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You are here: Experts > Hobbies > Woodworking > Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks > making stain darker
Expert: Eileen Cronk - 10/24/2009
Question
Hi,
I have six dining room chairs from Crate and Barrel. I really like the chairs, but the stain is just too light for my dining room table. (The chairs are medium brown, and the table is dark, walnut type.) I was planning on stripping, sanding, and re-staining, but I came across your earlier suggestion of the Behlen Jet Spray Lacquers and am interested in pursuing those (it sounds a lot easier). Do you have any tips?
Thank you,
Bethany
Answer
Hi Bethany
Nice to hear from you.
Nice to know our comments are read.
I don't recall what that post was about but I'll tell you what I can.
Your original idea is the ideal solution in theory. In order to stain wood all the finish must be removed down to bare wood.
It sounds like you know the process.
But...Did you know that the kind of wood being stained determines what your new stain will look like?
A lot of folks think you can apply say a dark walnut Minwax oil stain to maple wood and turn the maple a nice dark color. Or take a piece of walnut wood and stain it a light color.
Its impossible for us to achieve this in the home.
Professional furniture finishers can however do this with colored lacquers.
Its a very involved process and takes years of experience.
This Behlen Jet Spray lacquer is a "type" of this stuff.
Yes I use it on occasion for touch ups or in cases where I want to disguise an underlying ugly wood grain or severe blemish but I have never attempted a full set of chairs over the existing finish. But neither do I want to discourage you.
Bethany most of my questions come from women like yourself who want to make their homes look nice. We are a determined lot to start with or we wouldn't be asking questions in these forums.
So heres what I suggest.
Get a can of the spray and do some testing.
Start by using it on something other than your nice chairs.
Get a feel of how it works (follow all safety precautions).
Get a feel of how it looks, how many applications are needed to get the correct depth etc.
Use up the whole can testing. Only then can you determine if you want it on your chairs and are able to spray it properly. I think you will find that its best left for touch ups and single small items but I want you to judge.
Then will you get back to me?
Kind Regards
Eileen
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