Expert: Eileen Cronk - 9/28/2009

Question
Hi Eileen - I have a set of six Duncan Phyfe style chairs.  I believe they are mahogany.  At some point in their life, somebody tried to stain over the existing finish, which left a goopy, drippy mess.  Along the top of the back rest, all the chairs are just about bare.  I tried to just sand off the goopy stain and cover the areas that were bare, but it did not work.  The bare wood did not take any stain.  I have sanded one down to the wood to see if it would be better to do this to all of them. I tested a Minwax spray stain in red mahogany.  It looks too red.  The old stain is a very nice deep, dark brown with a bit of red.  The wood didn't take the stain I used well either.  Do know of a better stain to use, a better color to use?  Is there a better technique I should use to restore the other five chairs? Thank you!
Katy

Answer
Hi Kathy
Nice to hear from you.
Kathy I could help you so much better if I had a picture of a chair but just from your description I think someone applied a coat of colored varnish over these chairs.
This stuff is a miserable sticky mess to remove but its possible.
The next thing I think is that these chairs are not mahogany (which takes a stain very well), but actually a wood made to look like mahogany by using a dye stain.
Now unfortunately you have a hige job ahead of you to get these chairs back to looking nice.
Here are the stripping instructions.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR STRIPPING FURNITURE
The first thing you must do is assemble the material to do the job.
The stripper is the most important item.  
I am hoping you can get "CIRCA 1850" brand paint and varnish remover in your area.
Here is a link
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=1694&familyN...

MATERIAL LIST For the stripping stage.
1 gallon stripper
3 boxes of Bull Dog steel wool in medium grade.
One 3 inch oil based paint brush.
Rubber gloves (like you do dishes with), and a pair of cotton gloves inside the rubber ones.
People react differently to stripper. A lot of people feel heat through the rubber gloves, but I feel cold. Have no idea why.
An empty large coffee can. (for the stripper)
A couple of old tooth brushes.
Lots of old rags (I like t-shirts or cotton but for this first stage whatever you have)
Lots of newspaper to protect the garage floor
LOTS OF VENTILATION..A MUST
That's all you need to get started.
HERES WHAT YOU DO...
Work in sections.
Brush on the stripper with the brush. Stripper will quit working if it dries, so keep it wet till the finish softens.
Then take a rag and wipe this mess off.
Then another coat of stripper, rag off again, then while the wood is still wet, take the steel wool and rub with the grain till the wood is nice and clean.
Depending on the material you are removing, another coat of stripper is often needed but you will know this as you progress into the job.
Use the toothbrush in crevices.
Thats all there is to it ...move to another section and continue.
No other prep is necessary...and DO NOT SAND

Kathy if this is in fact dye stain as I think, you are going to see that it cannot be removed from the wood. This is normal but you will have to get some dye stain to do the worn areas you describe.
If at all possible I would get a shop to do the finishing as its not for us do it your selfers to attempt dye staining but if you are determined to try, do some experimenting on wood pieces to get the feel of it. And you will need to source out dye stain as its not available at the hardware.
If the chairs are properly stripped down it should not be hugely expensive to have a shop do this so thats an alternative.
Get back to me if needed.
Regards
Eileen