How to lighten dark walnut dining table

[Carlos Arteta]

I have a very rustic, dark walnut dining table (please see attached, table is even darker than pictures). Because our dining room is just too dark, I am considering somehow lightening the table in the hope that doing so will help lighten the room. I am unsure of the current finish, but it seems like the top has some thin varnish or just oil; the legs and frame appear uncoated. The table has been distressed in the past, and it has lots of crevices with very uneven color, which I find attractive. The legs are particularly rustic (and dark).

My (major) restrictions for this project are: the table needs to be put back to service very soon, it might be difiicult to take it outside the room, I cannot really generate a lot of sanding dust, and we have a small baby in the house (ie fumes are a problem)

My tentative plan is the following:
a) Remove the current finish somehow, either by sanding or using some "safe remover" (those that remove shellac and laquer but not poly or paint). The problem is that the many crevices and dings, where the color is darker, and where sanding, or remover neutralizing, will be difficult
b) Use two-part wood bleach to lighten the color of the wood. However, fumes will surely be a problem. I don't know how much bleach will lighten walnut; if not a lot, then this might not be worthed...
c) Topcoat with something that will not darken the wood again. Because I want to keep a rustic "on the wood" finish, not a film finish, and because I really don't want to do any sanding other than light scuff-sanding (again b/c of all the crevices), I wouldn't like poly or laquer or waterborne poly, and would prefer an oil, oil-and-wax, or oil/varnish blend, or even a wipe-on varnish (but the latter might need sanding between coats). I don't aim for a lots of protection and assume that something like oil/varnish blend will allow this rustic table to continue to age naturally -- but I want to have some protection anyway, as this is still a dining table. What product would be more suitable?

(After writing this post, I am beginning to ponder that maybe I might just want to leave the table as is, particularly because using anything other than waterborne poly will produce fumes and I will have to send wife and baby for many long walks outside the house. I don't want to paint the table white, and we don't want white table cloths or runners, so I might as well learn to live with a dark but nice table in a dark dining room... and realize that walnut is supposed to be dark..)

Thanks in advance for any comments and suggestions.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

I believe that your final comment about leaving the table alone is best. It is only one item in the room. Could you lighten the color of the walls? Besides making the room seem larger, it will brighten the room.

Just MHO.

Bruce

[Jim Becker]

I'm not sure that you are going to be able to accomplish what you want in the time and conditions you have--so I agree with Bruce. And your walnut has already lightened up pretty much as far as it's likely to go. (Walnut gets lighter over time) Refinishing is not something to do "in the house" even with the so-called "safe" products. It's messy...major messy...and outside of a water borne product, all of the finishing materials you mention have odors or worse.

So...I think I'd look to other things to brighten up the room and keep that nice table as a highlight.

[Carlos Arteta]

Thanks for the comments. Yes, I am leaning toward leaving it alone. I think, however, that I could convice a friend or two to help me carry the heavy table outside, to a covered area. In the event that I were to do this outside (where I could sand at will and where fumes wouldn't be a problem), would the suggested strategy work?

The table is actually darker than in the picture -- my camera flash made it look lighter. Will two-part bleach lead to a noticeable lightening? Or will walnut not get bleached as much? Also, I sanded a little bit in small hidden places, and the wood looks markedly lighter. Will stuff like oil/varnish blend (eg minwax tung oil) or wiping varnish (e.g. Formby's "tung" oil, waterlox) lead to darkening of the wood? I understand that water-borne poly or lacquer would not lead to darkening...

Thanks

[Jim Becker]

If you bleach the walnut, you'll have to color it before re-finishing...adding a step.

And oil based finish will darken the wood to some extent, depending on the type of oil. The lightest would be something based on soya oil, such as Pratt and Lambert #38. You'd still get a little color enhancement that the oil brings, but without too much darkening. It's true that lacquer (not something to use without proper facilities) and water bornes don't alter color much, but they also can be quite bland by themselves.

BTW, the Minwax Tung Oil Finish and the Formby's Tung Oil Finish are nearly identical...same company; different label.

[Carlos Arteta]

Jim,

Thanks again for your feeback. I will probably let the table as is for now, but might be tempted to lighten it in the future (outside the house). If so, I would plan to:
a) Strip
b) 2-part bleach
c) oil-based Pickling stain
d) de-waxed shellac (maybe)
e) either water-borne poly or oil/varnish blend like Minwax tung oil.

The idea is to get a rustic, yet light(er) table with a pickled/cirused effect. A few final questions:
1) Does this strategy make sense?
2) Does 2-part bleach lead to substantial lightening of walnut? Or is it just marginal
3) The idea of pickling stain is two-fold: to lighten it as much as possible and to add "depth" by using the oil-based stain, particularly if finishing with wb poly. Would the stain add "depth" indeed?
4) The idea of the dewaxed shellac is two-fold: to add "depth" and to serve as a "unifying" coat between oil-based stain and wb poly. Or is the shellac redundant in terms of adding depth, as I will have already used an oil-based stain which will likely have already added depth? And it shellac really necessary as an intermediary coat, or is it just enough to let the oil-based stain cure before the wb poly?
5) I know that wb poly will add no color or ambering, but am aware that it might be bland by itself. Doe the use of oil-based stain and/or shellac be enough to add "interest" and depth?
6) I wouldn't use lacquer b/c I have no spray equipment. I assume that brush-on lacquer is not good enough?
7) And finally, will the minwax oil/varnish "ruin" the pickled/cirused effect I am aiming? Does it darken wood that much? As much as BLO?

Thanks

[Steve Schoene]

Boy, from the pictures you showed, the walnut has lots of character. I sure wouldn't want to start going after that with bleach, which can be finicky, particularly if there turns out to be wood from different trees that reacts differently.

Their are a lot of other solutions to lighten the room, from wall painting to putting table clothes on the table. Its just a personal preference, but I'd go a long way to avoid bleaching a nice walnut table.

[Carlos Arteta]

Yes, it is a very nice table, and I am aware that it would be a "venial sin" to mess with it. But the room is really dark even after other measures... I am now thinking about a solar tube...

I have decided not to change the table; my last post was mostly out of curiosity as a neophyte about the soundness of my tentative strategy in the hypothetical (and unlikely) event I do mess with it in the future, as I invested some time researching how to tackle it (e.g. whether dewaxed shellac is a necessary vs. optional step, whether oil-based stain adds that "depth" and "interest" that a wb poly topcoat couldn't add, etc etc).

Thanks

[Casey Gooding]

Leave the walnut.....paint the walls.

[Howard Acheson]

Are you sure that it is Walnut? It looks more like a pine stained with a dark stain. If so, when you remove the existing finish, it will be much lighter anyway.

Try some finish remover on the bottom and see what the color of the wood turns out to be.