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Warning: sanding the top before staining cost me 30 bucks for nothing

I kept reading everywhere that you have to sand down to bare wood before staining a desk top. Spent a whole Saturday with my orbital sander on this birch butcher block, went through 3 packs of 120 grit. Then my uncle who builds cabinets for a living stopped by and said the factory finish on those blocks is already sanded to 220 and open enough for stain. He showed me by just wiping a test spot with mineral spirits, no sanding. I sanded off the factory sealer and it actually blotted uneven compared to the untouched corner. Found out later from a lumber yard guy in Spokane that most prefinished butcher blocks only need a light scuff with 320 if you want to recoat, not a full strip. Now I got a blotchy stain job on one section and had to redo the whole thing with gel stain to hide it. Anyone else skip sanding and just wipe down with spirits before staining? Wish I asked before I ruined an afternoon.

2 comments

2 Comments

harper_wright13d agoMost Upvoted

Whoa, hold on there. Your uncle is mostly right, but he missed one BIG thing. Those factory finishes on birch blocks are usually a sanding sealer or a light urethane, not just bare wood. If you wipe it with mineral spirits and it beads up or looks splotchy, that's a film, not open grain. You can't stain over a film, it just sits on top and peels. But you did not ruin it, that blotchiness is just the sealer soaking in unevenly after your sanding exposed the raw wood in spots. Gel stain really is the right move for a rescue job, it stays on the surface instead of soaking in. Just remember for next time, a light scuff and a coat of conditioner is all you need, a full strip is only for pieces with a thick old finish or serious damage.

the_sean12d ago

So if the mineral spirits bead up, does that mean the gel stain won't peel later either? I've got a birch table that I sanded the hell out of thinking it was bare wood, and now I'm worried I'm just gonna have a patchy mess no matter what I use.