Need to have stain come out lighter

I sanded my knotty pine, purchased a very small container of a color called Natural Minwax number 209. I wanted it a light as possible. I don't know if this was a problem but I stained a day after sanding. The color was great, nice and light. OK, now the sanded wood has been sitting open to the air for about two weeks now and when I put on the same color, it came up a lot darker that the original. I used an old sock to apply the stain. If I sand lightly before I apply will I get a lighter finish? Thank you in advance.

Reply to
wizof103
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Anytime you restain it will go darker, Put some paint thinner on it that will be the color with a finish on it. Oil products will darken it and continue to darken, pine itself will darken alot over time, if you want it as light as possible use an acrylic finish and dont restain it , it will darken over time. If you want it as light as possible why are you restaining it.

Reply to
ransley

To get it lighter try paint remover

Reply to
ransley

Why stain again? You already did it once, adding another coat naturally darkens again. AFATG, why stain at all if you want the wood as light as possible?

Reply to
dadiOH

I think the OP only stained a sample spot then sanded the unstained project in preparation for a final staining this week.

Sanding may opene up the wood pores and allow more stain to soak in. The dryer wood (assuming it was wet originally) will certainly absorb more stain.

Secondly, knotty pine is a very variable and soft wood. The stain will take up differently on different portions of the wood. Staining often increases the contrast between the wood and knots. Its hard to get an even tone with this kind of wood.

To correct for this, you should use a pre stain wood conditioner which is basically an untinted stain which evens out the absorption of the tint coat. Minwax has a product for this, see their website, it is quite full of advice and has a forum where you can get better qualified answers than here.

In general if you want to lighten the tint of a stain you have only a few choices.

  1. Put less on, wipe off quickly
  2. Mix with mineral spirits (or appropriate thinner per directions)
  3. Blend with another stain
  4. Precondition the wood to prevent over penetration of tint.

Why stain if you want it light. Often it is to even out the overall color of the wood. Some stains (actually bleach) can lighten a species natural color. It also stabilizes the color and offers protection from drying out.

Reply to
pipedown

Yes, thanks, I see now what he did...sanded, stained an area,then stained another area mtwo weeks later.

In addition to the possible causes which you listed for the newly stained area being darker than the old one is the fact that the raw wood itself darkens with exposure to light....stain it and it will be darker than an area stained shortly after sanding.

Reply to
dadiOH

Don't use any stain and coat it with water based polyurethane as it does not darken as much as oil.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

A nice blond shellac would be a good choice as well. I too am confused as to why the OP used stain when he wanted the finish to be "as light as possible".

Reply to
Bill

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