Will dipping remove stain from wood

[jgkgolf]

I've got an oak fireplace surround which has been stained. Is it possible to remove the satin by chemical dipping?

[Peter Ashby]

Not really, unless it is the sort of stain that is integral with varnish/poly or the stain has gone on over a sealing coat of say sanding sealer. Most stain is designed to penetrate the wood. Short of sanding it away you may need to bleach the wood with a proprietary wood bleach after stripping it.

What sort of finished effect do you want to achieve and how dark is the original stain?

Peter

[Stuart Noble]

IME peroxide doesn't touch most stains. Try meths or white spirit on a sheet of kitchen roll. If any of the colour comes off you might be in with a chance of at least weakening the shade to a more acceptable level.

[Andy Dingley]

Probably not. Depends on what the "stain" was. It's a heathen practice to stain oak anyway - there are better ways to darken it if that's what was originally wanted. You might try an oxalic acid bleach (NB oxalic acid), which will somewhat lighten the oak itself. The rest depends on what sort of stain had been used.