Expert: Eileen Cronk - 12/21/2006

Question
So what do you do if you have an ugly/uneven grain. Paint??
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

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I see. I am applying the stain pretty thickly as I want to cover the grain. ie not wiping off by design. Is there anything I could do to not have this happen (ie wipe on the shellac perhaps?)
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

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I am stripping, staining and finishing the fir trim in my 1914 house. I have just added put on the first coat of shellac over a gel stain. In a couple of places the shellac seemed to eat into the color - fading it out and sort of bubbling/melting it. Did not happen everywhere - just in a couple of spots. I thought it might be that I had dipped the brush in the alcohol and left too much on. But the next day I had the same thing happen in the middle of the application and I had not dipped the brush into the alcohol. Any theories on why this is occuring?
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Hi Lavina
Nice to hear from you.
I have had this happen when too much stain has been applied and not properly wiped back.
And especially as in your case when you used a brush to apply a topcoat.
This can happen with poly too, but never happens with a wipe on finish such as tung oil or wipe on poly.
Hope this helps
Regards
Eileen
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Hi again Lovina
About the only way to "set" the stain would be with a spray poly.
If you wipe anything over a stain applied thickly, it will simply wipe the stain off.
I have tried to accomplish what your trying in the past, due to an ugly grain pattern, but it just does not work.
Regards
Eileen

Answer
Lovina the only solution is a colored spray laquer.
Its like a stain and top coat all in one.
They also make a colored varnish I have used in the past but I prefer the colored laquer as you can cover as much or as little as you like.
The laquer can only be used with extremely good ventilation and should not be used indoors.
Eileen