How do you lighten stain on pine that went on too dark?

Answer 1

I have successfully stripped several items of 1920/30/40 dark brown furniture brought cheaply at auctions, the best way is to completely dissemble the piece, making a series of patterns with a fine punch some where it will not show on each half of all joints to facile reassembly they using a very sharp plane remove the stain from narrow parts or in the case of table tops or wide flat surfaces use a powerful round orbital sander and coarse to fine sanding disks only removing the bare minimum to get rid of the stain, the biggest problem is end grains on mouldings or twist legs , remove as much as possible with strips of sand paper then bleach out most of the remainder with a powerful wood bleach and a fine brush. Reassembly matching up the dots cramp each section and check for squareness removing all trace of surplus glue then use your choice of finish, my favourite is Ronseal Hardglaze clear varnish, this gives a slightly tinted golden oak colour and if you thin the first coat then apply three more full strength rubbing down between each coat with ultra fine paper the result will be a brilliant glass like surface highly resistant to spillage, or use one of the gloss or satin spray on finishes or even a water based varnish that will give you a clear protective surface with no discolouration but not quite so much protection If you don't like the high gloss of the Ronseal finish but want the protection rub it with the grain using very fine grade 000 steel wool and wax polish, this will give a satin finish.

Answer 2

Wood stripper will remove most. You'll need to use a stiff brush, water and maybe some rags.

Answer 3

If yo don't have any finish over the stain, simply wipe it down with whatever solvent is used to thin the stain. If it is a water based stain, wipe it down with denatured alchohol.

Answer 4

This can be very difficult if it's penetrated much. I would stain over and around it so as to reduce it's visibility.

Answer 5

When you apply the stain, immediately wipe it off with a dry rag.

Answer 6

If your dark wood stain is on real unpainted wood, then there really is no way to lighten it. You can sand it all off if that doesn't ruin your project.