I'm the type of person who is always open to new ideas, new food, new places to live even, but recently was a time I should have stuck to what I knew worked. On Monday, I was so proud and excited how great the top on the antique dresser turned out after I stripped it and sanded it down. Just like the desk I just finished, the stripper did it magic of taking all that old poly and stain right off to reveal what I think may be mahogany wood. It has a reddish tint to it and is very hard(I know, all wood is hard, but here me out)! It's just a gorgeous piece of wood and yesterday when I went to stain it, I looked at my stains and noticed one that was left at this house by the previous owners, still unopened and new. It was a Antique Walnut Stain/Poly in 1 step. Cool, I thought, one less step to do and like I said I'm always open to try new things! Well not so cool, it was just awful. As I was putting it on, I noticed it was really thick and sticky, but I kept going thinking it would be ok, after all I followed the directions. Well, it turned out having a REALLY shiny finish and was streaky and just plain ugly! Thinking it would be better in the morning, like some furniture fairy was going to fix it while I slept, haha, I let it be until morning.
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| after stripper second time |
No fairies came that's for sure. When I went out to the shop this morning, it was still thick and streaking and uneven looking. So I had no choice but to strip it again.
This time the stripper had its work cut out. I applied it like always but it immediately started bubbling up I guess you could say. After letting it sit a few minutes longer than the can said to, I scraped it off once again and sanded it down to beautifully smooth AGAIN.
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| after sanding second time |
Now I'm sure this product might work on other things like cabinets or even doors, but definetly did not work well on this antique dresser. The dark walnut stain I applied after sanding, brought out all the stunning wood grain on this piece. A couple coats of a oil based poly (don't care for water based, but that's another post), and I was so happy I made the decision to redo this piece not once, but twice. It is so beautiful now and will be a fabulous piece when I'm finished with the paint detailing!
So, lesson learned for me today, don't change something if you're old way works just fine:)
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and finally after stain and poly
for the second time...lovely |
P.S. CHECK OUT MY FOR SALE PAGE NOW AND IN A COUPLE DAYS FOR THIS GORGEOUS PIECE!
