Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Blotchy Stain

I recently bought an unfinished Entertainment Center. I just started finishing the shelves (not stupid enough to start with the important stuff). I've been using a foam brush which was recommended by the store.

I sanded using 150 grit, as recommended, but the stain is very blotchy. Thestain is a Varathane oil base. I'm waiting 15 minutes before removing the excess and I'm appplying a fairly thick even coat to try to correct the problem.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Welcome to the diy forums!

I don't use foam brushes and couldn't imagine applying stain with one but........
I usually wipe off the excess stain shortly after application, hardly ever wait more than 5 mininutes.

What type of wood are you staining? what color stain?

The peice is Ader wood. The manufacturer recommends waiting the fifteen minutes and on my test spots, it did seem to stain darker the longer I wait. The color I'm using is called Early American (a dark walnut).

Also, the brush was recommended by the store. Should I use something else? A wipe on?

I'm not sure if I've ever stained any ader. I've used a lot of minwax's early american and their dark walnut and will assume that the varathane stain is in the neighborhood of the same colors.

Personally I prefer to apply stain with a natural bristle brush and wipe off the excess with a rag. Usually if the stain isn't dark enough after wiping off within 5 minutes I switch to a darker stain. A foam brush may be ok for you - they're just not for me [an old school painter]

Sometimes sanding the wet stain will help it to obsorb in the hard areas. Soft wood obsorbs stain more readily than hard spots in the wood. ALWAYS SAND WITH THE DIRECTION OF THE GRAIN, cross sanding will result in unsigthtly scratches :eek:

Can you post pics showing the problem areas?

I suppose you have Red Alder, a wood that is fairly white when fresh, but darkens to a light yellowish or reddish tan when left exposed to the elements. Like many other species of wood, Alder has stark contrasts between new growth and old growth wood... blotchiness can be reduced by using a "wood conditioner" prior to staining.

Wood conditioner pre-treats the wood so that less stain is absorbed into the softest parts of the wood. The result is a more even, consistant color. the drawback is that oil based stains will not get as dark as they might, if no conditioner was used. Experimenting on the bottom side of your shelves would be a really good idea.

Wood conditioner is an excellent idea. Put it on, and then apply stain, usually within 15 minutes of wood conditioner. The idea is that the conditioner basically "fills" the extra absorbant areas (ie areas that would have gotten much darker than surronding wood), and making for a more evan apperance.

If you are still not satisfied with the depth of stain, you can "cheat" a bit, and add a couple of ounces of stain to your Poly, or Varnish. This will give the appearance of a darker stain, without actually staining.

You shouldn't use more than 1 coat of tinted varnish (or Poly), as after that it starts to actually cloud the finish, and give it more of a painted look.

Good luck!

You need to apply a sanding sealer first. Actually I think Home Depot has it as no bloch. On soft woods such as pine. The stain will bloch on you.

DO NOT use sanding sealer if the can does not include specific directions on how to use it as a conditioner! Most types of sanding sealer are used after the wood has already been stained, but before the finish is applied. Sanding sealer can sometimes act like a wood conditioner if it is thinned down and allowed to dry, but I would not recommend it for someone who has not tried it, since sanding sealer could very easily make the wood impervious to accepting any color at all.

Sanding sealer also comes with the added bonus of making a poly topcoat lose adhesion, and peel! Whooohooo

Sanding sealer is ONLY to be used under VARNISH. I would NOT recommend it as a "conditioner" as once its on, thats it. A conditioner can flash off, and then you are back to square one if you are not satisfied with resulst on a test piece.

Sanding sealer will work under some polyurathanes but not all of them. The label will usually indicate if you can apply poly over sanding sealer. IF IN DOUBT DON'T USE sanding sealer under poly!!

I have thinned down sanding sealer many times to use as a wash coat but wouldn't recomend a novice to do so. Wood conditioner is a lot more diy friendly!

Most commonly on wood furnishings to control blotching, a thin coat of dewaxed shellac is applied. The consistency of shellac out of the can is too thick. It needs to be mixed 5 to 1 (1 BEING SHELLAC) with denatured alcohol.
This solution can be brushed, wiped or sprayed on the wood. Allow this to dry for about 1/2 hour and proceed with staining.

The blotch that you see in the wood is due to the turning of the grain of the wood. Wood grain not only runs left to right but also up and down. The areas that run with the end of the grain to the surface will soak up the stain just like putting it on the end grain of a board you cut.

Good Luck!

Harold

p.s. By the way, Alder wood is commonly used to made "cherry" furniture because of it's grain that looks identical to cherry and the ability of the wood to readily accept a stain!!