Evening star., 1923-11-24
Wood-Finishing Stains Made
Both in Liquids and Powders

Stains. as applied to wood finish
ing. fall into two general classifica-
fions--liquid and powder or dry
form. Under liquid may be listed
four types-penetrating oil stains,
spirit stains. acid or water stains
and pigment stains. Under dry stains
come three types-the water solu-
bIes, the oil solubles and the spirit
or alcohol solubles. Each of these,
with the exception of the pigment
stains. has its place of usefulness in
the modern practice of bringing out
and beautifying the figure of the va
rious woods. Because they are the
type most extensively used in build
ing work, we will leave the pene-
trating oil stains TO the last for wider
treatment, taking up the others
briefly and in the order shown above.
These are basic aniline dyes dis
solved in alcohol and are employed
chiefly for touching up spots which
have been worn to the wood and
where il is not desired for some rea-
son to clean and refinish all over
They dry almost instantly and will
penetrate through varnish, some
thing an oil or water stain will not
do. However. except in the very
dark shades and black, they are not
generally used. as they are fugitive
to light-that is. fade rapidly when
exposed TO the sun.
Aniline CoIorinEs.
Anilines dissolved in water-so
many ounces to the gallon. accord
ing to depth of color desired-un-
douhtedly give the fastest-that is
to KAY, the most permanent-Color to
wood. Used almost TO the exclusion
of other types nf stain in finishing
fine furniture. they involve one dis
advantage SO far as building wood
work is concerned.
No matter how carefully the wood
may previously have been prepared
water stains when brushed on have
the almost immediate effect of raising
the grain. The tiny wood fih"rs
which as a consequence stick up must
again be sanded down before proceed
ing and on large work this extra
labor expense IS a considerable fac
tor. Nevertheless, in cases where
window easements and doors are to
be stained red or green their employ
ment is essential for the reason that
they are impervious to sunlight An
oil or spirit stain Of the same ColOrS
would under the same conditions soon
fade out to a Sickly brown or gray
and neCessitates doing the work over.
Under present conditions, however,
this is not generally a serious consld-
GRAFTON for the reason that brown ma
hoganieS, walnutS and enamel seem
TO have the field to themselves. In
many apartments today may be seen
the sad results of trying TO meet the
earlier vogue of red mahogany by
using oil reds where sunlight had ac-
cess to the wood even occasionally.
Use of Fumed Oak.
While oak has practically passed so
far as woodwork is concerned. and
even in the old days was usually
golden" there were and still are oc-
casional calls for fumed effect.
Here an acid stain has q strong de-
mand. for it supplants the slow and
cumbersome fuming box tfor furni-
ture) and gives a variety of good
fumed effects.
The wood IS first treated with
water solution OF toner" of soluble
acids. This does not really color the
wood, but assures uniform finish
when the fumed-oah acid stain itself
IS applied later. There are also fumed-
oak penetrating oil stains on the mar
ket which stain in one application,
but have a tendency TO DUH the flake
of quarter sawed" rather than bring
It out
These are relic of the old days
before anilines for the dyeing of
wood had reached their present state
of perfection. They represent the
cheapest and least beautiful treat
1nents for wood in that they are
Opaque earth "olors. such umbers.
siennas. lakes. etc. dissolved in oil
to approximate oak, walnut and ma
hogany ColorS. They have a field OF
usefulness in varnish stains. or. more
properly colored varniSheS, where
they are present in whole or in part
combination with anilines to give
body and covering quality. They OBJ
scure. however, rather than beautify
the figure of bare wood.
Whether water. oil or alcohol solu-
BILE, these are merely the dry aniline
colori1E matter which provides color
TO the various liquids. They are. in
a word. the stains minus the liquid
and are frequently called for in
this form by practical users who
desire TO mix their own shades
This is particularly true in the fur
niture field, where exclusive effects
are sought and formulas composed of
varying proportions of different