I built a red oak bookcase about a year ago for my first woodworking
project. It went in the front entryway. I put a lot of time in finding the
right stain to match the existing red oak stairs, but it came out too dark.
Needless to say, I was pretty pissed.
Today I just noticed that it is a perfect match! The bookcase has faded and
now matches the stairs.
While I am delighted the results, it has obvious consequences for other
projects. Is it normal for stain to fade like this?
It was minwax provincal under minwax golden oak stain/varnish (whatever that
is called)
Thanks.
In article <[email protected]>, toller
<[email protected]> wrote:
> Is it normal for stain to fade like this?
I built a CD rack/stereo stand a cupla years back out of jummywood and
used a minwax pecan stain on it, topped with a water-based poly.
It's in the living room and gets a fair amount of indiirect light, but
no diirect sun.
The stain has *darkened*, not lightened.
I think that it depends on the type of wood, stain and
exposure to UV.
Our oak kitchen cabinets exposed to direct sunlight
had faded very noticeably in the last 18 years. Similar
cabinets in a more protected area of the kitchen showed
barely noticeable change. I recently refinished all of
them.
A cherry blanket chest which I stained with analine dyes
about 5 years ago & coated with 10 coats of poly
has gotten darker because of the cherry darkening over time.
In general, the wood may lighten or darken, the stain
will lighten when exposed to UV for a long time. If not exposed
to strong UV, the wood would still gradually change, but
the dyes in the stain would probably remain fairly
stable in color.
My 2ç.
Lou
In article <[email protected]>, toller
<[email protected]> wrote:
> I built a red oak bookcase about a year ago for my first woodworking
> project. It went in the front entryway. I put a lot of time in finding the
> right stain to match the existing red oak stairs, but it came out too dark.
> Needless to say, I was pretty pissed.
>
> Today I just noticed that it is a perfect match! The bookcase has faded and
> now matches the stairs.
>
> While I am delighted the results, it has obvious consequences for other
> projects. Is it normal for stain to fade like this?
> It was minwax provincal under minwax golden oak stain/varnish (whatever that
> is called)
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> > Today I just noticed that it is a perfect match! The bookcase has faded
and
> > now matches the stairs.
>
> That's interesting. I don't have an answer, but was wondering if it's
> possible that the stairs darkened rather than the bookcase fading?
>
To my eye, the stairs have stayed the same; but of course that is not
reliable. But since they are 20 years old, it is more likely to be the
bookcase; or so I would think.
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> I built a red oak bookcase about a year ago for my first woodworking
> project. It went in the front entryway. I put a lot of time in finding the
> right stain to match the existing red oak stairs, but it came out too dark.
> Needless to say, I was pretty pissed.
>
> Today I just noticed that it is a perfect match! The bookcase has faded and
> now matches the stairs.
>
> While I am delighted the results, it has obvious consequences for other
> projects. Is it normal for stain to fade like this?
> It was minwax provincal under minwax golden oak stain/varnish (whatever that
> is called)
>
> Thanks.
>
>
>
It depends on whether it is a dye or a pigment stain. Dyes are not color
fast, Oil based being the least, alcohol based the next and water based
the best. Pigment stains on the other hand is color fast. The coloring
comes from particles of solid material
How can you tell you ask. When you open the can and stir the stain, if
it is a dye there will be no particulate on the bottom to stir up.
Pigment stain will have a goopy mess that has to be stirred back into
suspension.
--
MikeG
Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
[email protected]
In article <250920041123369024%dave@N_O_T_T_H_I_S.balderstone.ca>,
dave@N_O_T_T_H_I_S.balderstone.ca says...
> In article <[email protected]>, toller
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Is it normal for stain to fade like this?
>
> I built a CD rack/stereo stand a cupla years back out of jummywood and
> used a minwax pecan stain on it, topped with a water-based poly.
>
> It's in the living room and gets a fair amount of indiirect light, but
> no diirect sun.
>
> The stain has *darkened*, not lightened.
>
It may be that it is the wood not the stain that has darkened.
--
MikeG
Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
[email protected]
On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 16:16:11 GMT, "toller" <[email protected]> wrote:
>While I am delighted the results, it has obvious consequences for other
>projects. Is it normal for stain to fade like this?
>It was minwax provincal under minwax golden oak stain/varnish (whatever that
>is called)
The Minwax stain may very well have faded.
This is the difference between $5 / Qt. stain and $16/ Qt. stain.
Barry
"Ba r r y" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> The Minwax stain may very well have faded.
>
> This is the difference between $5 / Qt. stain and $16/ Qt. stain.
Perhaps another hard lesson learned.
toller did say:
> I built a red oak bookcase about a year ago for my first woodworking
> project. It went in the front entryway. I put a lot of time in finding the
> right stain to match the existing red oak stairs, but it came out too dark.
> Needless to say, I was pretty pissed.
>
> Today I just noticed that it is a perfect match! The bookcase has faded and
> now matches the stairs.
That's interesting. I don't have an answer, but was wondering if it's
possible that the stairs darkened rather than the bookcase fading?
>
> While I am delighted the results, it has obvious consequences for other
> projects. Is it normal for stain to fade like this? It was minwax
> provincal under minwax golden oak stain/varnish (whatever that is
> called)
>
> Thanks.
toller did say:
> To my eye, the stairs have stayed the same; but of course that is not
> reliable. But since they are 20 years old, it is more likely to be the
> bookcase; or so I would think.
I had to go look at an armoire that I put shelves into two years ago for
an entertainment center. I used Minwax golden oak on the shelving unit,
and remember that they were just a tad darker than the armoire. I was
surprised to find that the two are virtually identical now. The armoire
was refinished about five years prior to that, so I don't know which
changed. Funny, I see that entertainment center most every evening while
watching TV but haven't noticed the change.