Jg2259 Posted April 19, 2018 Report Share Posted April 19, 2018 I have been asked to refinish this too to a bookcase and am having trouble removing the black water spots that have penetrated the wood. The finish was Shellac, so at first I tried to just use denatured alcohol to dissolve the finish and refinish that way. That didn’t work, so I completely strip it and now the black stain is still deep in the grain. Any suggestions on how to remove the black in the grain?Thanks Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jg2259 Posted April 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2018 The wood is oak in case that matters. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted April 19, 2018 Report Share Posted April 19, 2018 This may be a tannin stain. Buy a good chemical stripper containing methylene chloride. Rubber gloves/well ventilated area/eye protection. Using steel wool scrub with the grain. Wash the wood after stripping with mineral spirits. If the black stain is not removed. You may have to bleach the wood after the chemical strip. -Ace- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jg2259 Posted April 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2018 This may be a tannin stain. Buy a good chemical stripper containing methylene chloride. Rubber gloves/well ventilated area/eye protection. Using steel wool scrub with the grain. Wash the wood after stripping with mineral spirits. If the black stain is not removed. You may have to bleach the wood after the chemical strip. -Ace-Thanks Ace, I did strip it with a citrus stripper but apparently need something stronger. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDi Posted April 19, 2018 Report Share Posted April 19, 2018 Oxalic acid . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted April 19, 2018 Report Share Posted April 19, 2018 2 hours ago, Jg2259 said: Thanks Ace, I did strip it with a citrus stripper but apparently need something stronger. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Yep, the good stuff will get those corners and edges better. -Ace- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted April 19, 2018 Report Share Posted April 19, 2018 1 hour ago, JohnDi said: Oxalic acid . That looks like tannin staining & if so, stripper won't take it out, but oxalic acid should. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted April 19, 2018 Report Share Posted April 19, 2018 Some stains you just can't get out of Oak. One I know of is pet urine stains, that are also blackish. I bought a house to flip once that had horrible pet stained Oak floors. It was going for the cost of the land under it, and had been shown 80 some times, with no offers. The seller had the floor professionally refinished, with as dark of a stain as possible on it, but it still looked horrible. There wasn't much else wrong with that house that wasn't cosmetic. I spent more time than I should have with everything from sanding it out, and every concoction from Oxalic acid to Wood Bleach. Nothing made it 10% better. We finally just ripped it all out, and put in new flooring. It turned out to be a good investment anyway, and it sold fast, but I learned the lesson about stained Oak the hard way, and decided that I didn't want to flip houses, regardless of how lucrative it was. Here's a picture of one room after we had sanded it. The lighter stained areas were some sample experiments with Oxalic acid, wood bleach, Clorox, and I forget what else. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 19, 2018 Report Share Posted April 19, 2018 Oak looks good with black lacquer or dye on it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted April 20, 2018 Report Share Posted April 20, 2018 5 hours ago, wdwerker said: Oak looks good with black lacquer or dye on it. Oh yes. I did a mantle for my daughters house out of red oak & finished with black lacquer. I generally don't like red oak, but this looked fantastic with the way the open pore grain showed through the lacquer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 20, 2018 Report Share Posted April 20, 2018 I've seen black dyed oak with the pores filled in a contrasting color. I guess a clear coat then careful filling..... Lime green and black dyed oak looked wild but I think it would get old kinda quick. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimayo Posted April 20, 2018 Report Share Posted April 20, 2018 I have had that problem. Just recently, I had to refinish an oak china cabinet (not fun). I think what you have is the old stain and finish that is deep in the oak wood pores and no amount of scrubbing or sanding will remove it. The only way I have found to remove it is to apply more stripper and then use one of those small toothbrush style brushes with fine stainless steel bristles to work the stripper down into the pores and clean them out. Then flush the area with water while brushing it some more. You will have to clean the goo out of the bristles from time to time. If there is a better way, I haven't found it yet. It takes lots of time and elbow grease, but it is effective. Even after doing all that work, after it all dries, you may find that you have wood pieces of different colors and grain, I found this to be the case with my recent project. If this is so, you may have no choice but to use a two part wood bleach on it before you will be able to get good results with new stain and finish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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