Introduction: How to Re-stain Your Wood in Few Easy Steps in Home

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Re-staining wood surface is backbone breaking if you do not know about right products and process. Moreover, surface may get damaged if wrong process is followed. Usually, individual decides to re-stain wood surface in two conditions; first is he/she wants darker color than existing one and second is he/she would like to change the color. Here is step by step process that you can follow for both conditions.

Items/products you will be needing

Clean, Gloves, Goggles, Zinsser Varnish Stripper, Paint Scrapper, Zinsser Wood Bleach, Paint Brush, Wood stain, Steel wool, Wood cleaner, Polyurethane, Clean cloth and Solvent, Resistant drop cloth, Old newspapers.

Step 1: Remove Topcoat Finish

Generally, top coat finishes are used to protect stained wood to prevent scratches and becoming dirty. Polyurethane, lacquer, shellac etc. could be used as top coat. Currently, you might think that “how would I know my wood is top coated or not”! You can do that by dropping a few drop on surface, if surface penetrates water then there is no any top coat varnish. You can skip this step in this case. When wood is not allowing water to get inside which means there is top coat and you need to remove that.

Use Zinsser power stripper for removal of top coat finish. You can apply this chemical by bristle brush. Once you have applied it wait until varnish is softened and bubbling. Once varnish (top coat) is softened, remove that with the help of scrapper. Once scrapping is done, you need to clean the surface by using wood cleaner. You can check the complete tips of using Zinsser stripper here.

Important Notes: Cover the area (floor) with old newspapers and solvent resistant drop cloth for preventing unwanted drips and spills.

Step 2: Remove Wood Stains

You need to remove existing wood stain if you want any different color. If you just want to make your existing stain darker then skip this step. Use Zinsser Bleach to remove stains. You must make sure that surface is free of dust and dirt before applying this chemical. Steps to apply Zinsser bleach are available here.

Step 3: Re-staining and Topcoat Application

For darkening, use the same color which is already applied. Check these truworth stains if you have not decided yet what color to apply. It is very simple to apply stain wood surface. You can apply stain with the help of clean cloth. Once staining is done, you have to apply top coat again for protecting the surface from scratches and dirt.