Is it possible to strip stain from ply wood?

Question

I have a desk that I want to stain a darker color. The top is made out of ply wood, and the legs are made out of solid wood.

Answer 1

With all due respect; consider the definition of the word.

It may be that any penetrating stain only soaks in as far as a 16th of an inch,,, But that may be an entire layer of the PLY?

Certainly you can sand it a bit to test the theory, but since your going to a darker stain anyway, why not just do a sample section.

You also don't state if there is any clear coat substance on either types of wood. That will make a difference. There are stains made that also have the sheen substance built in, not strictly meant to be a penetrating stain.

Steven Wolf

Answer 2

All you have to do is to sand it. If the stain is too thick, use a coarse sand paper before proceeding to fine sandpaper.

Since you are going to stain it with a darker colour, its okay to paint a layer of base coat to even out the tone of the wood before applying the final darker colour.

Answer 3

No, but can stain on top of stain = darker. Can't go lighter.
Find area that is not easily seen for a test area.
Sand the spot, stain it, when dry - - is that the color you want. If want darker, do 2nd stain coat or a darker stain.

Answer 4

yes
via wood bleach
but 1st you strip of any finish with a finish stripper
then wood bleach
still you never fully get out 100% of the stain
after bleaching
you need to nuetralize the bleach
then pre treat / seal the ply
to accept any new stain color evenly

Answer 5

Sanding would be your only option but as previously mentioned it may require removing an awful lot of wood.