We might actually be able to keep it natural wood... but there is one problem. The citrus stripper I used to remove the paint from the decorative moulding has left a stain on the wood. I'm not sure if it's citrus stripper, or if the citrus stripper disolved the dye from the red paint that was the bottom layer, but there are red/orange stains on our wood. The stains are somewhat deep; a good sanding doesn't remove them. I've tried mineral spirits and denatured alcohol.
Any suggestions?
6 comments:
I'd like to hear what other folks say because when I get to this point, I do a bit of steel wool and use an exacto to get at the corners but usually throw in the towel and opt for putting on the finish. It doesn't look "perfect" but it usually looks 99% better than when I started.
Some of the strippers that you let sit for a while open/raise the grain of the wood and it seems like stains sink in further. I know w/ Citristrip that you shouldn't use metal scrapers, etc. I personally would sand it as best you can, maybe stain the door, put on an oil based finish that will golden over time and then consider it great patina :-) The door looks very nice!
I third the previous comments. Sand and stain; embrace the character. It's an old door with a history, if you'd wanted perfect you could have got a new one!
I agree. Usually our stripped trim looks pretty terrible right up until we get the stain & clearcoat on - then suddenly it's transformed. We do a quick single coat of stain to even out the finish, which seems to do wonders and really covers up some of the blemishes. My brother, an instrument builder by trade, taught me to wipe a little alcohol on the surface to see what the final finish will look like - it's a good approximation while it's wet and then you can see if the blemish stands out or fades away.
Sarah has a good suggestion. Now that she said that, I remember my trim and furniture guy, my floor guy, and my mom's cousin the carpenter doing this same trick. Give it a try, it really will be an amazing preview.
-Christine
I would restain with one of those semi-opaque types. As modernemoma said, it's old and has a history. I rue the day I had my original front door replaced.
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