Expert: Eileen Cronk - 5/26/2008

Question
HI, My M'inlaw gave me her old dining set; it is not antique but has great lines. 2 pedestal type legs 6 sleigh back seats. It is finished in a red(?) cherry type finish and highly "polished"; very traditional. My "style" is a kind of modern and I'm thinking of 2 things. A) stripping off the "polish" and staining it more of a walnut color; sealing it with "wax"?? B) taking off the shiny top coat and painting it white! I would rather the natural wood as I think my M'inlaw would appreciate that re-finishing project more:)NOTE: I do not like the shiny top coat aspect at all. Any ideas?? Please advise...

Answer
Hi Kate
Nice to hear from you.
I'm hearing you on this LOL.
Personally I would refinish the entire set but this "red cherry type finish" I fear is dye stain.
This type of stain is applied so all pieces of the wood have the same color tone and its also applied to wood that does not stain any other way.
Its a terrible job to remove.
Kate we have a bad storm coming up here and I must shut down but I promise I will post a follow up to you and tell you how to test to see if you do in fact have a dye stain.
Be back tomorrow evening.
Kind Regards
Eileen
I'm back Kate..storms over.
To test for dye stain, get a small can of paint stripper.
Pick an area that does not show too much and apply the stripper there.
Let stand the required time and then take a rag and wipe off.
Apply another bit of stripper and wipe off again.
At this point you will see your rag has gone pink and if you run your fingers over the spot they will turn pink too.
This is a dye stain if this happens.
So give it a try and post back.
Regards
Eileen