Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Advice on Furniture Finishing

I have found a corner entertainment center that is perfect. Problem is I can only purchase it unfinished. Since I'm on a limited budget I was thinking I could purchase the piece and use that one-step minwax and apply it with a cloth.

Is there anything I should know before taking on a project like this. Like would I need to sand the wood some more, what about the color coming out evenly. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

THanks

For a piece of unfinished furniture, I would wipe it with a clean cloth wet with mineral spirits. This will show any stains, fingerprints, scuff marks, or shiny places from handling. For fingerprints which show up as lighter colored than the rest of the wood, I would wipe them with a clean cloth dipped in lacquer thinner to remove the oil. I would lightly sand the entire piece with 120 - 150 grit paper with the grain to ensure that the surface is abraded uniformly prior to staining.

The one step product will reduce the overall time to completion. Follow the instructions on the can. Usually, it will be beneficial to sand with 180 - 240 paper between coats to reduce nibs and imperfections.

Hope this helps.

For a piece of unfinished furniture, I would wipe it with a clean cloth wet with mineral spirits. This will show any stains, fingerprints, scuff marks, or shiny places from handling.

EXCELLENT ADVICE!!!

boy, i wish i'd known this trick 10 years ago! i bought a dining room table & 6 chairs, all unfinished, and stained them myself. but all i did for prep-work was sand everything smooth prior to staining. then, lo and behold, when i was in the middle of staining the table top, a rectangular shape appeared, that i could never get to stain as dark as the rest of it. funny.......it was the shape of a stick-on label! guess there was sticker residue left behind that didn't come off with the sanding job.

so PLEASE take the time to do that first step!!!! i wish i had!

This is wonderful advice, thanks so much. I feel much more confident about doing it myself.

Thanks so much again.

robin

I was thinking I could purchase the piece and use that one-step minwax and apply it with a cloth.


be sure to read the instructions on the can, because i think those one-step products that contain both the stain AND the polyurethane are supposed to be applied with a foam brush or regular brush. using a cloth is what you do with just plain stain. since the one-step stuff has the poly in it, that's like the "finish" step, so you want it to lay on top of the wood, not be rubbed in, so that you end up with a satin or gloss finish. just be sure to read the can.

i just stained a wooden ironing board cabinet and used the PolyShades stuff (i think by Minwax). it's stain & poly in one. the first coat looked awful after it dried, and was VERY rough to the touch. but i lightly sanded and put on a second coat, and it is gorgeous and smooth! that second coat makes all the difference. (so don't freak out like i did!!)

good luck! ;)

EXCELLENT ADVICE!!!

boy, i wish i'd known this trick 10 years ago! i bought a dining room table & 6 chairs, all unfinished, and stained them myself. but all i did for prep-work was sand everything smooth prior to staining. then, lo and behold, when i was in the middle of staining the table top, a rectangular shape appeared, that i could never get to stain as dark as the rest of it. funny.......it was the shape of a stick-on label! guess there was sticker residue left behind that didn't come off with the sanding job.

so PLEASE take the time to do that first step!!!! i wish i had!


Last Aug. I bought a corner unit entertainment center that I could only find at an unifinished furniture store, just like the initial post. On the front molding, I have what I can only guess is the outline of some sticker that was there at some point. It might as well have been a square of sealant! I did sand the whole unit, but not well enough I guess. Everything came out perfectly, but that one square is still as bright as untouched wood. The agony! I don't know if I should sand the mess out of it as controlled as possible and tape it off to stain, or leave it and sign/date it to make it look intentional. LOL.

I agree, feel the wood top to bottom and sand like crazy.

(Open for advice on that too).