Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with stain

Help me stain or paint my ikea desk

If only I had a penguin... — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:38:31 -0800

I want to stain (ideally) or paint (less good) my ikea wood veneer desk. How can I best do this? I have a desk made of the same material as this one. It's basically a light coloured wood veneer. I'd like to make it a darker brown-black colour. While I could get a desk of the same material in the colour I want for a mere $69, it's not the same size and I really need the new desk to be the same size.

How can I stain or paint this? I'd prefer a stain or a glaze that would let the original grain markings through, but I might settle for paint. Whatever you advise, I will go to Ikea and buy a piece of board of the same material/colour in the as-is section to try it on before tackling my actual desk.

I'm aware of a previous question about painting ikea laminate, but I don't think this is laminate (except, see next paragraph)

Oh, and one more thing: I'm not absolutely sure it's wood veneer. It might be some kind of plastic. What makes me doubt is that I have an Ikea Billy bookcase that is an ash veneer (stained brown-black) and you can actually feel the grain of the wood. You can't feel anything on the desk. It's super-smooth. Does this mean it's not a wood veneer?

So what do you advise oh wise hive mind?

Handling Drippy Food with a Non-Straight-Lined Torso?

WCityMike — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:40:23 -0800

I'm by nature a person who likes to keep myself looking neat. I'm having a logistical problem with that. At the moment, I'm also very heavyset, meaning that, geometrically, I have a slope going from neck to waist, not a straight line. (A slope that no doubt will continue to steepen as I progress towards that personal goal, but nonetheless, a slope.)

This means that anything that possibly could drip (and even the neatest food seems to have something that can do that) is pretty much guaranteed to land on my shirt, no matter how careful I'm trying to be.

Stuffing a napkin near my neck not only looks a little inherently stupid, but it also usually doesn't provide adequate coverage.

I can't be the only person to experience this, given America's obesity rates and men's workplace formalwear, or given the presence of the bust for women.

(Parenthetically, I'm asking this because some workplaces where I'm applying for work require a shirt and tie – slightly unusual for my particular level – and given that dress shirts can be expensive, I'd like to be limiting the number of stains to as few as possible.)

Any tips?

Stain over varnish?

hulahulagirl — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:59:12 -0800

How can I easily darken already varnished wood? My family is taking over an existing restaurant and re-opening it as a different restaurant. We have a limited budget for up-front renovations and the restaurant has wood paneling on the inside. Not the cheesy kind, but real wood boards laid on the diagonal on the wall (tongue and groove, pine maybe).

We can only close the restaurant for 3 days to complete renovations, so tearing the paneling completely off is not an option since we have other projects to tackle during the 3 days.

I want to darken the wood, but as it's tongue and groove, it would take too much time to sand in the grooves to remove the varnish that is already on it. I want to check into options for darkening the color, but I don't know what products and/or methods would work the best.

(In the long run, putting up new walls would/will be ideal, but at this point, early on, we don't have the time or money.)

how can I clean this couch?

helios — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:54:31 -0800

My landlord just bought a brand new sofa (this beige model) for my apartment, and I seem to have ruined it already by letting my friend sleep on it for a few days using dark-colored sheets. The area under the head/pillow is now slightly darker than the rest of the sofa; it looks as if it's always slightly wet. The cover can be dry-cleaned but will be expensive; what are the chances of it working? Are there any easier/less expensive alternatives?

That was mold ... right?

SpringAquifer — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:02:15 -0800

My apartment leaked, mold grew on the walls, and the maintenance guy just bleached off the outer layer ... right? Last week, my apartment leaked, and the walls got stained, as such.

This weekend, little black spots started popping up all over the place, as such.

Then the maintenance guys came in this morning to spray a cocktail of Clorox and Tilex, in which they dissolved some kind of "pill." This made all of the stains and spots instantaneously disappear, as such.

The maintenance guy said that there was never any mold -- just "hard water" stains -- and that residents tended to overreact to things that looked like mold. I am skeptical.

Am I correct in thinking that there was mold, and that they just bleached the hell out of the outer layer so I'd think everything was back to normal? Or were those spots indeed something benign?

paging Lady Macbeth

happy scrappy — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:08:00 -0800

Suggestions for removing large, set-in blood stains from cotton fabric? Last week I had a laparotomy to remove my cervix and ovaries. Yesterday the incision began to leak copious amounts of pooled blood. I've soaked two pairs of comfy pants and 2 panties with blood, as well as gotten smaller spots on other cotton items. I haven't been able to deal with the stains because I've been trying to stop the bleeding (I'm seeing my doc this morning to get it fixed).

