Expert: Eileen Cronk - 8/27/2007

Question
we were given 5 year old dining room chairs.  The stain is wearing in many places and we would like to refinish them.  Do we need to strip off all the color first or can we just apply a coat of stain on top of the existing color?

Answer
Hi Randi
Nice to hear from you.
This is a great question.
And comes at a time I just finished a rocking chair in my shop with the same problem.
I did not want to go to the job of a complete refinish.
Like your chairs, the stain on my rocker had worn away.
So if the stain is worn away, it means the finish is gone in that area. This is not good as it can allow moisture to penetrate the wood and ruin it.
So I first cleaned the chair well. I used mineral spirits with a medium grade steel wool pad as a scrubber.
Really gave the chair a good scrub.
This will clean and deglaze the surface well.
As the spirits dry, you may see a whitish residue. Thats ok.
Simply rub it off with a clean rag.
Next a coat of matching Minwax stain. My chair was dark so I used Minwax special walnut color.
This takes up to 2 days to dry.
Then a couple coats of Circa 1850 low sheen tung oil applied with a rag.
Thats it.
Chairs look great.
Only one caution. I have found this treatment will not work on maple chairs that have had colored laquer applied, but the treatment will certainly not hurt the maple chairs.
Good Luck
Regards
Eileen