I just bought a kitchen table, four chairs, and a bench, all unfinished. I have never stained unfinished wood before. The type of wood is parawood. I’ve been told it is a “hard” wood and does not need any conditioning or pretreating before the stain is applied. Any tips or suggestions? TIA!
BRAIN
Comments
make sure its dry and clean first,,the danish teak oil is very nice,,all you need is a clean rag to pour out of the can onto and then rub it into the wood
It depends on if you are trying to get different amounts of stain on there.
the most common method is using a clean rag and rubbing it in.
Some stains can be brushed on with a paint brush.
Some even use a sponge.
I prefer the clean cloth though, it is harder to do but the outcome is better. It works into the wood better in my opinion.
I agree - make sure it is dry and clean - then buy a stain that already has a varnish in it - use sponges to apply not brushes - allow about 5 hours to dry for each coat.
Sand it first. Those unfinished furniture places don’t do a good job sanding. Wipe it down with a ‘tack cloth’.
When you apply the stain, it doesn’t matter how you put it on. The wood will only soak up as much as it will soak up. Wipe off excess before it dries. The longer the stain stays pooled in cracks and corners, the more will be absorbed in those places.
Lightly sand after stain has dried (24 hrs) with the highest grit paper you can get. (at least 220). Wipe with tack cloth.
Apply polyurethane. When it dries, rub it down with steel wool. The finer the grade, the better. Apply more poly.
The reason that you have to sand and use steel wool is that staining will raise the grain and make it rough. The poly will leave air bubbles and trap dust. The steel wool will smooth these out.
after sanding and removing all dust wipe the wood with a wet cloth. this not only gets the rest of the dust, but allows the grain of the wood to “POP”, let dry a few minutes and apply stain. go over the piece w / steel wool and tack cloth before applying poly
