correcting the stain blotches on a maple bookcase
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| Posted in Finishing on
I’ve built a maple bookcase, which I wanted to stain a light brown (tan?)and I knew that the maple blotches from the testing I had done on cutoffs. So I first brushed on a coat of Zinsser Sealcoat wax-free shellac which I had thinned with alcohol per container directions for a pre-stain sealer. I then applied Minwax’s Wood Finish “Early American” which gave me a good color when I wiped off the excess. Except there are , here and there, these blue-black areas that are ugly and spoil the look. Is there a way to remove these spots(blotches?) without messing up the rest of the finish or the case? And why did this happen, anyway?
Can anyone out there help me?
Dan
Replies
I've never found thinned shellac to be reliably consistent, not compared to a pre-stain conditioner. With species like maple, I have the best results when applying two coats of conditioner and staining immediately after the second. Bluish-gray streaks can be common in maple, naturally. You have to get the white maple if you don't want them. A stain won't hide them. Was this the case with your lumber?
Well I thought I was using white maple. That's how it was labeled at the lumberyard. Anyway, I've missed that boat regarding the use of a pre-stain conditioner. Now the question is how can I deal with the blotched(botched) case? Any hope of reversing the process, or evening out the areas with something else?
You can strip off the stain using chemical strippers. That won't get everything but it will do a lot. Make sure you rinse off the residual from the stripper. Lacquer thinner typically does a good job. What is likely to be left is the oil soluble dye in the minwax. You can lighten that with ordinary household bleach. A little sanding and you will be back to a surface you can work on. Before doing all this work, you can test the process on scrap, though you may first need to replicate the problem finish.
The basic technique for dealing with blolch prone woods is to start with a pure dye colorant. I like powdered water soluble dye. This comes in a great range of colors and can be mixed to be a very light shade or quite dark. Dye colors at the molecular level so it is much less dependant on the gross features of the wood. While it may not completely eliminate blotching it, just used by itself, will reduce it greatly. If the dye is in the same basic color as the stain you used before any faint color left on the wood will pretty much disappear, as long as you succeeded in stripping off all the binder and stripper residue..
Use the dye to establish the basic color, seal it with either a fuller coat of shellac, or a somewhat thinned first coat of your intended topcoat. Then you can add some depth by applying a pigment only stain such as a gel stain, being sure to wipe off any excess quite thoroughly. This won't change the color much just make a modest change that when you finish the top costs will be apparent as a deeper more interesting finish.
blotched maple bookcase
Thank you very much for your recommendations Steve, I'll give them a try this weekend-Dan
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