# Mysterious Spots after Staining



## Cuddy8888 (Aug 12, 2019)

I am.staining red oak with old masters oil based American Walnut stain. This mysterious spot appeared after I stained the wood that was not visible before. I sanded it to 220 before applying the stain. I made sure there was no dust or anything on the wood before staining. I applied the stain with a staining pad ensuring to wipe off any excess. Results looked great initially until this spot appeared about 20 min later. It was about 84 degrees and 70 percent humidity when I applied the stain. Could it be the heat? Any tips on a fix?

Thanks


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Hi Cuddy
Welcome to Ljs I would guess what's happening is that your getting what's called push back (excess stain popping out of the open grain of your oak) It happens when your a little heavy-handed with the finish, also keep in mind the finer you sand it the less finish get's into the grain ,With oak sanding to 150 or 180 is fine enough.

https://www.artisticwoodstudio.com/videos


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## OSU55 (Dec 14, 2012)

Caused by the grain in that area absorbing more of the dye part of the stain. From the shape of it some type of liquid was covering that area which opened up the grain. Try wiping with naptha and some more sanding. Dont think it needs fully but you need to sand through the disrupted grain. May take several attempts.

Or, it looks like the stain was allowed to spill onto the wood and dry after your stain coat, any way that could have happened?


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## 4wood (Jul 12, 2018)

I had something very similar thing to that happen to me several years ago and it took a while to figure it out. We were working in a hot shop and my friend rested his forearm on a panel that we were ready to stain. After the stain was applied a darker spot with a similar shape as yours appeared. I believe the cause was that his forearm was wet with sweat and it water popped the grain causing it be darker in that spot. This is a common problem in the wood floor finishing business. The finishers need to be careful not to let any sweat drip onto the floor because it will show up as dark spots.


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