Good evening.
I want to refinish two solid pine furniture pieces (painted) by staining them. Ideally, I would like to do it myself.
As mentioned, the furniture is painted. The desired color after staining is honey brown–rosewood, because the old pine furniture should match my new rosewood furniture.
So, here are my questions for the professionals:
1. I assume I need to remove the paint first? What is the best way to do that? I was thinking about using a random orbital sander. For hard-to-reach areas, I guess hand sanding is necessary. What grit should I use? Or is there a better method or tool to remove the paint?
2. Which stain would you recommend to achieve the desired color effect? Which stain is suitable – brands, links, etc.?
Or is there any alternative to staining to get the rosewood tone?
3. What is the exact procedure for staining? Is it difficult for a beginner, or is it doable?
Are there any tips or tricks I should know?
Best regards in advance
Macker
I want to refinish two solid pine furniture pieces (painted) by staining them. Ideally, I would like to do it myself.
As mentioned, the furniture is painted. The desired color after staining is honey brown–rosewood, because the old pine furniture should match my new rosewood furniture.
So, here are my questions for the professionals:
1. I assume I need to remove the paint first? What is the best way to do that? I was thinking about using a random orbital sander. For hard-to-reach areas, I guess hand sanding is necessary. What grit should I use? Or is there a better method or tool to remove the paint?
2. Which stain would you recommend to achieve the desired color effect? Which stain is suitable – brands, links, etc.?
Or is there any alternative to staining to get the rosewood tone?
3. What is the exact procedure for staining? Is it difficult for a beginner, or is it doable?
Are there any tips or tricks I should know?
Best regards in advance
Macker
Hello Macker,
I have worked on pine furniture from time to time. However, it is a tricky subject!
1. That’s right, the varnish must be removed; otherwise, staining won’t work! First, try it out on a spot that is not very visible: If you use sandpaper, you will likely have the problem that, depending on the type of varnish applied, the paper clogs very quickly and becomes unusable. This would mean you need a lot of sanding material, which in turn would be costly.
Alternative suggestion: Strip the furniture with a chemical wood stripper. There are plenty of good products available, which you can buy almost anywhere, preferably at a specialist store. Afterward, you will need to sand the surfaces again to make them smooth and fine.
Regarding staining: Personally, I prefer alcohol-based stains, as they penetrate deeply and dry quickly (powdered pigment dissolved in alcohol). There is a wide range of color tones available from Clou, but you should also be able to get these from other manufacturers. The challenge here is applying the stain evenly; to achieve this, you need to work wet-on-wet!
Alternatively, there are water-based stains available in various colors—also from Clou and other brands.
Most important rule: Always test the stain on a scrap piece of wood first! Then carefully evaluate the result to see if you are happy with it.
After staining, you must still treat the surface, because these stains are not abrasion-resistant and will react to moisture or even just skin sweat!
You can oil, wax, or of course varnish the surface.
Good luck and have fun!
I have worked on pine furniture from time to time. However, it is a tricky subject!
1. That’s right, the varnish must be removed; otherwise, staining won’t work! First, try it out on a spot that is not very visible: If you use sandpaper, you will likely have the problem that, depending on the type of varnish applied, the paper clogs very quickly and becomes unusable. This would mean you need a lot of sanding material, which in turn would be costly.
Alternative suggestion: Strip the furniture with a chemical wood stripper. There are plenty of good products available, which you can buy almost anywhere, preferably at a specialist store. Afterward, you will need to sand the surfaces again to make them smooth and fine.
Regarding staining: Personally, I prefer alcohol-based stains, as they penetrate deeply and dry quickly (powdered pigment dissolved in alcohol). There is a wide range of color tones available from Clou, but you should also be able to get these from other manufacturers. The challenge here is applying the stain evenly; to achieve this, you need to work wet-on-wet!
Alternatively, there are water-based stains available in various colors—also from Clou and other brands.
Most important rule: Always test the stain on a scrap piece of wood first! Then carefully evaluate the result to see if you are happy with it.
After staining, you must still treat the surface, because these stains are not abrasion-resistant and will react to moisture or even just skin sweat!
You can oil, wax, or of course varnish the surface.
Good luck and have fun!
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