Restaining old furniture

[Roger]

So I have this old solid wood bed that I am trying to restain. The stain stripper is getting me nowhere as the original stain is being stubborn. Can I just sand down the whole thing and restain? I've got a lot of projects going on right now, but this is kinda top priority. The bed needs a lot of work so simply using a marker or just putting another coat of stain would not work. Any ideas is much appreciated. TIA

[Carbon Blue]

Hey whats up man ive helped a friend and fellow SDReef member SD_Hvan restain his stand using that stain stripper and it was a straight up PITA. I just redid mine and these were the following steps I used and it came out GREAT!

Tools needed
Sanding machine
100-120 grit sand paper
220 grit
Grade 000 steel wool
Stain
2 paint brushes

I first attacked my stand with the 100 grit and made sure it was nice and even all the way around. I then finished it with the 220 grit to smoothen things out, even though it was pretty smooth with 120. I stained the stand using an all in one polyurethane/stain mix. I let the first coat dry for 24 hours, and then after the staining I rubbed the steel wool all over the recently stained areas. This evens out all the drips and makes the coat look more consistent throughout. After using steel wool on the entire stand I then blew all the dust off and restained for a second coat. I let that coat dry for 24 hours and the finished product looked awesome. All in all I spent just under 30$ for the whole project and it took about 3 days worth of work from start to finish. I should be posting my build thread some time soon when my T5s arrive. Hopefully that helps!

[davocean]

I kinda do the same, except I don't use steel wool, I prefer soft sand pads for round or hard to get to areas.
I also like to use the minwax stain, just rub on rub off, more coats = darker, or you can adjust color, then I use a poly clear over that.
I find this easiest to work with, since you just rag the stain, and can add stain or change stain color if desired, really forgiving.
Clear you need to be more careful, very light scuff, tack cloth clean, brush on , if satin hard to see defects more than gloss.

[Roger]

Hmmm...just to clarify things, did you use the stain stripper at all for your stand? Or did you start sanding everything down to begin with? 3 days is not bad for a tank stand, but damn I got a bunk bed with fancy schmancy head/ foot boards:ohsnap:. I actually have stained my own tank stand that my brother built, but that was pretty straightfoward since I had a clean start. I have to strip or sand the old stain on this bed though. I already picked up the stain of choice which is the mixed stain with satin finish.

[davocean]

Stripper won't really pull stain, but it will take off clear coat, I sand b4 so it penetrates.

[Roger]

Great! thank you very much. The guy at home depot recommended I use the stripper to "pull the stain off." I thought about just sanding everything down first, but wasn't sure. I think I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing now, thanks again SDReefers for all the help;).

[Carbon Blue]

On SD_Hvans stand we used the stain stripper but it was causing more a mess instead of making things simple. We ended up sanding everything down and ditching the stripper. Good luck with the project!

[mazilla]

sand, clean, stain, seal.It's a PITA, but it's really the only way to do it right.

[davocean]

Yeah, stain actually soaks into wood, not just on surface like a paint or clear coat.
It will remove clear, which makes for easier sanding, but stain color will still be there.
Frazee or Dunn Edwards or equivalent will usually give great advice, HD depends on who you get.

[Roger]

Man! Sounds like it's pretty straightforward and like what Mazilla said it looks like it's the only real way to do it right. Ok I guess I'll get started, thanks all.