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Woodworking Design Dilemma DIY

How to get rid of blotchy areas from wood filler after staining

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

I filled very small cracks or imperfections on this wood I bought for shelves and then sanded it before pre-stain/staining. I’ve done a lot of research on this topic but I haven’t found much consensus as to what I should do to fix or lessen the discoloration. Can anyone help?

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Comments (6)

PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
I have no idea what you did. Where are the tiny cracks you filled , what was the wood from / I think you needed to sand more I guess. If you are talking about the light areas those look like huge imperfections and cracks that over flowed with wood filler .I am really at my wits end . it looks like recycled wood so you need to know what was on there before and where it came from since a lot of recycled wood is full of preservatives , very bad to inhale while sanding. Post a little more info maybe someone can help.
PRO
Sabrina Alfin Interiors
3 years ago
Did you sand the entire shelf or just the areas that had the filler? Looks like you just did the latter. If so, you'll have to sand off the entire finish, then re-stain.
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3 years ago
That board is compromised by all the knots in it. I would use it as scrap (or toss it) and get a clean board, books are heavy and bookshelves should be made of quality wood reinforced based of weight loads.
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3 years ago
Inexpensive fence boards?
rwiegand
3 years ago
Staining pine is always the hardest thing to do. It has extreme density differences that produce the kind of variation you are seeing. The Minwax Polyshades is a horrible product, I've never seen a good outcome come of it. I'd strongly advise choosing wood that is the color you want to start with and avoiding stain all together. If you must, sand back to bare wood, apply a seal coat of dewaxed shellac and then spray an alcohol soluble wood dye, eg TransTint (not an oil stain) over it, then finish. Pine frustrates the best pros, I'd just paint it and be done. If you must have stained pine take it to the best finisher you can find and let a pro do it. To be blunt, those are not boards I'd mess with for anything other than framing or concrete forms.
kculbers
3 years ago
I would suggest to get some new wood pieces that don’t have obvious imperfections. If that is too costly for you then I agree with the above suggestion to paint it.

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