How to re-stain already stainded wood?
Question:I just bought a coffee table and side tables. The wood has already been stained and coated with a shiny sealer. Right now it's a lot lighter than I would like it to be, so I am thinking about re-staining them to make them darker. I was wondering, do you have to strip the original stain and laquer? Or can I just sand it and then stain over it?
Answers:
You can sand down the finsh sealer and reapply a new coat of stain since you are going darker. You can also use a stripper such as jasc which is a gel that you brush on and wipe off but will still need to do some light sanding. If you just go with sanding and not stripping it is going to take quite a bit of sanding and sand paper. Stripping it first minimizes the amount of sanding needed but in either case you need to remove the sealer finish in order for the next coat of stain to be allowed to penetrate into the wood.
All you have to do is sand it really well and then the next stain will adhere perfectly.
Good luck!
You might have to use something to strip off the sealer, depending on how thick it is. Id *test* a small area first with some fine sand paper to see how thick and *deep * the stain is, depending on what kind of wood it is (soft or hard) it might take some elbow grease to sand it down completely. If sanding an inconspicuous part of the table gives you the desired results , you can just sand it. If it seems like a huge undertaking you can go to your local hardware store and ask them what they recommend for the particular type of wood. Either way you definitly want to sand it down to naked wood and make sure you leave no trace of the old stain and varnish behind , or youll end up with a horrible mess on your hands. Also be sure youre working with solid wood and not particle board of sorts, or something with a veneer finish, as sanding something like this would leave you with an ugly table, though you can find veneer sheets in the color of your choice to replace it.
You will have to sand through the sealer (shiny stuff) after you've sanded (and I reccommend using a power sander!) wipe it down with mineral spirits (turpentine) to remove all sanding residue. also be aware if the stain color 'lifts' when you wipe it down.
Test a small area with the new stain to see if it 'takes' -
You may want to seek out a re-finishing shop to do the stripping - it's messy and a pain - the fun part is putting the new finish on!
You are not going to sand through the sealer, you will have to strip it and start over again. Sealers are generally a very thin coating that will penetrate the wood. They could be laquer or varnish. If it was done with Minwax stain, that has a sealer in it and you have to get that off.
Only been refinishing furniture for 50 years.
i would use a stripper, something environmentally safe or use a roto-sander. if not, the polyurethane could start to flake off you would have to then sand it anyway.
your going to have to strip it, then sand it, or your stain will turn out blotchy. The sealer soaks into the wood so you will
have to try and get most of the sealer off, after it's stripped you may have to neutralize the stipper, they sell cleaners at home depot and such, otherwise use a 50/50 mix vinager and water. since your going darker, you shouldn't have to remove all the stain. good luck.
GOING DARKER IS EASIER THAT GOING LIGHTER...IF YOU WANT A GOOD JOB, IT WOULD BE BEST TO STRIP OFF ALL THE FINISH COAT WITH A PAINT AND VARNISH REMOVER FIRST. THESE ARE LIQUIDS AND SEMI-PASTE LIQUIDS THAT YOU APPLY WITH A PURE BRISTLE BRUSH ,ALLOW THEM TO EAT INTO THE FINISH( THE FINISH WILL START TO LOOK LIKE IT'S BEGINNING TO ALLIGATOR.AT THIS POINT YOU WILL REMOVE IT WITH SCRAPERS TO GET THE BULK OF IT OFF, THEN YOU MAY HAVE YOU APPLY ANOTHER COAT OR TWO OF THE STRIPPER AND USE A FINE STEEL WOOL AND /OR RAGS(CHEESE CLOTH WORKS WELL) TO REMOVE THE REST OF THE FINISH OFF..AFTER YOU GET ALL THAT FINISH OFF AND THERE ISN'T ANY MORE LEFT, YOU MAY HAVE TO RINSE THE ENTIRE SURFACE WITH LAQUER THINNER AND THEN CLEAR WATER, TO DE-ACTIVATE THE STRIPPER... IF YOU DON'T DO THIS STEP, THEN WHEN YOU APPLY YOUR NEW FINISH, THE STRIPPER WILL REACT WITH THE NEW FINISH MATERIAL AND CAUSE IT TO ALLICATOR.AFTER YOU'VE RINSED THE PEACE OF ALL THE STRIPPER RESIDUE.YOU MAY HAVE TO GIVE THE PEACE A LIGHT SANDING WITH A 220 GRIT SANDPAPER, BECAUSE SOME STRIPPERS WILL RAISE THE GRAIN OF THE NOW BARE WOOD THAT HAS BEEN EXPOSED..WHEN YOU ARE SATISFIED WITH THE SANDING, THEN YOU CAN EITHER STAIN YOUR STRIPPED PEACE WITH EITHER AN OIL OR WATER BASED STAIN( FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE CAN TO ALLOW FOR THE PROPER AMOUNT OF DRYING TIME FOR THE STAIN.YOU MAY NEED A COUPLE OF COATS OF THE STAIN (ALLOW EACH COAT TO DRY BEFORE APPLYING THE NEXT COAT) TO ACHIEVE THE SHADE YOU DESIRE.ALLOW THE STAIN TO DRY FOR 24 TO 48 HOURS BEFORE YOU APLLY YOU FIRST FINISH COAT OF EITHER SHELLAC, VARNISH OR POLY-URETHANE..ALLOW EACH COAT OF FINISH COAT TO DRY WELL, GIVE A LIGHT SANDING IN BETWEEN COATS OF FINISH, DUST IT OFF AND WIPE WITH A "TACKY CLOTHE" (YOU CAN BUT THESE AT HOME AND HARDWARE CENTERS SUCH AS HOME DEPOT) THEN APPLY YOUR NEXT COAT OF FINISH COAT.USUALLY 2 OR 3 COATS OF FINISH WILL BE SUFFICTIENT ENOUGH TO OFFER PLENTY OF PROTECTION TO THE FINISHED PEACE..HAVE FUN, THE RESULTS CAN BE AWSOME.TAKE YOU TIME, ALLOW THE DRYING TIMES..IT'LL BE WORTH IT IN THE END..THERE ARE SOME GEL STAINS THAT ALLOW YOU TO STAIN OVER THE ORIGINAL FINISH WITH BUT THE RESULTS ARE NOT QUITE AS GOOD AS WHEN YOU STRIP IT DOWN AND REFINISH IT AGAIN.
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