Antique Staining Help

5 years ago

Hi there.

I bought my first home a little under a year ago. It is about 100 years old and I am only the third owner. My intention is to take the house back to what it originally would have looked like when it was built. These pictures are from ages ago when I first began my renovations and found many pieces of the old pine trim under the drywall. While I have managed to salvage a lot of it, many pieces were removed and discarded during the renovations before I owned the property. I have searched high and low for a definitive answer for how to achieve the color on the trim you see in the photo. I know the finish is shellac and there is likely some dye involved. My floors are heart pine and have a beautiful red hue to them. Anyone have any ideas how I can achieve that color on new pine? I realize I will never replicate the grain with new pine but I’d like to do my best.

Featured Answer

salex

5 years ago

I faced a similar dilemma in my 1920 bungalow, although my trim is Douglas-fir. I stained it close to the original color to match the few remaining original pieces by using a combination of aniline dye and shellac. I got several little bottles of Trans Tint dyes (reddish brown, dark brown or walnut, and honey amber) and then tested a dozen or so pieces with different ratios of the colors until it was just right. Then I put amber shellac over the dye. If you are considering multiple types of coats in your process, like I did, make sure that you go all the way through the entire schedule for your test pieces. Just the dye alone looks very different than dye with shellac or a clear finish on top of it.

Good luck with your old house - enjoy the character!

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Comments (6)

Lee
Original Author
5 years ago
Salex,

Thanks! So you just dyed it? Kind of like staining? And then put the shellac over it? You’d think these days there would be a YouTube video for everything!
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salex
5 years ago
Ha! I did actually find some youtube videos when I was first looking for a process and specific products. And yes, the dye is like staining, except it penetrates the wood more. When I mixed up the aniline dye, I used water as a base so it soaked in pretty well.

I forgot to mention - if you use dye that is mixed in water, spray or wipe the wood with water first, wait a little while, and then do a final fine sanding before you dye. (That's "raising the grain" - definitely on youtube!)
cat_ky
5 years ago
Make sure your trim is pine and not douglas fir. Douglas fir was used more than pine back then.
remodeling1840
5 years ago
I would remove a small piece and go to Woodcraft or a similar woodworkers’s specialty store. We have always found experienced help there. Their staff are not salesmen and women, rather, woodworkers with years of actual experience. They can show you the different products and explain the different methods of application. It will be easier to match a color if you can see samples instead of relying on computer monitors. We can only guess at the depth of color and the finish without seeing the actual trim.
Circus Peanut
5 years ago
Depending on what final color/tone you’re aiming for, you can also add the transtint dyes directly to the shellac. I’ve had success with both methods. (Just be sure to keep an exact record of dye and shellac proportions, so each batch is identical.)