# white wash formula for varnished pine.



## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

A designer I do work for bought a house with pine everything inside. She wants to get rid of alot of it by maybe a type of white washing or glaze of sorts on the ceilings,handrails and maybe stairs.
What sort of concoction would you use. Thinking she wants to go greyish. Something on the lines of this pic. Will try to attach pic of her house as well..
Adhesion for the steps and rails would obviously be more adament then for ceilings. Thoughts? I realize the pic is of a stained and clearcoated finish, but you get the idea..I'm not sanding down to bare wood.


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

I’ve used old Masters Wiping stain over both conversion varnish and acrylic PU in a pinch. Had the pickling white tinted with Moore’s colorants to achieve a nice gray. It is designed to work over previously finished surfaces. Did an adhesion test too, passing with no pulling when used over CV or acrylic PU clears. A lot easier than a glaze or toner coats. Used it over clear coats on the paneling pictured, followed by re-clearing. The wood in your photo is however much darker than what I was dealing with.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

Redux said:


> I’ve used old Masters Wiping stain over both conversion varnish and acrylic PU in a pinch. Had the pickling white tinted with Moore’s colorants to achieve a nice gray. It is designed to work over previously finished surfaces. Did an adhesion test too, passing with no pulling when used over CV or acrylic PU clears. A lot easier than a glaze or toner coats. Used it over clear coats on the paneling pictured, followed by re-clearing. The wood in your photo is however much darker than what I was dealing with.


l

Nice. Classy look. Ideally I'd prefer a water based system as there is alot of sq. footage.. Also a lived in house..


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## PPD (Mar 19, 2018)

For the ceilings maybe one of these?:

1) Glaze tinted with paint or water thinned paint & wipe back with slightly damp cloth until you achieve the wash effect she wants. 

2) Use GF dye stain or clear base tinted to your desired color shade

For the stairs & hand railing I’d prolly at least do a scuff sand...they’ll get a lot of abuse so adhesion is important. If the stairs are getting a runner & only the sides will show its slightly less important....

Could test some wiping stains for adhesion or try a prep coat of liquid sander/de glosser (aka liquid sandpaper) to see if that makes a difference.


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

finishesbykevyn said:


> l
> 
> Nice. Classy look. Ideally I'd prefer a water based system as there is alot of sq. footage.. Also a lived in house..


I refinished a few rooms of knotty pine ceilings by toning them with an acrylic latex trim paint added to a WB poly-acrylic type clear. I scuff sanded and layered 3 coats over the existing, slowly building up color, and it worked out pretty well. The boards weren’t as dark as what’s in your photo though.

If you click on the link and scroll down to the 3rd to last photo of a kitchen, it’ll give you an idea of what it looks like. The knots weren’t quite as pronounced when completed, but bled over the 12 years when the photos were actually taken.


https://www.wideplankflooring.com/resources/easthampton/


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

Redux said:


> I refinished a few rooms of knotty pine ceilings by toning them with an acrylic latex trim paint added to a WB poly-acrylic type clear. I scuff sanded and layered 3 coats over the existing, slowly building up color, and it worked out pretty well. The boards weren’t as dark as what’s in your photo though.
> 
> If you click on the link and scroll down to the 3rd to last photo of a kitchen, it’ll give you an idea of what it looks like. The knots weren’t quite as pronounced when completed, but bled over the 12 years when the photos were actually taken.
> 
> ...


3 coats eh? Could you richen the formula as to only have to do 1 or 2 coats I wonder. I haven't done a ton of experimenting with glazing/whitewashing etc.
What's the big difference between an actual glazing compound and a poly clear coat? I imagine a poly would be a more durable finish, but maybe harder to work with?


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

finishesbykevyn said:


> 3 coats eh? Could you richen the formula as to only have to do 1 or 2 coats I wonder. I haven't done a ton of experimenting with glazing/whitewashing etc.
> What's the big difference between an actual glazing compound and a poly clear coat? I imagine a poly would be a more durable finish, but maybe harder to work with?


I did try richening my mix in order to reduce the # of coats, but had difficulty in achieving uniformity & consistency. 

An acrylic glazing medium will have better open working time and is more forgiving/easier to work with, yet provides no protection. They’re typically clear coated on surfaces subject to wear, but would be fine on surface such as a ceiling. 

Loading up a tinted acrylic bonding primer with extender might be an option as well.

Sounds like you’ve got some experimenting to do, combined with high client expectations being it’s a designer client’s home...no stress there! I feel for ya!


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## cocomonkeynuts (Apr 14, 2017)

finishesbykevyn said:


> A designer I do work for bought a house with pine everything inside. She wants to get rid of alot of it by maybe a type of white washing or glaze of sorts on the ceilings,handrails and maybe stairs.
> What sort of concoction would you use. Thinking she wants to go greyish. Something on the lines of this pic. Will try to attach pic of her house as well..
> Adhesion for the steps and rails would obviously be more adament then for ceilings. Thoughts? I realize the pic is of a stained and clearcoated finish, but you get the idea..I'm not sanding down to bare wood.



Oil gel stain would be my first choice. Very long open time and easy. Have to deal with fumes though.

General finishes waterborne stains with extender.

Saman has a one coat product. Needs poly for floors and needs lots of extender.

Dalys waterborne gel stain is an epoxy based resin, very good adhesion. Last I heard they are working on longer open time out of the can.

goodfilla tinted clear could also be used and the manufacturer says it has good adhesion too.


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## fauxlynn (Apr 28, 2011)

My late 2 cents- I’d go with oil. Based on the photo I think it will take less steps than you think. Once you’ve stepped back from that large ceiling it’s going to look more ‘stained’ than it really is. 


If I were forced to use water based products I’d go with clear set coat as a primer from Faux Effects. You can’t scrape it off of oil if you tried.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

fauxlynn said:


> My late 2 cents- I’d go with oil. Based on the photo I think it will take less steps than you think. Once you’ve stepped back from that large ceiling it’s going to look more ‘stained’ than it really is.
> 
> 
> If I were forced to use water based products I’d go with clear set coat as a primer from Faux Effects. You can’t scrape it off of oil if you tried.


 Hey Fauxlynn. A late but related response. I've been thinking about your clear primer. I don't believe I can get faux effect in my area up here in the Great White North. Who else would make a good clear bonding primer.? I may open a new thread on this..


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## fauxlynn (Apr 28, 2011)

Sorry, I don’t. Have you thought about urethane? I’m no chemist, but for over twenty years I’ve put Coronado (now Lenmark) over oil based woodgraining.


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## hasnazameer (Jul 20, 2020)

I have applied Oil gel stain and it is very good.


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## paintwrapping (Jun 17, 2020)

I like the oil approach but I am not sure what is not to look about that. Looks amazing to me. I guess I am more fond of pine than others though.


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