I was beside myself with excitement when I found this beautiful, solid wood dresser for $25 at a thrift store. But it's turned in to a never-ending nightmare, and the money I've had to pour into it has made it much less of a bargain.
Attempt #1: I stripped the finish off with varnish stripper, then there were a couple of spots on the drawers that still had some varnish left, so I spot-treated those with stripper, scraped, then sanded the drawers down. Applied the stain & it looked great... except in the places where I'd spot-treated with stripper - those spots soaked up more stain, leaving me with a blotchy mess.
I found an old thread on this forum that let me know I needed to sand down to bare wood, then use a wood conditioner before staining again. This meant purchasing a sander, but the dresser was a bargain, so I justified it pretty easily.
Attempt #2: I applied the wood conditioner, followed directions found on the can & on this site, then applied the same stain I had before. But this time it was MUCH darker & redder, so I quickly ran to the store and picked up more stain. Ended up mixing two together as everything seemed too light or too dark. Finally, I coated them down, but it was like I never put wood conditioner on! The grain was way darker than it had been before, and the result is a mess!!
I'm attaching the before picture, along with what it currently looks like. The top right drawer is the only one I like - it actually turned out the first time, so I didn't sand it down. The top right was my test piece after I realized the stain was too dark. The rest are all so different from each other, I don't even know where to begin.
I don't know what else to do. I know I'm probably going to have to sand the drawers down again, but I need to get it right this time. Help!! I know it's possible, because the manufacturers did it the first time.
Attempt #1: I stripped the finish off with varnish stripper, then there were a couple of spots on the drawers that still had some varnish left, so I spot-treated those with stripper, scraped, then sanded the drawers down. Applied the stain & it looked great... except in the places where I'd spot-treated with stripper - those spots soaked up more stain, leaving me with a blotchy mess.
I found an old thread on this forum that let me know I needed to sand down to bare wood, then use a wood conditioner before staining again. This meant purchasing a sander, but the dresser was a bargain, so I justified it pretty easily.
Attempt #2: I applied the wood conditioner, followed directions found on the can & on this site, then applied the same stain I had before. But this time it was MUCH darker & redder, so I quickly ran to the store and picked up more stain. Ended up mixing two together as everything seemed too light or too dark. Finally, I coated them down, but it was like I never put wood conditioner on! The grain was way darker than it had been before, and the result is a mess!!
I'm attaching the before picture, along with what it currently looks like. The top right drawer is the only one I like - it actually turned out the first time, so I didn't sand it down. The top right was my test piece after I realized the stain was too dark. The rest are all so different from each other, I don't even know where to begin.
I don't know what else to do. I know I'm probably going to have to sand the drawers down again, but I need to get it right this time. Help!! I know it's possible, because the manufacturers did it the first time.