How To Fix Wood Stain Mistakes: Procedures To Fix Color, Streaky & Splotchy Mistakes

Procedures To Fix Different Wood Stain Mistakes

There are several mistakes that can happen while staining the wood. The mistakes along with their fixing procedures are given below:

Color Matching Mistake:

If the color of the stain doesn't match the exact required stain color, the user can fix it by following the below-given steps:

1. Check The Difference:
   The first step will be to check the difference between both stains. If the stain is lighter, the user need not worry as it can easily be changed to a darker stain. But the darker stain cannot be changed to lighter stain rather require stripping and re-staining.
2. Make The Stain Darker:
   In order to make the stain darker, the user needs to add more stain to it. Before adding more stain, it is necessary to balance the stain by adding Minwax's PolyShades on to the existing stain. Minwax's PolyShades is a type of tinted polyurethane by which the stain tone can be changed easily.

Fixing Streaky Mistake

The streaky mistake can be fixed by following the below-given steps:

1. Strip The Stain:
   The first step will be to strip as much stain as possible from the wood. In order to strip the oil-based stain, the user needs to scrub the wood while the paint is still wet with mineral spirits and Scotch Brite pad. Water-based stain can be stripped with a lacquer thinner.
2. Remove Streaks:
   After that, the user needs to scrub the streaks out as well.
3. Reapply Stain:
   Once the streaks are out of the wood, the user needs to reapply the stain on to the wood liberally. The excess stain should be wiped off immediately with a rag.

Fixing Splotchy Mistake

Splotches in the stain occur when the wood absorbs the paint unevenly and the reason behind that could be the pockets of sap present in the wood. In order to fix this mistake, the user needs to follow the below-given steps:

1. Strip The Stain:
   First, the user needs to strip as much stain as possible from the wood. The water-based stain needs to be removed with lacquer thinner and the oil-based stain can be removed by scrubbing the stain while wet with mineral spirits and Scotch-Brite pad.
2. Seal The Wood:
   Once the stain is stripped from the wood, the user needs to seal it afterward with a mixture of alcohol and waxed shellac. The mixture should be water thin and once the wood is saturated with the mixture, the user needs to wipe it off.
3. Apply Pigmented Stain:
   The user needs to let the wood dry for 2 hours before applying a 100% pigmented stain on to it. The stain should be wiped away as required in order to even the color difference.