How to Avoid Blotching When Staining Yellow Pine
Yellow pine, also referred to as Southern pine, covers a variety of species of pine. It includes longleaf pine, loblolly pine and shortleaf pine, though local names such as North Carolina pine, Georgia pine and Virginia pine are also used frequently. Yellow pine was a preferred building material of the 19th century and is still heavily used. It has a nice grain, but due to the sap and resin content of many yellow pines and the suction of yellow pine, it can blotch when staining it.
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Things You'll Need
- Rubber gloves
- Clean cotton rags
- Benzole or isopropyl alcohol
- Pure linseed oil
- Turpentine
- Glass jar
- Wood stain
- Stirring stick
Instructions
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1
Don rubber gloves to protect your hands from the benzole or alcohol.
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2
Lightly moisten one rag with either benzole or alcohol.
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3
Scrub the surface of the yellow pine that you plan to stain. This removes surface sap and resin that can cause blotching. Allow it to air dry. It shouldn't take long as benzole and alcohol evaporate quickly.
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Mix your linseed oil and turpentine in a 50/50 mixture in a glass jar. You don't need to mix a lot unless you're planning on staining a large amount of yellow pine.
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Dip a clean rag into the linseed oil mixture and rub a thin layer onto the yellow pine where you are going to stain it. Cover completely, but with a light glazing. Allow to dry overnight. This lessens the suction of the wood and keeps the stain more on the surface.
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Mix your stain thoroughly to ensure there's no separation. Shaking it well should suffice, but you may need to stir it with a stick.
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Dip another rag into your stain and rub it into the yellow pine where you treated it with the linseed oil mixture. Keep your stain coat as even as possible as this will prevent any residual blotching. Allow your stained yellow pine to dry, according to the directions on your particular stain.
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Tips & Warnings
You can use a thin coat of shellac in place of linseed oil and turpentine if you prefer.
Darker color stains work best with yellow pine.
Work in a well-ventilated area.
References
- Photo Credit pine sunset image by Marc Grandmaison from Fotolia.com
