Do you have to sand down finished wood to apply gel stain?

Question

I've seen on Find and Design where they've refinished end tables, coffee tables, and Arimoires (which looked finished) just by applying gel stain. Can you really refinish them with out stripping and heavy sanding?

Answer 1

no. You need to sand everything and its a painfull long process. The gel won't take.

Answer 2

Stain does exactly what the name implies. It stains the wood. If the wood is protected with a finish such as varnish, poly or shellac, the stain will not work properly. It needs to get "into" the wood grain. Television shows do not include the whole process and they have a disclaimer at the end advising that not all steps may have been shown.

Answer 3

Visit your local Lowe's or Home Depot store. Look in the paiting section for some stuff called "Liquid Sander". You can apply this stuff over your existing finish and it will remove the "clear coat" shine on your furniture. Wipe down your furniture with mineral spirits and then you can apply the gel.

This will work if your piece of furniture does not have any existing damage (i.e. scratches) If you do have scratches, sanding the old finish off after applying the liquid sander will be much easier.

Good Luck

Answer 4

Gel stains still need something to absorb into and the varnish or polyurethane would prevent that. You don't necessarily need to get to the bare wood but you need to get close. Otherwise, the gel will just be a sticky mess on the surface.

Answer 5

Yup, like everyone esle said, you gotta sand.

If you decide not to go the liquid sanding route, here's a site that has a prep and sanding page under their finishing heading:
http://www.generalfinishes.com