Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - How to stain cherry wood dark color

Contractor says he can't stain cherry furniture dark? It won't take the stain color. His finished product is dark, but there is no wood grain showing through and it looks like muddy paint (it's not paint). Says it can't be sanded and stained again because the color is soaked through the cherry. I don't understand, because I have other cherry furniture that is dark and beautiful. Can this be refinished or is the cherry ruined? What can I do and how?

Lee:

Sounds like your contractor used a pigmented oil based stain. While this type of stain is not uncommon, it has a downside. Because the pigment lays mostly on the wood it tends to obliterate the figure of the wood itself.

Complicating this is the fact that cherry darkens with age. It is difficult to make new cherry look old, but it can be done.

Here is a solution.

Strip the piece(s) down to bare wood. Use a 2 part bleach followed by a careful, even sanding to remove as much stain as possible. Use an alcohol based dye to restore the color to what you want. The last part is tricky, because dye is very unforgiving - get it right the first time or live with what you've got.

The sites listed below carry wood dyes in an assortment of colors. I'd suggest buying a small quantity of several and experimenting before trying teh furniture itself.

http://www.vandykes.com

http://www.liberon.com

http://constantines.com