive pads, mopping up the slurry as you go with paper shop towels. Get as much of the stain off that way as you can, then sand to remove the rest, but do so carefully so as not to cut through the veneer. For wood that was dyed instead of stained, you can remove the dye with a wash of full strength laundry bleach, but only if there was no oil or binder in the dye. | | |
| Q: I am sanding down a pecan wood dinning room table to re-stain it. Do I put some kind of a sealer on before I stain? I am afraid the stain will grab the wood too dark.
A: You are probably thinking about wood conditioner, but its intent is to effect more uniform staining on problem woods, and pecan is not one of them. The easiest way to make any stain lighter, beyond choosing a lighter color stain of course, is to reduce it with its appropriate solvent. Make samples first on hidden areas to see how the wood absorbs the stain, and go from there. |
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