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staining a dark color to poplar wood

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wayne brockhoff posted on 01-31-2010 11:12 PM

Looking for some helpful advise in staining poplar wood a dark color - such as a dark cherry.  What can I do so the greenish color will accept the stain and not look like it is still green?  Ideas, suggestions?

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Top 150 Contributor
5 Posts

Poplar looks great when stained dark. I have not had the green grain show through. One thing you could try is to tint lacquer to the color you want and spray it on your wood.

Top 500 Contributor
Female
3 Posts

Im rather new at all this part of the projects, I used to be the maker now im the finisher. I was lucky enough to run into an artical that tells you how to turn the green heartwood into a golden brown and the white sapwood will take on a warmer shade of pale. OXALIC ACID......it works miracles on poplar's green heartwood. simply mix a saturated solution of oxalic acid chrystals in HOT water and brush on the solution on the wood. As the solution dries you should see the colors change. a second application of the solution after the first has thoroughly dried usually helps the results - it cant hurt... OXALIC ACID IS PIOSONOUS, so let the surface dry completely and the rinse it thoroughly with water to remove any acid that remains. NOTE..... THAT THIS TREATMENT DOES NOTHING TO REDUCE POPLARS TENDANCY TO BLOTCH .  

Oxalic acid is primarily used to restore the natural color of grayed, weatherd, exterior wood- -- it's the active ingredient in deck-renewing products. restores and woodworkers use oxalic acid to remove black water stains from wood. It's available at most hardware stores.    

This is right from an article in American Woodworker the October/November 2010 page 61. Its a whole article on" How to make Poplar Look Pretty."  Its realy interesting.  Good Luck, Im sure you will find something that will work. I hope you take the time to read this..  The prosuct I purshased is called, "DALYS OXALIC ACID CRYSTAL BLEACHING POWDER ."  I dont know if you want the product number but its #17491 1/2 US LB (1.9 KG)

I had a poplar box made for me and im getting ready to stain it, I took some scrape peices and did the oxalic acid to it and those did actualy take and look alot better than the test strips i didnt use the solution on..

Just a sugestion, Im sure we have all got great contributions to help each other out.  PS:  Im a BAD SPELLER....

Thank You, Wstene

W. Stene, never sits still.

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