pickeling

[Barbara]

My kitchen cabinets are stained a dark color. I am thinking of pickeling them in a lighter color. There are areas around the cabinet doors that looks like pressboard, maybe with a veneer over it. I cannot tell exactly what it is. But, I do know that it has a pressboard base. If I pickle that wood will not actually have a grain will it. What should I do? And, how do I do it?

[Jef chi-town]

The best way to lighten dark colored stain without removal of the present fiish is to gel-stain over it. You cannot truly stain wood that has a finish coat over it: Shellac, varnish, poly, without removing the finish. You can lightly sand them and a gel-stain can change them into any color, it will work

[BobF]

IMHO a pickled finish looks best on oak, where you have a pronounced grain. Otherwise you will be doing a faux finish, which is ok, but different.

For a pickeled finish, you start with a white paint and wipe most of it off, leaving it in the pores. When you get the effect you want, let it dry well and coat it with a clear finish. I use Varathane’s Diamond Finish because it dries clear and hard.

If a customer wanted me to do a pickeled finish over a dark stain, I would first strip it all off with a chemical stripper, and then proceed. If you don’t, you will have difficulty covering teh dark color just right.

Now a faux finish is another story, and I’m no expert on that; you can usually find classes on that at paint stores.

[Author]

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