What are your suggestions for removing really nasty, set-in blood stains from cotton fabric? Thanks in advance.

Coffeed Table.

furnace.heart — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:15:30 -0800

I cannot for the life of me find a photo (or any other mention) of this coffee table. The coffee table is white (or light natural colored wood) with coffee ring stains all over...they start very dense in the middle, and get sparser as you move towards the edges...i'm not sure if the table was made or found.

May have been in MAKE or Readymade magazine? Can't find it on either's online versions though...Flickr is coming up bust too.

I need at least a photo, But i need as much information as possible. Trying to convince Mrs. furnace.heart it would be a worthwhile project, and look good in our home.

How to get a toilet bowl cleaner stain off a marble counter?

shelayna — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:08:51 -0800

I left a new bottle of toilet bowl cleaner on the bathroom counter while unpacking groceries. It leaked, and I didn't notice until the next day. Now there's a rough white stain on the counter (marble) that won't come off. Any ideas on how to remove it?

How can I remove Dr. Pepper stains from an unpainted plaster wall/ceiling?

MrToad — Mon, 04 May 2009 07:44:36 -0800

How can I remove Dr. Pepper stains from an unpainted plaster wall/ceiling? One sunny day MrsToad came home from work, and as she was just walking into the kitchen, she dropped an unopened can of Dr. Pepper. The can took the exact impact required to spray forth soda in a million directions. She quickly tossed the can into the garage where it sprayed until it was dead.

The result is we now have brown soda stains on our unpainted plaster kitchen ceiling and unpainted plaster garage wall. We've tried a bit of cleaner and scrubbing but obviously don't want to be too aggressive in fear of damaging the plaster. The plaster is semi-rough, textured with sand, if that makes any difference.

We're hoping to not have to paint. If we try to paint this one spot, we'll likely end up having to paint an expansive area just to get everything to match.

So, good people, any ideas of anything we can spray on it to make the stain come up?

Googling tends to lead me to results of cleaning painted plaster walls. I did see the previous AskMetafilter post, but I'm afraid of doing too much scrubbing with a Magic Eraser.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

Woodworking 204

porpoise — Sat, 02 May 2009 22:20:03 -0800

Staining/treating pressed/sanded pine chairs. On the cheap. I bought a couple of cheap dining table chairs from the Salvation Army (thrift store [to replace some folding chairs I 'stole' from my parents]) - a couple of dining table chairs that I suspect are Stefan IKEA chairs. Unfinished, but smooth pine. They're pretty crappy chairs, but are reasonably sturdy and reasonably comfortable. Trying to see if I can improve them a bit.

Is there a easy way to class these chairs up with an oiling or a staining? I remember rubbing oil into stuff in woodworking class in highschool - is there a preferred oil for pine (I was more into plastics and metals)? Any alternate treatments that give good results with raw pine?

I've worked with laquer before but it didn't turn out very well (it was thick and rough-to-the-touch) - I suspect I should have sanded and kept adding more layers of laquer, sand, repeat. Not enamoured with the process. Not looking to replicate heirloom laquered furniture, either, just trying to class up a couple of unfinished (presumed - it looks unfinished but I don't know if the wood has been pressure treated or preservative treated or whatever) pine chairs.

Save my pants!

kmtiszen — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:04:35 -0800

StainFilter: So, I've seen plenty of questions about getting wax off clothing, but what about the dark stain it leaves behind? I recently had an incident involving candle wax and my favorite pair of khaki pants. I immediately threw the pants into the freezer and the wax came off easily, but I haven't been so lucky with the dark, blotchy stain – what I can only assume is residual from the dirty, oily wax.

I've washed the pants multiple times, pre-treating with Spray 'N' Wash and things like that. I'm wondering if there's any methods and/or chemical treatments I can use to get rid of the stain (or at least fade it slowly over multiple washes)?

Thanks in advance!

How to stain copper?

whatisish — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:52:27 -0800

I need to stain copper with a variety of different colors. How do I do this? Ok, so I suppose I'm mainly looking for a product that will stain copper. It actually has to stain the metal such that it doesn't change it dimensionally. That is, it can't be an applied product that creates a film or layer such as paint or lacquer. I need something available in a variety of vibrant colors.

Lastly, it has to be easy to use. It would be ideal if the product allowed me to submerge the copper to take the stain - like with easter eggs.

How to remove dye stains from hardwood?

