Hello, acetone spilt on my table and I need to sand and re-stain the top.. I tried to get a photo that shows my table with the tones it shows in real life. I was going to go to Home Depot and pick out one of their brand of stains. Online this table color was labeled “walnut” but it doesn’t look like any walnut stains I’ve searched. I really love the color and would want a match as close to it as possible. A close match I think I found is varathane weathered oak, or the hazel wood color. To me, the color of my table is not super warm and not super cool. If anyone is more of an expert on stain matching that can help me or reassure me, that would be great! I really want to get this match as close as I can because of how much I really loved this color 🙁
update – I added a photo of the mark (the lighting is very bad so it looks grey-ish but it’s not) I am considering just sanding and staining the spots that got removed instead of staining the whole table.
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You are experiencing the difference between "marketing" terms and woodworking terms and even those get twisted when it comes to stain color names.
Nothing I see in your photo is remotely like anything I would call walnut. The American Black Walnut I am familiar with has a deep brown heartwood with some red undertones. The sapwood is a creamy white tone and is usually only present in small amounts and streaks. There are other species of walnut around the globe whose tone may differ slightly, but none that I know of looks remotely like your table, but I could be wrong.
If I had to identify your wood I would say it is more cherry like based on the common North American woods I work with, but identifying a wood from a picture is always a iffy proposition.
All that said, I would disregard everything the marketing department concocted to describe that table and deal with what is in front of you. To me, based on one picture only, your table is a natural wood with a clear finish only. Maybe a picture of the damaged area would be appropriate to make a better determination.
The site where the table was purchased said the color was walnut, I’m not sure what type of wood it’s made of because it never said.. I added a photo of one of the spots where acetone spilt. It removed the color & top coat and now is showing the bare wood color. (The photo is showing more grey tones but it’s pretty true to the first photo in color) I was considering maybe sanding the spots and staining only the spots that lost the stain but I’m not sure. Any thoughts on what I should do?
Wow those 2 photos appear nothing alike and proves my point on how it it is to identify wood by photos. The second shot actually has some walnut characteristics to it, but you say the first photo is more realistic???
I would carefully remove the damaged finish to get a better look at the wood underneath. Always start with the least drastic approach first. You could try wiping it with mineral spirits, but it will probably require sanding, start with 600 and move to 400 only if you have to and sand only the damaged area. If you post another Pic after the damage is removed it would be easier to advise you how to proceed. As mentioned elsewhere experimenting in inconspicuous areas is always best but would require you to sand the finish in a similar manner.
Prep a large patch of the underside of the table the same way you've stripped the top and test your colors and topcoats there before comitting to doing the show face.
Looks like pine to me in the closeup image.
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I agree that the bare wood looks like it could be cherry. However, that really doesn't matter as you are trying to match a color you like. At best, doing so involves a lot of trial and error.
I have found that the easiest way to do this is to start with some scrap wood that matches what you have and create test swatches using liquid dye like Transtint. Because you will likely have to mix several colors to get a match, this process may get expensive. A 2 oz bottle of one color, I think, is over $20, but a little goes a long long way. If this is a one time task, you may not want to invest that much money. However, you can get kits of powdered colors that include several colors for less. Either way, you will need to know how to mix colors to get what you want.
The only other way I know is to just go with one of the standard off the shelf stains that is close to what you like and live with the results.
I would be very surprised if you can successfully touch up just the damaged spots. However, it might be worth trying. If you don't succeed, you can always strip the whole thing and re-do it.
Good luck.
The first picture looks like natural cherry. But if you've had the table for a while it would have gotten much darker. Cherry darkens with age.
The second closeup, with the light color, makes me think pine, unstained.
I'm not sure about pine, the open pores do somewhat resemble walnut but if the first Pic certainly isn't any walnut I've ever worked with. With so much furniture being imported it could be built out of a wood not widely available in NA so it's anybody's guess based on those 2 photos.
The other wood it could be is Alder - similar grain patterns and here in CA is easily sourced and often stained either cherry or walnut...
I would definitely remove the top, sand/strip the whole thing - top, bottom, and edges so you can test colors on the bottom.
Then consider going to Sherwin Williams - our local one is quite good at modifying their stains to match a color for no cost - saves a LOT of money/trouble buying a bunch of different dyes/stains and have nothing right!
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