White colored oak

[Sam Hopkins]

Hi Everyone,

I have a friend who is trying to purchase a dresser to match an oak baby crib that she was given. The oak is very light and stained white. So it sorta looks like it was painted white but you can see the wood grain. After going to many furniture stores one salesman said that it was quite a popular color 6 years ago but no-one makes it anymore. Does anyone know what color it is and how to duplicate it? Is it just oak with white stain? She would like to purchase a maple dresser and stain it. She bought some white minwax stain and tried it on birch because the store didnt have any maple (close enough to the same pore size I guess). The birch didnt take any stain at all. It was sanded at 180 grit. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Sam

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I don't know that maple will resemble the oak when stained either. Sikkens also has a white stain, but not seeing the original, I have no idea if it is even close in shade or density. If stains don't do it, investigate dyes.

Is the piece she is buying from an unfinished furniture store? They may be able to help also as some of the people in them are very familiar with finishing and coloring. Ed

[fsteddie]

[Swingman]

Look around for a "pickled oak" stain ... might be what you're looking for.

[Lewis Hartswick]

WELLL! About 50 some years ago I was inthe TV repair business and there were TV cabinets that looked just as you described. It was called " Limed Oak" in those days. Gawd that was a loooong time ago. :-) ...lew...

[MSgeek]

[Dennis Slabaugh, Hobbyist Wood]

I have done several pieces in "white wash" over oak, the last being a china and hutch to match my Mother's mid 1990's TV cabinet. I use Min Wax water based poly tinted with artist paint usually picking an egg shell shade. ( Kraft paint, water based such as " Delta Colors") You can use any variation of "white". Mix it a small amount at a time and test the level of color you are getting on scrap. Usually 3 coats works well adding the color without hiding the wood underneath. While the shot of this last piece on my webpage is a little hard to see, you can get the idea of the finished look. You can also see this finish on Birch in the pictures of the wall bed system.

[MrAoD]

Sam Hopkins asks:

Hi Everyone,

Pickled oak, as many others have said.

Minwax makes a pickled oak stain, as your friend discovered.

Nope. Especially if the piece she's trying to match was quartersawn.

May have been sealed birch. Even sanding won't open sealed wood sufficiently.

Maple's grain won't match oak unless the oak you're trying to match is previously sealed. IME.

best,

marc

[Sam Hopkins]

MAN THATS IT! THANKS!

[David Chamberlain]

I had to do an entertainment center to match an existing bedroom suite. I finally mixed white shellac-based BIN sealer with clear shellac. I put on a brush coat of the mixture (after spending hours messing with the ratio between the two products). Once, the shellac dried, I used spray lacquer to finish the unit.