Felicity Rilke — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:38:45 -0800

Ho do I remove confetti and streamer stains from hardwood floors? We held an election party last night complete with streamers and that metallic confetti which shoots out of poppers. Some of the streamers and confetti sat in pools of alcohol all night and today I am faced with candy-coloured marks all over my light-coloured hardwood. What's the best way to get rid of them (or, at the very least, fade them so they're less noticeable). I don't want to ruin the floors with my experimentation.

They don't shoot dryers do they?

mrhaydel — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:29:15 -0800

Should we put a misbehaving dryer in permanent time out? Two-part-washer-dryer-question filter:

Ms. mrhaydel has a washer and dryer pair that is newer than my washer and dryer pair by roughly 5 years. We will be engaging in full fledged cohabitation in about one month, thereby eliminating the need for two washers and two dryers.

However, her dryer has a nasty habit of leaving grease streaks, randomly, on articles of clothing (photo one, two, three). For the most part, it doesn't show through clothing (washing everything inside-out, natch), but the possibility is still there that the dryer leaves a mark on the outside of a piece of clothing.

So, my first question is, should we toss her dryer to the curb, and bring in my dryer (which works perfectly fine), thereby creating a mismatched pair? How hard is it to sell a mismatched pair? What about selling washers and dryers separately? For what it's worth, my washer does not agitate quite as well as hers, so that's why we're not using my pair.

The second question is, has anyone ever had a similar problem of a dryer leaving grease streaks on clothing? We've concluded with certainty that it is *not* the washer doing it. The only thing we've come up with is that *maybe* the pieces of clothing are somehow getting stuck momentarily in the latch of the door (it's a front loading dryer), but, we just haven't been able to track down the source of the aforementioned grease.

So, what say you, Hivemind?

Shirt / antiperspirant détente!

Captain Rayford Steele, Tribulation Force — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 10:36:43 -0800

Quotidian-question-filter: I seek a high-quality antiperspirant that won't stain clothing. Right now I use Gillette gel, which works fine as a deodorant/antiperspirant but also performs all too well as an under-arm shirt bleach. Needless to say, permanent white staining in and around the armpit region is both unattractive and unsettling.

There must exist an antiperspirant (preferably gel, but I'll consider all options) carefully engineered to coexist peacefully with clothing. Know of one? I'm male, if it matters.

From lighter to darker.

Gordion Knott — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:18:49 -0800

Furniture crafters and woodworkers: Is it possible to darken a stain on furniture after the fact? Awhile back, I ordered a set of oak livingroom furniture. The stain I selected, Washington, is a shade or two lighter than I prefer.

Is it possible to darken the stain after the fact? I'm only looking to darken it by a few shades. I'm sure that ordering a sample of stain and applying it is one option, but I have a gut feeling that this would entail negative results.

Warm (and Stained) Leatherette

yellowcandy — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:28:21 -0800

Faint but visible blue handprint on white leatherette couch...help me, Heloises! We bought this sofa (photo here) precisely because we knew it would be easy to clean. So far, it has been.

However, this weekend, we discovered a blue-green handprint that we suspect is either from one of our contractors or from ink transferred from sweat on a green throw pillow. Either way, we're not sure what the handprint is made of, but it appears to be permanent.

Having been an organic chemist in a previous life, I tried and failed to remove it using: a Magic Eraser, hair spray, and soap & water. I avoided acetone, as I suspected it might dissolve the sofa fabric.

What I want to know is simple: What leatherette/vinyl cleaners will remove the stain safely? I would really like to hear ONLY from people who have used the products they recommend, not generic like-dissolves-like speculation--I want to keep the sofa intact.

SOS butter stain

footnote — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:15:41 -0800

Heyyylup! I just got some butter on my new suit. It's all synthetic material, dry clean only. Is there anything I should to between now and when I can get to a dry cleaner in the morning? It was a nice lemon-sage-garlic butter, it truly was. But I do wish it was not on my suit.

Help me remove a stain.

lunit — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:10:30 -0800

Stain Removal Filter: Help me get a rust stain out of a bathing suit! I put my white printed bathing suit (women's, 90% nylon 10% lycra) in the washer and it came out with yellow, I assume rust, stains. Help me get them out without discoloring the (black) print!

A question about Ink Spots. Not the musical group, the stain.

rileyray3000 — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:41:42 -0800

I got black ink on a birch wood bookshelf from Ikea. Help me get it out. Cheap pen. Too much heat. light colored wood. Now I have a bunch of small stains all over my nice cabinet. Worst case scenario? I'll make it into the floor end for this thing as it's one of those cube deals that can be either side. But I'd rather get it out. Any suggestions for black ink on birch wood?

