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/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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1034708 No.1034708 [Reply] [Original]

So I'm refinishing some old furniture and everywhere I read says to do your first layer of stain, lightly hand sand with finer than 220 and then apply another layer of stain. Then do the same and apply the varnish.

Only when I'm sanding between coats it seems to give the wood a washed out look. Like it makes the stain look all milky. Now i assume when I apply the next stain this will all go away. However what do I do about this on the final layer before applying the varnish. If I lightly sand after my final stain it it gets all washed out and milky I won't want to varnish it looking like that.

Any advice or help on this issue?

>> No.1034710

>>1034708
Thats dust, use a compressor to blow the piece clean or wipe it off real real good

>> No.1034712

>>1034710
I don't have acess to a compressor, I tried wiping it clean with a wet cloth a few times but that didn't seem to work. Is there some trick I'm missing? I'm trying to do some reading right now and I see something about tack cloth but I don;t know what difference that makes.

>> No.1034715

don't sand after staining

>> No.1034718

>>1034715
Then why does everything I see everywhere tell me to do just that?

Also how do I get the wood smooth again after the stain raises the grain of the wood?

>> No.1034719

>>1034718
wet stock, sand with 220 before staining

>> No.1034720

>>1034719
What I did was sand with 220, then I wet the wood let it dry and then stained. After that it was much rougher and less smooth than before staining.

>> No.1034721

>>1034712
Buy a compressor m8 they are litteraly as expensive as 3 packs of cigarettes

I sand my tables up to grain 1000 and i have the same issue with the milky look.
Compressor and damp cloth seem to do the trick

also, wetsanding helps

>> No.1034722

>>1034721
Ok, I'll swing by Home Depot later today and grab a compressor and some tack cloth.

What is wetsanding? I mean it sounds like just sanding wet but is there anything more to it than that?

>> No.1034726

>>1034722
There is not. ;)

Some sandpaper can sand when wet, i find that it gives off less dust everywhere

>> No.1034734

>>1034708
What you read is just plain wrong. Never sand after staining. Stain affects the very top surface and any sanding will remove some of it. The washed out look is because it was sanded unevenly and some places had more removed then others.

If you have no choice but to repair finish your after stain but before topcoat, use SUPER fine abrasives, like 400 grit or even better, steel wool. Go gently with no weight behind it, just enough to remove burrs. Ideally, you should prep the wood well enough to make this unnecessary.

The roughness is cause by raised grain. When wood gets wet, the ends of the grain fibers rise and give you that effect. The solution is to knock down the grain before staining. Sand your surface to the desired finish. With a slightly damp cloth, wipe the wood with just enough moisture to make the grain raise. Then sand it down very lightly, just enough to smooth out the raised fibers and get your smooth finish back. Repeat 3 or 4 times, or until the grain no longer rises when wet. Now your stain will not raise the grain. Note, use 320 or higher, at 220 it doesn't work well.

You can still do the grain raising trick, but you may have to do 2 or 3 coats of stain to get an even color after the sanding off a partial stain coat. Or you'll have to sand until the bad stain coat is completely gone. Either way, It should turn out find in the end.

>> No.1034736

>>1034734
hmmm, interesting, thanks. Gonna save this in a word document for my next project.

>> No.1034737

>>1034708
generally you sand before you stain and or inbetween coats of poly or laquer. might have to sand back down to bare wood if its real bad.

>> No.1034739

>>1034737
Yeah, what he said. It's ok to sand the topcoat with fine (320+) grit, you can get a final finish almost like glass with enough effort and layers, but never do the stain coat.

Also forgot to mention, when raising the grain, make sure it's dry before sanding or it won't work.

>> No.1034746

>>1034734

I've never sanded after staining either.

>> No.1034763

>>1034734
>The roughness is cause by raised grain.

This.

If this happens, you might need to use a sanding sealer before staining.

>> No.1034765

>>1034708
First of all never sand stain, as others have said it causes your stain to wear and make it look milky and blotchy.

Go step by step like this.

1.Prep the wood before staining.
This is where you "raise the grain" by adding water to the surface and wiping it off.
Wait 2 hours depending on temperature and humidity for the water to evaporate.

2.Sand
Use sandpaper a higher number than 220 to sand the raised grain off, creating a smooth staining surface.

3.Stain.
Stain with the grain, making sure not to over saturate. If you are using pine or maple plywood or hardwood make sure and use wood conditioner to replace the water step.

4. Finish

Do not sand the stain, if you have a water based sealer it will raise the grain again, don't worry, apply the top coat evenly and allow to dry.

5.Sand between coats
Once the first top coat is on, use 1000 grit sandpaper and sand lightly. This will make the top layer look milky, but that is dust, wipe away with a tack cloth.

6. Put on your next layers and test the feel of the wood. If the grain gets slightly raised, sand and repeat with the tack cloth and a new layer.
Complete the process depending on how waterproof you need the surface to be.

Rules to follow when making or restoring furniture.

>Do not sand the stain
>Make sure to use high grit sandpaper and a low setting on your sander.
>Let water dry COMPLETELY before applying stain (this will make dark spots)

Hope this helped, I make furniture for a living and finding this out took some finesse with the process.

>> No.1034877

>>1034712
Tack cloth is like an adhesive rag. It's far better at cleaning up sawdust than a regular wet rag.

>> No.1035216

>>1034765
What type of finnish would you recomend for garden furniture?

>> No.1035563

>>1035216
Oil-based gloss paint. Lasts forever.

If you want the bare wood look, go with spar varnish / marine varnish.

>> No.1035597

>>1034765
Different anon, thanks for this post

>> No.1035887

>>1034708

Tack cloth nigga. Wipe up that dust