Water drop on recently stained wood

[julianacr]

Hi all,

My husband and I are working on an oak dinning table.
We started the staining process the other day, and after the first layer of oil stain, we realized there were some scratches that you could not see with the naked eye, but after the first stain layer they showed up.
We decided to go back and re-sand the top of the table to try to remove those scratches.

While finishing the sanding part of it (outside), it started raining, and a few drops make it to the top before we could put it inside. We cleaned the drops we saw, and let it sit for about 2 hours. The sanding did not get rid completely of the first layer of stain.

After that we decided to re-apply another layer of stain. After we started removing the excess of the staining oil, the started seeing a bunch of circular stains that we imagine were the rain drops that got onto the table top.

We had let it dry but the stains are still visible and we do not know what to do. If we should continue with another layer of stain, or try to get rid of the circled stains from the drops.
Anyways, we have no idea how could we get rid of those, any ideas?
Thanks,

Juliana

[sparkysdad]

Sounds like "Character" to me! and thats how it would stay in our house!

Im no expert I am afraid, but it does sound like your wood had some moisture in the upper surface, and that has affected the stain.. because you have sanded it, the surface does not have a protective layer, and old wood is usually very dry, so a raindrip could penetrate quite far.. the surface may have dried, but a small amount of moisture was still in the wood perhaps...

Short of redoing the whole lot a third time, Im not sure if there is an easy answer, if you try localised sanding you will probably get differing take up of the staining product, so it might be patchy when it is properly dry..

You might have some luck with ring remover products - they more usually repair a damaged surface, but you never know.. Oh, and the cheap and cheerful version of the expensive products in B&Q is cigarette ash.. if you are or know any smokers.. just dab a damp cotton bud in ash, and "polish" the spots with it.. at least it's free to try!

[nettie]

Would those wax crayon things be any good? I know they're usually for scratches but maybe worth a try. You must be gutted after all that work. Hope you get it sorted out soon