The Natural Look

[Hew]

We have had all our pine doors dipped and stripped of their black varnish and they are now a light pine colour ..assume original state.

If I then apply clear pine oil, beeswax polish, or clear satin or clear matt varnish [tried all of them] they go much darker again and we want to keep them as light as possible.

a) Do we need to do 'anything' to them at all do you think to protect them [obviously they are indoors]..not sure if they need any further protection or whether they will dry out further and crack if we don't do something.
b) If we do need to preserve them further..then do you know of something that we can put on them that will keep them as natural colour as possible to what they are now?

Hew

[Shane Watson]

Hew,

Hmmmm, not a wise move having timber dipped in acid.

Firstly make sure that whatever acid was used to strip the paint has been neutrilised ( very important! ) If it hasn't been, take them back to whoever dipped them!

Secondly you must leave the doors to 'season' again, that is, letting the timber dry out after adsorbing the moisture used in the dipping process before refinishing( Also very important! )

Thirdly you will need to sand the doors exceptionally well, no matter how good they look or feel.

Yes cracks will most likly appear, if not now, in the future, thats due to the timber absorbing such a high % of moisture and then having to dry out again so quickly. Old timber don't like doing this and it cant be expected too.

As for the natural colour of the timber, the easy way to determine this is to wipe the timber with a damp cloth. Timber when dry is always lighter in colour. If you want a lighter colour than the natural then you will need to bleach it, but its not something I recommend.

You can finish the doors with what ever you feel comfortable using if there not external doors. Although a good quality lacquer would be preferable. Oh and don't forget to use a damn good barrier/sealer before finishing eg. shellac or good quality lacquer based sanding sealer

One thing to be weary of, is in the future any residual acid left on the doors may infact start reacting again and do damage, thats why the first 3 steps are so important. Also the acid most likly has done damage to the glue in the joints, this also will have to be watched, although the joinery is usually good enough to hold itself together, but every now and again some joints may fail.

I wish you the best!

Cheers...



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Shane Watson..

Combine Love & Skill & You Can Expect A Masterpiece!