# Dark spots after staining



## nbgarageshop (Mar 20, 2016)

I built a changing table for my soon to come baby out of red oak. My mom offered to do the finishing and she is quite experienced at it. However, after she put a coat of stain on it, the spots in the pictures below appeared. She uses a pre stain conditioner on everything she does. The wood was sanded down with 220 grit and appeared to be smooth and uniform. Does anybody know why this occurred and if there is a way to fix it before we go any further?


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## ChefHDAN (Aug 7, 2010)

"Looks" like it might be a glue thumb/palm print, but you know best how carefully you cleaned/sanded. I would first try a towel with a bit of mineral spirits and see if it could be lighten-ed/blended, switch to steel wool iof the towel is not effective, and then see…. final solution is alot of sanding, but if Charles Neil chimes in take his advice!


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

if is an oil base stain, ChefHDAN is right , get some mineral spirits and scrub it as clean as you can, but use a scotch bright .. may wind up using a water base stain to repair , dont want metal shards.
if its a waterbase stain, then use water, but the sooner you get it off the better, 
The cause … no idea, but lets get as much off as possible . 
if it cleans down well , its possible a light sanding and reapply might work, 
Im out for the day , but will try to help 
in the mean time, clean it down .
What is the prestain and what is the stain you used .

Did mom wear rubber gloves ??


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## nbgarageshop (Mar 20, 2016)

It is oil based Minwax stain. My dad suggested I talk to one of the local cabinet makers he knows (I'm lucky enough to have 3 in town that my dad is friends with) and so I tracked one down and showed him the pictures. He said they looked like water marks but I couldn't figure out where they would come from. I then explained how my dad and I loaded it into my truck yesterday and hauled it the 4 blocks to my parents house. I sat on the back of the truck and held it steady while my dad drove. Rich (cabinetmaker) asked if I was sweating. Well it's a nice hot and humid time in the St. Louis area so yes and we determined that was the cause. He said that often happens in the shop he works in where a drip of sweat will show up in the finish even if it was thought to be dry. I tried the mineral spirits on a spot that was somewhat hidden and it seemed to lighten it up a bit. I think to get the results I want though, I will end up sanding the top and front stiles down and restain. They shouldn't take too long to do. Would I be beneficial though to use the mineral spirits still to lighten the entire area I will be sanding to reduce the amount of sanding that has to be done to get down to a uniform surface?


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

Hey, NB it can't hurt to try wiping the whole thing down. Be careful that whatever you do, you still sand the whole project the same amount with the same grit. Sometimes if you sand an extra amount with say a lighter grit, that area will accept less stain and be lighter. I live just south of St Louis in Mo. I sure know about sweating on the wood. Where do you get your wood? There's a great place in Marissa IL to get wood, plus in Trenton.


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## nbgarageshop (Mar 20, 2016)

Bill I'm very familiar with Kunz in Trenton, I live in the next town south. I assume you're talking about Doug white hardwoods in marissa, heard of them but never been there. I actually got all of the lumber for this project from Lumber Logs in St. Louis. A little more of a drive than kunz but the prices were low and I wanted to see what the place was all about.


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

Yes, Doug White and Kunz. I used to go to Doug White a lot. I bought a lot there when I built my house. He's a great guy and they have good prices. They are a great source for Cypress if you ever want that. I've been to Kunz one time. She was nice too. I only had my credit card with me and not enough cash to pay for the wood I got. She took my address and sent me a bill. That's rare.

My wife is from O'fallon. I'm addicted to Ski, how about you.


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

I've never been to Lumber logs, but called them a while ago looking for ash. I will go there someday just to see it. I have numerous firefighter friends in that area of St Charles.


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## nbgarageshop (Mar 20, 2016)

I ended up doing a complete re-sand of the top and front stiles where the splotches were. I went over it with 60 grit to remove the stain then went up in my normal sanding grit pattern. I also used mineral spirits after the 60 grit sand to try to pull more stain from the grain. After resanding it was restained and looks much better, no splotching. Thanks to all for their advice.

Bill, actually not the biggest fan of ski but I'm probably an off-type of the area for that. Lumber Logs was a pleasant experience in both trips I made there (also cash only), the only thing I was slightly disappointed by was the plain sawn red oak had not been restocked since I had been there the first time but, its a 2 man operation and I understand. One of the owners asked me what I was looking for and he said he would put more in the kiln to restock. So overall, quite happy.


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