Expert: Eileen Cronk - 1/22/2008

Question
Hi, I am refinishing my original kitchen cabinets and doors. I see a couple problems in the way of having a great looking product. 1. I get a "shadow" from the old hard ware. Do I have to keep sanding down until it is gone or will stain blend it? 2. My choice in wood filler doesn't seem to hide or blend the imperfections. Could you recomend
a product?
I did a test on a door and I can still see the shadow and wood filler even though all is smooth to the touch not just the eye. 3. A thought I had was after sanding, to even out the old stain color and remove the hardware shadow was to apply a bleach to lighten up the imperfections so they would blend easily with the new stain.
I don't want to go to dark to mask the flaws. Thanks

Answer
Hi Joey
Nice to hear from you.
Its my experience that staining rarely hides these "shadows" you refer to.
The type of stain you are using will make a difference too.
I can pretty much assure you that Minwax stain will not conceal this.
Joey as you are finding, its darn difficult to get a satisfactory result hiding these imperfections with wood filler.
On old furniture, I never use wood filler to hide these areas as they add character.
I fully understand that you don't want your cabinets to have charecter LOL.
If I am forced to use filler, I always buy the color that I want the final color of the wood to be ie. If the wood will be light when finished I use a light filler and if the wood will be dark when finished I use a dark filler.
Never ever have I had any luck with those fillers that are light colored but state "can be stained"..they don't work.
Wood filler comes in many shades from light to dark.
Elmers makes good products.
If you apply a wood bleach, the entire surface will have to be done. Thats just the way wood bleach is. Its entirely different than household bleach.If you only apply it to the shadow area, you will have a bigger problem.
You could try a test of some household bleach.
You will not have to do the entire door surface. Just rub a bit on the shadow and see the result.
I am usually sucessful hiding areas like this (when needed) using a spray can of colored lacquer.
This is available in many shades including light.
The color is suspended in the lacquer and it must be used with a light hand or ir will look like paint.
Hope this helps
Good Luck
Regards
Eileen