Here's the situation: I am working on my table which is pine to the best of my knowledge. I have stripped all areas and it is nicely sanded and has a natural bare wood look. You can see a nice wood grain look!
Problem is today I tried some samples from Sherwin Williams on the underside. Here's where it gets tricky.The grain that normally looks darker after sanded is coming out as the lighter grain after we stain it. And the lighter grain prior to staining is coming out darker . Its as if the grain has traded roles after staining. I don't like this because being reversed the color is too dominant.
Picture a tiger....before staining the table represents a tigers pattern. Dominantly orange with black stripes. After staining the table looks as if the tiger is dominantly black with orange stripes.
I am using a darker stain. When we tried a very light stain the roles did not reverse.
Table: Currently sanded 150 grit and not conditioned. We tried various brands of stain.
Why is the stain causing the roles of the grain to reverse and how can I stain it dark without this happening?
After reading I realize its recommended to condition the wood but I still don't have an answer if the condition will prevent this reversing problem.
Any help will be highly appreciated. What was supposed to be the fun part is becoming the hard part!
Thanks
B~
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
There is no way to reverse the grain structure/pattern and the way it takes stain..here is what is happening though...The "strong" streaks of grain in pine is much tighter(denser) than the other open grain not in the streaks (the more solid part)...so it does not absorb the stain as much..the open part of the grain, the larger areas are a very loose type grain in the wood and absorb the stain more thus darkening it...As mentioned you cannot change the way the wood accepts it...A lighter stain would have made the dense grain show more..and the open grain show less...The more "red tone" a stain has..the darker the loose grain will show also..You have a question that has no proper answer..for the wood will accept thestain as it does..sorry to say...but is the truth..you cannot reverse the acceptance of the stain in the wood...
Ok, here is my "take" on your problem. It's hard without actually seeing your table. The lighter areas are less dense and therefore absorb more of the stain. That's the only thing that would cause the problem you are describing.
Are you using an oil based stain or a water based? When we refinish furniture we use nothing but oil based stains because you do have more "control" over the penetration. So if you're using water based, get some good oil based stain. Do a test patch on a hidden area with the new stain. If you like it, great! If it's still doing the same thing, you need a seal coat to help stop the lighter wood from taking in too much stain. What we use when we get into that is a coat of tung oil. Formby's make a good, all tung oil and it's not terribly pricey. Watch the labels though, some so called tung oils actually have poly in them and you don't want that!
Did I mention oil based stains and tung oil are MUCH easier to put on? You pretty much just rub them on with a soft lint free cloth, always going with the grain. No brush marks. And tung oil is a great finish all by itself too! Now it will take numerous coats to get a good seal on the wood but the result will be a nice, rich finish that can be repaired if you get a scratch or a ding! Can't do that with poly!
My best suggestion is to sand the table with a 300, 320 grit sandpaper to really polish it up more than the 150. 150 is still fairly rough. The higher # sandpaper might just smooth things out enough to keep that from happening also. But I honestly think if you get some oil based stain you will be much happier with the results.