RE: Removing Red Mahogany Stain

> First I would paint the wood a light very cherry color with  Minwax cherry stain. 
> Twice if necessary to adequately "mask" the substrate. Then, I would seal 
> lightly with a thinned coat of vinyl sealer. After drying (15min.)  I would use 
> Minwax Provincial to streak in some lighter areas and whatever else I think
>  it needs to match a sample. Finish and all.
> I wouldn't waste time on magic. Your client wouldn't know the 
> difference between bleached wood or bleached blonds.
> Alan Noel


Bob Olesen writes:

Alan,

I've done this exact type of thing many times, using slightly different materials. 
If you have a grainy wood such as walnut, oak, or mahogany with an attractive 
open grain pattern (not figure - grain) that's too dark, and/or your going for that 
faded antique look (not pickled or whitewashed) this works great - provided you 
have decent glazing skills. It was done quite a bit at the factories - kinda like 
evening out all the differences in wood tones and values - like base make-up 
and then adding glazes for figure and effect.

I use to buy Star "Bleachtone" which is designed just for this purpose but 
found that a thin lacquer mixture worked just as well for me. The trick is to 
make the base coat as sheer as possible while still conveying enough of the 
right color to the wood. The less "painted" the result - the better - 
allowing the grain pattern and pores to telegraph back through more clearly.

You can then either wet glaze away - which will make the grain pattern 
reappear dark - or "drybrush" which will cause the grain pattern to telegraph 
back through in a slightly different fashion to a lighter overall result. A 
nice bunch of effects can be had by combining the two methods to differing 
degrees.

The only drawback to this technique is that it pretty much kills any of the 
inherent "figure" (i.e., chatoyancy or iridescent lightplay) common to 
mahoganies and other desirable woods - although one can fake in a reasonable 
amount of figure, and give the piece some motion, by judiciously mottling the 
glazes here and there.  Still, it looks pretty "dead" by way of comparison. 
Can't have everything I guess...

But Alan, tell us why do you start with Minwax stain. Is it that specific 
color just perfect for cherry in particular or does stain in general produce 
a more transparent look - or what?

Thanks,

bobo


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Jeff,

I have learned that sometimes too much clorox is not good.
Try only 5% clorox.

Rick Bertrand



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