Minwax Stain Problem

[Aaron Bilkoski]

I recently stained an oak sleigh bed with a dark coloured Minwax stain. The stain didn't go as dark as I would have liked. I noticed the stain isn't like the water based products that I've used in the past. Instead of soaking deep into the wood and drying with a flat finish the Minwax product seems to leave a shiny coat on the surface of the wood.
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I want to restain it with a darker stain and I would prefer not to use a Minwax product again, instead I would like to use a water based stain from General Finishes that I've used in the past.
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Will I have to strip the Minwax finish from the bed in order to do this? What should I use to do that?

Thanks,
Aaron<o =""></o>

[Todd Burch]

You can use mineral spirits to get most of it off. Good luck getting down deep in the pores of the oak - that is, unless you filled the pores first.... However, the darker stain should hide any residue.

Repeat after me: "Minwax sucks"

Also, wait a day or two or three before putting the water based stain on - give the over-oiled minwax some time to dry up.

[Aaron Bilkoski]

Thanks Todd.

I'll give that a shot tonight.

Thanks Again,
Aaron

[Howard Acheson]

Let me make a couple of points.

First, there is nothing wrong with Minwax stains. They and other oil based pigment stains are not much different in manufacture or performance. As Steve has said in your other posting, testing of samples should always be done and are particularly important when using stains.

That said, oil based stain contain a resin or varnish binder to hold the pigment onto the wood surface. Once this binder dries, it is the same as if you had applied a thin coat of varnish. In other words, the wood pores are sealed and additional applications of stain will only slightly change the color if at all. Because the re-applied stain is not penetrating, when you wipe off the excess you are wiping off all the new coloring.

Oak is a strange wood to stain using waterbased dyes--if that is your plan. The surface tension of water prevents the coloring dye from soaking into the bottom of the pores. Some like this look but others don't. The way many finshers deal will oak is to use an oil based stain or to first use the waterbased dye then follow up with an oil based pigment stain to color the deep pores.

What you might try, is to lightly sand the surface which will remove the resin binder--and some color. Now, you can try your waterbase stain and it may have a chance of penetrating. The gotcha's are that in sanding you may cause uneven coloring of the existing stain and get uneven penetration of the new stain. If that's the case, then you will have to use a paint remover to remove the Minwax. However, Minwax stains contain both a pigment and a dye. The paint remover will remove the pigment but doesn't work well on dyes and you may end up with some color remaining. To remove this residual coloring, you will have to bleach with a chlorine bleach. A new bottle of Clorox will work by a swimming pool chlorine will work faster and more completely.

I agree with Steve that making up a sample board with the finish as you now have it is the best way to test out various options.