We don't need no water...

mezzanayne — Sat, 31 May 2008 08:17:19 -0800

Is it safe to burn untreated pine which was stained ~10 years ago? We are tearing down our deck, which was built about 10 years ago with untreated pine and has been stained with an oil-based stain. We'd like to burn the torn-off wood. Most of the stain has now worn off but the burn site is in the garden area and we fear contamination of our veggies.

Should we burn the decking or attempt to Freecycle the stuff instead?

Sriracha mess...

pea_shoot — Fri, 30 May 2008 20:29:23 -0800

Accidentally splattered hot chili sauce onto the kitchen floor. Any sneaky (the less toxic, the better) tricks to remove the stain?

Please help me clean the bathtub before my relatives find out and kill me.

naoko — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:32:22 -0800

How to remove dye (paper, not hair) from a bathtub? Ok, here's the incredibly stupid thing that I did:
1. I was sitting on the edge of a bathtub painting my toenails...and dropped the bottle and spilled polish all over the tub.
2. I tried to clean it up with nail polish remover...using some flower-print paper napkins (they were just the first thing I saw in the bathroom), and got the red dye from the flower print all over the tub (the nail polish came up, though).
2.5 I also dropped a ceramic tray and badly chipped it during this process, but I can't be bothered to care about that right now.
3. I tried cleaning up the dye with Clorox spray, which did not work AT ALL. Gaaaaah.

I am at the home of relatives who will hate me forever if they find out I ruined their fancy tub. Please help.

Coffee stain on white! Argh!

mooza — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:16:55 -0800

I have this white/cream dress made out of a viscose lace. I just discovered a faint stain of what I think is coffee or tea or something. I tried to take a pic of it to post as a reference but it didn't come up. Any tips on how I can possibly get rid of it?

You want the truth..? You can't handle the truth!

mu~ha~ha~ha~har — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:49:56 -0800

I have about a week or so to find some of this carpet. Yep, it is that stuff that's everywhere. You probably even have 3 rolls of it under your house as we speak. It's almost safe to say, at some point, you really did have like 3 rolls of it - what did you do with them?!! Where should I inquire about getting a scrap of it?? (30cm/12inch -sq.) Demolition.. people? The dump? Is there like an Elephants Graveyard but for carpet?? Also.. I need a hand with repairing melamine/laminex?? ( Bathroom vanity and a cupboard). And (omg!) this blind ( /s)... It's about 10x4 inches of absolute scorched earth toast and it's pretty much dead center of the room. (There were factors. We were all involved.. except for any cats at all though, which was a nice change.)

There is nothing to work with here, though if I can find something that's close enough, I'll definitely be able to do something with that.
Where/who should I be asking (Brisbane, QLD)
and/or does anybody happen to know what that carpet is called??

Now,
*For the cupboard I was thinking super-glue, vice grips and some white tape? Would there be a better way?
*The vanity... Get it back to white and then sculpt new edges using.. *something that dries white and hard*.
What would this product be??

(I will run it by SO but I'd like to open the topic with the answers.)
So again - any better ideas would be tremendous!!

*And the blinds... my god. The cats (they're always doin' somethin') - aren't on the lease so I am being ultra anal about leaving no trace of them. Hairy blinds were at the top of my cat related concerns list. (Now it's on a different list... grrr!)
I didn't use anything harsh on them but I sure was horrified when they dried.
The filth that came off them was brown/red/yellow... not at all blue related. I did use a little bio-zet because it's neat on colours so it's possible that the sun bleached bit... but shit!! These are the blinds from the room beside it. Yeah.. O-M-G!!

I also washed a pale, creamy coloured one the same way after (but with much more opportunity for disasters!!) and it's come up freakin' fantastic. But, of course, the remaining four are blue.
What can I do?? (..paint?? It'll be possible but not without both much tedium AND suspense.) Ugh!! I'm just trying to get my bond back!

*There are also yellow marks from a table on the vinyl floor. (I think it's vinyl?) It's stained like rust would, only it's yellow and has so far withstood various application methods and combinations of -
Gumption, Domestos, Bi-Carb (/+vinegar), toothpaste, sugarsoap, morning fresh, bio-zet, napisan, CD scratch repair, magic eraser, a whisper of nail polish remover (that seemed effective yet I got it off quick-smart and I'm hesitant to try it again). Oh and diluted degreaser stuff SO had.
So what can I try now?