Hello All
We are having a issue with White Wash on White Oak when mixing solids with veneer, for instance we have couple vanities now with solid face frame and slab veneer doors and drawer fronts, and the solids is coming out darker than the veneers. We tried bleach the solids but its coming out with a yellowish color. We are using white color stain from ML and Kristal top coat. We are getting a lot of requests for white wash now days, but not happy with the results, We are selecting our material as best as we can, but at $8.50 a BDF for Rift now days, we can only do so much.

Anyone out there having the same issue? Any idea will be much appreciate, Thanks for the help and be safe out there.

How fine are you sanding the solid wood? Sounds like you need either to sand the slab doors with a coarser grit, if possible, or use a finer grit on the solids, or both.

John

Thanks for the reply john, We use 150 grit for all. We used to use fine grit than 150 but we were polishing the wood instead and had problem getting the stain to grab.

Try to use a wash coat as first step. To equalize the absortion of the woods.
You can send a picture to be easier to understand your problem.
Hugs!

Eddie,

One will never be able to get the solids /veneer to match with out foolin' around.
1) Sample solids and veneer finished to spec and present to client and explain natural color difference issue.
2) Sample solids with veneer stained to approximate/match the general tone of the solids. I use water based dyes. Wash coat oak. Stain/glaze to depth of white you need. Seal/top coat and present to client. Note: the solids will also vary in color unless you radically hand pick, or have enough extra material ( 25% - 30% ) to wade through.
3) A B bleach system. 2 times mixed. B alone at least once. Neutralize with white vinegar. Scuff sand 220. Finish to spec and present sample to client.
Base price for option 1, bump % for option 2. Bump %%% for option 3

Thanks guys, Shenendoah much appreciate your help.

Staining only will always get this result. For best white wash on rift white oak we have found a toner is needed also. Throw a little stain in your sealer and first topcoat. It will do wonders in bringing everything together.

Wood bleach: some bleaches are yellower in the final results than other bleaches. We used Daly's 2 part bleach and it was okay but we needed to double bleach. We ran out and Daly's wasn't available so we switched to Go Chem which yellowed our wood. Still, we needed to double bleach, mixing A & B, making a new batch every 30 minutes. Neutralize with white vinigar. Air dry and get the fuzzies by "kissing" the woods with 320 grit sandpaper.

Solids vs veneers: machine sand to 180 and hand sand to 150. Then, on the solids go 2 grit sizes down, meaning hand sand 100 grit.

If you don't like the idea of 100 grit, go 120 but open the wood pores by spraying or misting on a 50/50 mix of denatured alcohol & water. "Kiss" the wood with 320 grit to sand the fuzzies off.

Use vinyl sealer as a barrier coat over your stain. I use regular vinyl sealer and not Krystal sealer under my Krystal topcoat and I prefer NOT to catalyze my vinyl sealer. Years ago there was no suggestion to add 1% catalyst to vinyl sealer and it's the same vinyl sealer. When Krystal was first introduced there was no Krystal Sealer. VS does its job adequately, we aren't building a tank. Also, VS is very thin, 15 seconds in a Ford #4 cup, no thinning needed. It's meant to be scuffed, not a aggressively sanded.