How to stain a bedframe?

carpedion

I bought a bed frame a while ago, but I really don’t like the colour and would love to stain it to be more of a brown. Here’s the bed frame but I've included more accurate photos of the colour below too. The wood has a tactile feeling of timber along the grains. 

https://b2cfurniture.com.au/cruz-3pce-hardwood-rustic-walnut-queen-bedroom-suite-877.html

 

I’ve been told it’s Malaysian rubberwood, already stained and sealed.

 

What’s the easiest way to get it to a nice brown colour instead of the current walnut grey? Maybe I  could test a few brown stains on a non-visible part and see if it changes the colour, or would I need to sand it back first (which sounds like a lot more work)?

 

Looking for the simplest solution - any advice would be appreciated!

 

EricL

Hello @carpedion 

If the timber is stained and sealed, it will need to be sanded back to wood in order to restain it to the colour that you wish. The stain on it now acts like a barrier/sealer, staining it now won't work as stain can't penetrate deep into the wood surface. Once the stain has been removed and the surface is back to bare timber any stain placed on it will penetrate into the fibre of the wood. If you wish to test some of the stains available at the store, I suggest sanding a hidden section of your bed frame back to timber, you can then apply the new stain to that sanded section. Give the stain some time to settle, you'll then get a better idea of what the stains will look like before you commit the entire bedframe. 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric