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How to remove a stubborn water stain?

Hello

I have been sanding back this hallway console table for probably 45 minutes and this stubborn water stain (before and after pic attached) has yet to come out. This is my first time sanding, do I just need to keep going or is it so deep that it won't come out now?

Or will a oil stain now cover it?

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Jason

Hi @Smnthandrsn,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We're pleased to have you join us.

That water stain does look to be deep in the timber. Can you please let us know whether you are using a powered sanding tool or doing it by hand? And what grit sandpaper you are using? You might need to use a more aggressive approach.

Let me tag some experienced community members for their thoughts: @lieselroberts, @craftyhopper,. @lifestylebymari, @sammilne, @marliemakesit.

Jason

Smnthandrsn

Hi! I'm using a Ryobi orbital sander. I started at 60 grit and am now trying 120 grit

MitchellMc

Hi @Smnthandrsn,

As Jason has mentioned, the stain seems to have penetrated quite deeply. It also looks to be a rustic piece, with dents in the timber. The stain is in these dents, so when sanding on the flat surface, you're not hitting the low spots. The issue you're facing is that to remove the stain, you'd need to return the top to a flat surface, which could mean entirely re-surfacing it. This would require a belt sander. The problem with that is there appears to be a metal surround, and I'd assume that the surface of the timber would need to be reduced below that in order to make it flat.

What sort of colour stain were you going for? If it's lighter than the current stain, the finish will likely look blotchy.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

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