Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Teach Me How to Stain!

At the failed garage sale, I actually came home with something totally amazing...FOR FREE! That's the kind of deal that works for me!

My friend Jennifer happened to have an antique telephone table stashed away that was slightly cracked, had been painted and then stripped, and was essentially worse for wear. BUT, it is an antique, and I knew I could do something with it, so home it came!

HOWEVER, it's been sitting in my house ever since and I haven't gotten around to it. Now, I'm a self-professed DIY Diva, but I have a confession: I've never stained anything before. That's where you all come in. Please please please share your tips and tricks for a good stain job, mkay? Thanks ever so much, my dahlings!


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am no expert, but my Dad taught me some things about refinishing this summer. Strip it first with a sanding tool and/or sand paper. Then go back and smooth out with an extremely find sander or sanding paper. Then find a terry cloth and dab it in the stain and apply evenly. The terry cloth works better than a brush at times because it seeps into all the wood pores. Apply in either round strokes or evenly against the grain. Let it dry (in Houston it took 3 days to completely dry b/c of the humidity). Then apply a top sheer coat for protection and sheen. I redid a old wooden drawer stand with this method and it looks amazing now. Of course, I had my Dad guiding me, but the process seemed fairly easy and quite fun at the same time. Good luck.

P.S. I am sure there are some professional DIY Divas that have much better advice ;)!

Robyn said...

We are in the process of staining doors and trim for a house so after sanding it all we coated the wood with stain and then immediately wiped it off with a rag. Then applied a couple coats of laquer. I can email a couple pictures if you want to see how it turned out. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

always stain WITH the grain, not against. If you go against and it dries too fast you will create a cross-hatch effect ruining the grain. WITH WITH WITH. I've been staining various woods for over 10 years now, I've tried both. Against bad, WITH good.

Gwen said...

I just spread it on with one of those foamie brushes and then wipe it off with a paper towel. It is easier than painting!

Wear plastic gloves though, it is hard to get off of your hands.

Lisa Nelsen-Woods said...

I stained some baseboard molding. I was told to make sure that I put the stain on in one direction.

Sallie said...

I highly suggest using a gel stain!! It is less messy and covers great..

Other than that, though, I'm no help for technique :-)

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

I'm staining a sideboard right now - My first staining job. I was hoping for more tips, I'm nervous.

Norma Lee @ Norma Lee Good said...

I just stained my first chairs this week. I don't have patience for it because you have to wait for it to dry. I'm trying to be good. I finally brought the chairs into the house to dry. Also- I'm very messy so I learned that baby oil will clean hands, nails etc. Good luck!